Qt | Multi-Platform App Development Software & Tools (2024)

FAQs

Is Qt good for app development? ›

Industry Leaders Develop Applications with Qt

Deploy a single code base on all major platforms with highly intuitive Qt APIs. Reuse modular library classes for any software project to save enormous amounts of development time when developing a desktop or mobile application.

Qt Creator is a fantastic editor and IDE. If you're doing cross-platform GUI development, Qt is a good choice (especially compared to something grotesque and unseemly like Electron), and for Qt development, Qt Creator is as good as it gets.

Qt is a C++ framework that supports the WOCA (Write Once, Compile Anywhere) principle, which means Qt is a cross-platform framework. It's mainly used to develop applications and graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that can run across different operating systems.

Qt is available under the following free software licenses: GPL 2.0, GPL 3.0, LGPL 3.0 and LGPL 2.1 (with Qt special exception). Note that some modules are available only under a GPL license, which means that applications which link to these modules need to comply with that license.

> If you want to sell software made with Qt, that too requires a commercial license. The GPL allows commercial use including sales, BTW. I think he just means closed source mobile apps. For desktop applications, you can just dynamically link Qt and still sell your closed source applications.

Qt Creator primarily focuses on C++ development and offers excellent support for cross-platform application development using the Qt framework. On the other hand, Visual Studio supports a wider range of programming languages such as C++, C#, F#, and more, and provides extensive support for Windows-based development.

There is an open-source license which is free and a commercial license. The commercial license (Qt creator and Qt SDK) starts at $459/month.

As others have said in comments, WPF is better documented, and the online community is larger. If you are looking at styled applications WPF is certainly the way to go. Qt's Declarative language which is new is a good step along that road, but because it's so new it tends to be a bit buggy.

Tesla using Qt for GUI while SpaceX uses Electron shows how crazy modern UI development has become.

Does iOS use Qt? ›

Qt supports you in building, testing, and deploying applications for iOS. Qt applications are typically defined using the CMake or qmake build tools.

Get Started with Qt Mobile App Development Tools

Accelerate your development by connecting designers, developers, and testers into one streamlined workflow. Prototype, deploy, and test apps quicker with tools that work together on a single codebase. Readily available feature components boost your MVP development.

Understanding Qt

Qt is massive, I mean really complex because it does so much but at a high level it is broken up into smaller modules. Qt Core Non-graphical classes used by other modules. Qt GUI Base classes for graphical user interface (GUI) components.

The Qt Open Source Edition is our non-commercial versions of Qt. You can use this edition to create and run free software, i.e. software that is licensed under the GNU GPL or a similarly recognized open source license. Qt Open Source edition is available for Unix/X11, Macintosh and Linux/embedded.

Select Qt 6.4 or later kits for the platforms that you want to build the application for. To build applications for mobile devices, select kits also for Android and iOS. Note: The list shows kits that you specify in Preferences > Kits. For more information, see Add kits and Kits.

Qt is particularly suitable for intricate projects such as medical devices that demand native performance and advanced features. On the other hand, Flutter shines in projects emphasizing cost-effectiveness, rapid development, and high-performing, consistent UI across platforms.

Commercial License. Every person using Qt needs to comply with either Open Source License (GPL and LGPL) or Qt Commercial License. The main difference between the two lies in how the software can be used, modified, and distributed.

Qt Developer salary in India ranges between ₹ 2.0 Lakhs to ₹ 12.0 Lakhs with an average annual salary of ₹ 3.8 Lakhs. Salary estimates are based on 34 latest salaries received from Qt Developers. 0 - 5 years exp.