# Kotlin Multiplatform 27 Hacker News commenters recommended Kotlin Multiplatform and 12 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 9 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 2 years (3 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended for sharing core logic across Android, iOS and desktop in Kotlin; people call it mature and less opinionated than Flutter. Common caveat: Gradle and toolchain complexity. ## Why people recommend it - Shares logic across platforms (6 comments): "I always thought the best answer was something like KMM to do all the backend comms and local data model in a shared way" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49646599)) "I feel it is less maintenance work than having an Android project that uses the Android UI framework and system APIs." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49924814)) "Now with KMP you can build a desktop/iOS/Android app with single codebase as well." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47423268)) - Mature and production ready (6 comments): "It seems mature enough now that if I want to build an app as a single dev I feel confident that I could get the iOS version out at the same time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48339440)) "Generally, I'm very happy with the platform and it's only gotten better over the past couple years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49924800)) "something like KMP has been around longer and is more stable" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46485936)) - Preferred over Flutter or React Native (5 comments): "What I like about Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP) vs Flutter is that KMP is not a framework" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49148052)) "I find Kotlin Multiplatform to be far and away a better experience than flutter" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46483383)) "KMP is much friendlier and less opinionated about how you use it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49928276)) - Native API and library access (5 comments): "it has replaced their decade-old transpiler from Java to ObjC, which is very impressive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46492838)) "The advantage is that you can cherry-pick the library you want to depend on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46492476)) "it’s a delight and you can use native Swift UI when you want to" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49651998)) ## What people warn about - Gradle and JetBrains toolchain burden (4 comments): "JVM toolchain bits like Gradle being involved is a turnoff and has kept me away from KMP." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49646391)) "trading RN problems for gradle and integration problems on iOS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49657403)) "It's an unfinished, hot garbage bolted on top of Gradle" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486208)) - Still too complicated and verbose (2 comments): "Kotlin Multiplatform is making a serious go at it but it's still too complicated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46466685)) "requires separate source sets, separate files, and considerably more boilerplate" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47545125)) - Performance and not native-compiled (3 comments): "It's still immature compared to Flutter and doesn't necessarily run native compiled code depending on platform" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49284497)) "Shitty toolchain and performance worse than Electron?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47310375)) "Flutter and Kotlin MP add extra skia graphics engine." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49656043)) - Doubts about Google's commitment (2 comments): "When it comes to Google, I'll believe it when I see it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46106863)) "More like JetBrains dragged Google kicking and screaming into multiplatform, given how piece of a shit setup is" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47033390)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Flutter](https://hackerapproved.com/p/flutter.md): 171 recommend - [React Native](https://hackerapproved.com/p/react-native.md): 98 recommend - [Expo](https://hackerapproved.com/p/expo.md): 21 recommend - [.NET MAUI](https://hackerapproved.com/p/net-maui.md): 21 recommend - [Skip](https://hackerapproved.com/p/skip.md): 19 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Kotlin Multiplatform", https://hackerapproved.com/p/kotlin-multiplatform/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).