A lot of teams hire a React Native developer by looking for React experience and assuming mobile is close enough. It is not. React Native lets you write mobile apps in JavaScript and React, but the moment something goes wrong with performance, navigation, native modules, or the app store build, you are in mobile territory that web experience does not prepare you for (React Native). The developer you want understands the native platforms living underneath the JavaScript.
Key Takeaways
- Web React skills do not transfer cleanly to React Native. Screen for mobile specifically.
- A strong candidate understands the native layer: builds, navigation, and platform differences.
- Test for performance and list handling on real devices, where mobile problems actually appear.
- The best hires know when React Native is the wrong choice and can say so.
Why Mobile Is Its Own Thing
The pitch for React Native is that your web developers can build mobile apps. The reality is that the easy 80% goes smoothly and the hard 20% requires knowing how iOS and Android actually work. A web developer can build a screen. Handling a janky scroll on a low-end Android phone, debugging why a native module crashes on one OS version, or shipping through Apple's review process are mobile skills, and no amount of web React teaches them.
So when you interview a React Native candidate, resist judging them on React fundamentals alone. Those matter, but they are the part that transfers. The differentiator is whether they have shipped a real app to both stores and dealt with the platform-specific mess that only appears once real users on real devices start using it.
What to Test
Focus the interview on the parts that are genuinely mobile. Ask how they debug a performance problem on a real device, because the simulator lies about performance. Ask what they do when a long list scrolls poorly. Ask about navigation, since it is a common source of architecture pain. Ask about the last time they had to write or configure a native module.
| Area | Web-only answer | Real mobile answer |
|---|---|---|
| Slow scroll | "Add a key prop" | "Virtualize the list, test on a cheap device" |
| Performance | "It's fine on my machine" | "Profile on real hardware, not the simulator" |
| Native module | "Never touched one" | "Bridged one, handled the platform differences" |
| App store | "Someone else shipped it" | "Owned the build and review process" |
A Concrete Screen
Ask them to walk through the last bug they fixed that only happened on a physical device. A real React Native developer lights up here, because everyone who has shipped an app has a story about a crash that never reproduced in the simulator, a font that rendered differently on Android, or a permission flow Apple rejected. They will describe how they isolated it, which usually involved actual devices and native logs. A candidate whose entire answer stays in JavaScript has probably never shipped past the demo stage.
The Honest Counterpoint
React Native is not always the right call, and a good candidate will tell you so. If your app is performance-critical, leans heavily on the latest platform features, or is the core of your business, fully native iOS and Android teams may serve you better despite the higher cost. React Native shines when you want one team shipping a solid app to both platforms quickly and your needs sit in the common 80%. The developer worth hiring can articulate that tradeoff instead of treating React Native as the answer to everything.
Cost and Sourcing
A senior React Native developer in the US commonly runs $140 an hour or more, and genuine dual-platform mobile experience carries a premium because it is scarcer than web React. Nearshore in Latin America, senior React Native talent lands around $55 to $90 an hour, with overlap that helps because mobile release cycles involve tight coordination with product and QA (why timezone overlap matters). Screen for shipped apps and device-level war stories, and you will avoid the most common mistake, which is hiring a web developer for a mobile job. See available engineers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a React web developer do React Native?
Partially. The React fundamentals transfer, but the hard parts of mobile (native modules, device performance, app store builds, platform differences) do not. Screen specifically for shipped mobile experience.
What should I test when hiring a React Native developer?
Real-device performance debugging, list handling, navigation architecture, and native module work. Ask for a bug that only happened on a physical device.
When should I choose native over React Native?
When the app is performance-critical, depends on the newest platform features, or is your core product. React Native fits best when one team needs to ship a solid app to both stores quickly.
How much does a React Native developer cost?
In the US, commonly $140 an hour or more for genuine dual-platform seniority. Nearshore in Latin America, around $55 to $90 an hour.
The Bottom Line
Hiring a React Native developer is a mobile hire that happens to use React, not a React hire that happens to target mobile. Screen for the native layer underneath the JavaScript, ask for the device-level bug stories that only real shippers have, and value the candidate who can tell you when React Native is the wrong tool. The web experience is the easy part. The mobile experience is what you are paying for.
Roberto Espinoza is CEO of Ruzora, which helps US startups hire pre-vetted senior LATAM engineers, with a vetted shortlist in 72 hours. See available engineers.
