The Best Alternative to Expo Snack
If you've worked with React Native or Expo, you've probably used Expo Snack. It's the quickest way to spin up a small prototype, test an idea, or share a snippet with your team. But as your projects grow more complex, Snack's limitations start to show.
In this guide, we'll break down what Expo Snack does well, where it falls short, and explore the best alternative for serious mobile development.
What Is Expo Snack?
Expo Snack is a browser-based playground for building React Native apps. You can write code directly in the browser and preview it instantly on the web or through the Expo Go app on your phone. It's fantastic for quick experiments, learning, and sharing code snippets.
What Snack does well:
- Instant setup with zero configuration
- Live preview in the browser or Expo Go
- Easy to share via URL
- Great for teaching and small demos
For simple use cases, Snack works perfectly. But the moment you need something more, you hit walls.
The Limitations of Expo Snack
Limited Native Module Support
This is the biggest pain point. Expo Snack only supports native packages that are pre-bundled in Expo Go. While this includes basics like expo-camera and react-native-maps, custom native modules and third-party SDKs won't work. Need Stripe payments, a custom video player, or any package requiring native linking? You're out of luck.
Many production apps rely heavily on native modules for performance, device access, or third-party integrations. Snack can't handle anything beyond what's already in Expo Go.
No File-Based Routing (Expo Router)
Expo Router has become the standard for navigation in modern Expo apps. It brings file-based routing similar to Next.js, making navigation intuitive and scalable. Unfortunately, Expo Snack doesn't support Expo Router or any file-based routing system.
If your project uses Expo Router (and most new Expo projects should), you can't prototype or test it in Snack.
No Git Integration
Code lives in Snack. You can't push it to your own repository, track changes, or collaborate through Git. For throwaway demos, this might be fine. For anything else, it's a dealbreaker.
Limited Sharing and Deployment
While you can share a Snack URL, you can't:
- Fork it into your own workspace with version control
- Clone it as a starting point for a real project
- Deploy it as a standalone application
Snack is designed for viewing and sharing, not for building production-ready apps.
What to Look for in an Expo Snack Alternative
If you're outgrowing Snack, here's what matters in an alternative:
- Full Expo and React Native support — including native modules
- File-based routing support — Expo Router compatibility
- Git integration — push, pull, branch, and collaborate
- Sharing and forking — let others build on your work
- Deployment options — go from prototype to production
- Modern tooling — AI assistance, real-time preview, backend support
The Alternative: Nucleate
Nucleate is a full-featured development environment built specifically for Expo and React Native. Unlike Snack, it's designed to handle real-world projects from prototype to production.
Full Native Module Support
Nucleate runs your code in actual development environments, not sandboxed playgrounds. This means every package works — native modules, custom builds, anything you'd use in a real Expo project. Whether you need react-native-reanimated, Stripe, or a custom native integration, it just works.
Expo Router and File-Based Routing
Build modern Expo apps the way they're meant to be built. Nucleate fully supports Expo Router and file-based routing, so your prototypes match how your production apps are structured.
Git Integration
Your code belongs to you. Nucleate integrates with Git so you can:
- Push directly to GitHub, GitLab, or Bitbucket
- Track changes and manage branches
- Collaborate with your team using familiar workflows
No more copy-pasting code out of a playground.
Share, Fork, Clone, and Deploy
Nucleate makes sharing seamless:
- Share your project with a link
- Fork someone else's work as a starting point
- Clone projects to your local machine or repository
- Deploy directly to app stores or the web
Go from idea to prototype to production without switching tools.
AI-Powered Development
Nucleate includes built-in AI chat that understands your codebase. Ask it to generate components, fix bugs, explain code, or scaffold entire features.
Need to create variants of screens and flows quickly? AI can help. Experimenting with different UI approaches? Generate options in seconds and iterate from there.
Backend Integration
Mobile apps rarely exist in isolation. Nucleate lets you build and connect backends directly within your project. APIs, databases, authentication — it's all integrated.
Expo Snack vs. Nucleate: Feature Comparison
Here's how the two platforms stack up:
| Feature | Expo Snack | Nucleate | | --------------------------- | ---------- | -------- | | Quick prototyping | ✅ | ✅ | | Web preview | ✅ | ✅ | | Expo Go preview | ✅ | ✅ | | Custom native modules | ❌ | ✅ | | Expo Router support | ❌ | ✅ | | File-based routing | ❌ | ✅ | | Git integration | ❌ | ✅ | | Fork and clone projects | ❌ | ✅ | | Deploy to production | ❌ | ✅ | | AI assistance | ❌ | ✅ | | Backend integration | ❌ | ✅ | | Custom native builds | ❌ | ✅ |
When to Use Each Tool
Use Expo Snack when:
- You need a quick, throwaway demo
- You're teaching someone React Native basics
- Your code has zero native dependencies
- You don't need version control or deployment
Use Nucleate when:
- You're building a real app with native modules
- You want Expo Router and modern navigation
- You need Git integration and collaboration
- You want to share, fork, or deploy your work
- You want AI assistance to speed up development
Getting Started with Nucleate
Switching from Snack to Nucleate is straightforward:
- Sign up at nucleate.dev
- Create a new project or import an existing one
- Start building with full Expo support and AI assistance
- Push to Git when you're ready
- Share or deploy your finished project
You get the instant-feedback experience of Snack with the power of a full development environment.
Conclusion
Expo Snack is a great tool for what it was designed to do: quick demos and learning. But modern React Native development demands more — native modules, file-based routing, version control, and deployment options.
If you've hit Snack's limitations, Nucleate is worth a look. It offers full native support, Expo Router compatibility, Git integration, AI assistance, and the ability to actually deploy your projects.
Give it a try and see if it fits your workflow.