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SAP Mobile Platform vs Xamarin Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

SAP Mobile Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
11th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
8.0
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
Mobile App Platforms (4th)
Xamarin Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of SAP Mobile Platform is 3.4%, up from 3.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Xamarin Platform is 7.3%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Xamarin Platform7.3%
SAP Mobile Platform3.4%
Other89.3%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Sabarinathan Chandrasekar - PeerSpot reviewer
Has improved mobile access for field teams and reduced dependency on manual data entry
The analytics and reporting capabilities in SAP mobile systems have helped me understand my mobile strategy better because we don't have wider reporting capabilities within mobile services. There is some reporting functionality, which I would classify as very basic, just to indicate how many devices are being connected, but it's not that comprehensive in terms of reporting.I would suggest improving the reporting by having more details around connection times. I think it is good, and I'm happy with what it is right now. Apart from that, if integrating to third-party systems can be made easier, this can be made into an app which can connect not just to SAP systems, but also to any third-party systems.
Prince Tiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates UI development with XAML, enabling shared UI code across platforms and reducing platform-specific work
I like its simplicity. As someone who didn't start my career as a dedicated developer, I was used to building websites or Windows applications. Transitioning to mobile app development meant learning new languages like Swift or Java. With C# and Xamarin, though, I could leverage my existing skillset. Xamarin, and specifically Xamarin.Forms, let me write my code once and deploy it natively to both Android and iOS. Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform. The advantage is that roughly 90% of my UI code can be shared. This significantly reduces the amount of platform-specific UI work compared to having to write separate UIs for each platform. For the most part, Xamarin's integration with Visual Studio improved the workflow, whether I'm on Windows or Mac. Since I'm familiar with Visual Studio, it provides a comfortable development environment. Additionally, features like Hot Reload and the integration of tools like Copilot help streamline the development process. Overall, it offers a positive development experience.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Both platforms, the SAP Mobile Platform, and SAP, are highly valuable for our company because they facilitate integration, which can be expensive. It's very convenient to connect and create billing accounts through the SAP Mobile Platform."
"The initial setup is not overly complex."
"Technical support is helpful."
"It's not that difficult to set up."
"One valuable feature of SAP Mobile Platform is its enterprise-grade standard and maintained APIs, available out of the box for easy integration with various systems."
"Two of the very fascinating features that make SAP Mobile Platform stand out from other platforms are its offline capability and integration capability."
"If we work with the mobile extension of the ERP platform, we save time."
"With mobile services, they just carry the mobile phone with them, do it straight on the device, and it updates the SAP system, saving quite a lot of time for the end users."
"The most valuable feature of the Xamarin Platform is that both the UI are the same in Android and iOS, in one project and Android and iOS, are applications for developing PCL projects. Additionally, the dashboard is good."
"Cross-platform development saves time and provides consistencies."
"The most valuable features of the Xamarin Platform are that it has cross-platform development, one code base serves a purpose on both, and the grid layout is a lifesaver."
"Plugins like MvvmCross make a developer’s life easy."
"Xamarin.Forms exposes a complete cross-platform UI toolkit for .NET developers. The advantage is that a single team can target multiple platforms (Android, iOS, and Windows) on a shared C# codebase."
"The platform is easy to learn as many tutorials are available on YouTube."
"The solution is easy to understand and has banking integrated. The shorter development time, the bugging and as well as availability of a lot of documentation on the web. Also the native integration is easy."
"The most valuable features are: One language for all platforms: C#; XAML for UI in Xamarin.Forms; provides 100 percent coverage of APIs on each platform."
 

Cons

"SAP has announced that they'll be ending the support on the SAP platform."
"One drawback is that SAP Mobile Platform apps are only available through the browser, making offline capability more challenging to implement."
"The toolkit to develop front end applications, especially native applications, is not that good."
"The cost of the SAP Mobile Platform is high, and there is room for improvement in its pricing."
"The licensing model is a bit dated."
"We don't have wider reporting capabilities within mobile services. There is some reporting functionality, which I would classify as very basic, just to indicate how many devices are being connected, but it's not that comprehensive in terms of reporting."
"The tool is not easy or simple to integrate with other infrastructures."
"If it was low code or no code it would be ideal."
"The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google."
"The file size is a bit big, so you have to make certain layers."
"The architecture in the Xamarin Platform has to improve, there are some features missing."
"Xamarin's profiling tools are only available for the highest tier of MSDN subscription and compatibility with platform-native profiling tools is rather lacking. This causes friction when working on performance-related issues."
"In Xamarin.Forms, we have the option to preview our UI designs, but the functionality can be limited. So, this is not fully functional. Since I have some knowledge of iOS, where when you write code or design in the storyboard, your design is immediately visible in the preview."
"We need to think about partnering with IBM because there is a need for a big data partner; someone who has machine learning and can help us connect the app to big data."
"Xamarin Platform can improve if there was a virtual test environment so we did not have to have a Mac system for the iOS testing. At this time You must have a Mac to deploy or generate IBA profiles."
"The solution always has room for improvement with price, integration, stability, and documentation."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"If you already paying for an SAP license and have SAP products that you are using, the price for SAP Mobile Platform is negligible."
"The tool is expensive. I rate the tool's price as an eight or nine out of ten."
"The cost of SAP is extremely high, and it's not affordable for everyone."
"This is an open-source solution, but there is a subscription charge to use the App Center of around $100."
"Xamarin is free, or comes with Visual Studio. Therefore, it is very profitable."
"There's no licensing cost for Xamarin."
"This is a free product, so there is zero investment on licenses and IDE."
"You can build in Xamarin without paying any money."
"My company provided all the licenses that we need to support our use of Xamarin Platform."
"Xamarin Platform is a free open-source solution."
"In most cases, it is sufficient to have free/community license. But if you plan to seriously develop production-level, highly polished apps, you need to use Xamarin.Profiler and the professional or enterprise license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Retailer
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Consumer Goods Company
9%
Real Estate/Law Firm
9%
Educational Organization
29%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise2
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about SAP Mobile Platform?
One valuable feature of SAP Mobile Platform is its enterprise-grade standard and maintained APIs, available out of the box for easy integration with various systems.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for SAP Mobile Platform?
The tool is expensive. I rate the tool's price as an eight or nine out of ten.
What needs improvement with SAP Mobile Platform?
The analytics and reporting capabilities in SAP mobile systems have helped me understand my mobile strategy better because we don't have wider reporting capabilities within mobile services. There i...
What do you like most about Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin Platform is free, and we use an Azure subscription at a relatively low cost for our builds. It offers a good value for money, although it requires time to make it work effectively.
What needs improvement with Xamarin Platform?
The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google. The lack of robust documentation and support for third-party bin...
 

Also Known As

SAP Syclo Agentry Mobile Platform, Sybase Mobile Development Platform, Sybase Unwired Platform
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Swarovski, CareFusion Corp., Adarsh Credit Co-operative Society Ltd.
Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about SAP Mobile Platform vs. Xamarin Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,785 professionals have used our research since 2012.