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Capacitor — bring a web app to iOS and Android and call native APIs from JavaScript

OSS scale score 282.5OSS health 96Update pace 6 commits/30d
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Stars
16,709
Primary language
TypeScript
License
MIT
Repository last updated
Sep 18, 2026

Overview

Capacitor is a cross-platform runtime for deploying web applications to iOS, Android, and the web while exposing native SDKs to JavaScript. Existing web apps can adopt it incrementally, and custom plugins can be implemented in Swift or Kotlin/Java when needed.

Features and best fit

Based on official documentation; not hands-on tested · Content checked:

Add iOS and Android projects to an existing web application

Initialize Capacitor with cap init, then add native platform packages and manage those projects as part of the application source.

Sources: [2][3]

Call native SDKs and add custom plugins

Cross-platform APIs cover common capabilities, while custom plugins can bridge web code to Swift or Kotlin/Java implementations.

Sources: [2][3]

For shipping existing web technology through mobile app stores

It fits teams that want to keep web code central while adding only the native integrations required for iOS and Android.

Sources: [2]

Maintain native projects as source, not regenerated build output

Capacitor treats the iOS and Android projects as source artifacts, so platform-specific settings and plugin changes should be version-controlled and maintained.

Sources: [2]

Official sources

  1. [1]ionic-team/capacitor repository(2026-09-21)
  2. [2]Capacitor README(2026-09-21)
  3. [3]Capacitor documentation(2026-09-21)
  4. [4]@capacitor/core package(2026-09-21)
  5. [5]@capacitor/cli package(2026-09-21)
  6. [6]Capacitor MIT license(2026-09-21)
Supplemental curator note

Capacitor does not require Ionic Framework and can be added to an existing modern web app. The current `@capacitor/core` and `@capacitor/cli` packages are 8.5.2, with the CLI requiring Node.js 22+. The README also distinguishes Capacitor from Cordova by treating native projects as source artifacts rather than disposable build artifacts.

Try it in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Install Capacitor core and CLI

    Add the Capacitor runtime and CLI to an existing modern web application.

    npm install @capacitor/core @capacitor/cli
  2. 2

    Initialize the Capacitor project

    Configure the app name and bundle identifier before adding native platforms.

    npx cap init
  3. 3

    Add the Android project

    Create the Android native project as source. Use @capacitor/ios and cap add ios for iOS.

    npm install @capacitor/android && npx cap add android
Check the official README

Growth

Growth trends · Last 30 days

16,709 Stars

Trend data is still being collected.

Development activity

Last 90 days · weekly

Commits (last 30 days)
6
Open PRs
50

Development activity is still being collected.

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GitHub data

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GitHub Topics

  • javascript
  • html
  • css
  • swift
  • java
  • cross-platform
  • capacitor
  • cordova
  • ionic
  • ios
  • android
  • pwa
Stars
16,709
Forks
1,269
Watchers
170
Open issues
76
Contributors
293
Primary language
TypeScript
License
MIT
Repository last updated
Sep 18, 2026
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