.NET MAUI
.NET MAUI is Microsoft's open-source (MIT-licensed) UI framework, the direct successor to Xamarin.Forms (Xamarin itself retired May 1, 2024, forcing migration). Current release is .NET MAUI 10, shipped alongside .NET 10 on November 11, 2025; latest servicing patch is 10.0.80 (June 24, 2026). Free, distributed with the .NET SDK, maintained by Microsoft on GitHub (dotnet/maui, 23.3k stars). Architecturally it wraps native platform controls (UIKit/AppKit, Android Views, WinUI 3) instead of rendering its own control set the way Skia-based rivals do. Native AOT compilation has been available (opt-in, via the PublishAot MSBuild property, applied on `dotnet publish` only) for iOS/Mac Catalyst builds since .NET 9 — it is not the default build path. Android has no Native AOT option at all; it still runs on Mono AOT, with CoreCLR slated to become the default mobile runtime across Android, iOS, and Mac Catalyst starting .NET 11. .NET 10 added a compile-time XAML source generator. Targets iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS (Mac Catalyst) only — no Linux or WebAssembly target. Current version/status: 10.0.80 (June 24, 2026) — .NET MAUI 10, shipped with .NET 10 GA Nov 11, 2025. License: MIT. Maintained by Microsoft (open source, dotnet/maui on GitHub).
Pick MAUI when you're already a Microsoft shop shipping one C# codebase across iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac Catalyst and want first-party support plus Visual Studio tooling — that's its actual lane, not indie cross-platform speed. Skip it if you need Linux or a browser target: Uno Platform ships production-grade WebAssembly and native Linux/GTK support that MAUI simply doesn't have. Skip it too if raw rendering performance or pixel-identical UI matters most: Avalonia publishes benchmarks claiming 3-6x faster rendering and half the memory footprint versus MAUI on Windows, because it renders everything itself via Skia instead of wrapping native widgets. Android hot-reload reliability is a persistent community complaint (many open dotnet/maui GitHub issues) even on current releases, and Native AOT — MAUI's main performance escape hatch — doesn't extend to Android at all, only iOS and Mac Catalyst. Known weakness: Native AOT — MAUI's main lever for smaller/faster apps — is opt-in (not default) and iOS/Mac-Catalyst-only; Android has no Native AOT path and still runs on Mono AOT until CoreCLR becomes the default mobile runtime in .NET 11. Android hot-reload reliability is a recurring,