Skip Transitions to Open Source: A New Chapter for Cross-Platform Swift Development

The cross-platform development ecosystem has long been defined by a fundamental tension: the desire for code reuse versus the need for truly native user experiences. For years, developers have navigated this divide using tools that either compromised on performance, fidelity, or long-term viability. Skip, a framework that emerged in 2023 with the specific goal of enabling premium mobile apps for iOS and Android from a single Swift and SwiftUI codebase, has spent three years building a solution that attempts to sidestep these historical trade-offs. Today, the company announced a pivotal shift in its strategy: Skip is now completely free and open source.

This decision represents more than a simple pricing change. It addresses two core challenges that have plagued paid developer tools, particularly in the cross-platform space. First, there is the expectation of accessibility. Modern development is built upon a foundation of free, first-party tools—Xcode, Android Studio, Visual Studio Code—and a vast ecosystem of open-source libraries. When a critical tool requires a subscription, it creates a barrier to entry that can stifle experimentation and adoption. Second, and perhaps more critically, there is the issue of durability. Developers are rightfully cautious about building their core application strategy on a closed-source, proprietary tool from a small company. The fear of a "rug pull"—where a company pivots, gets acquired, or simply ceases operations—leaves teams with legacy codebases and no clear path forward. Skip’s innate ejectability, which allows developers to export their projects to standard Swift and Kotlin code, offered some mitigation, but it did not fully eliminate the risk of the underlying tool disappearing.

By open-sourcing its core engine, known as "skipstone," Skip is attempting to build a foundation of trust that transcends the typical vendor-client relationship. The skipstone engine handles the critical build-time functionality that makes the framework work: project creation and management, iOS-to-Android project transformation, resource bundling, JNI bridge creation, source transpilation, and app packaging. Making this engine public on GitHub at https://github.com/skiptools means that even if the core team were to vanish, the community could theoretically maintain and evolve the technology. This is a significant commitment to the long-term viability of the projects built with Skip.

The mechanics of this transition are straightforward for existing users. With the release of Skip 1.7, all licensing requirements have been removed. There are no more license keys, no end-user license agreements, and no trial periods. For current developers, the upgrade path is seamless; their setup remains unchanged, but the license key requirement is simply gone. For new users, the barrier to entry has been eliminated entirely. They can clone the repository, follow the documentation, and begin building immediately.

This move also involves a strategic rebranding of Skip’s web presence. The company is migrating from skip.tools to skip.dev, a new home that hosts documentation, blog posts, and case studies. Significantly, the skip.dev site itself is also open-source and available for contribution at https://github.com/skiptools/skip.dev. This creates a cohesive, community-driven ecosystem where both the tool and its supporting resources are transparent and modifiable.

However, open-sourcing a project does not magically solve the problem of sustainable development. Skip has been bootstrapped since its inception, operating without venture capital or private equity investment. This independence has allowed the team to prioritize the needs of developers over the demands of investors, but it also means that ongoing development, maintenance, and infrastructure costs must be covered. The company is now turning to the community for support through a tiered sponsorship model.

Current subscribers will see their plans automatically transition to either an Individual or Supporter tier, with the option to cancel at any time. For individual developers who believe in Skip’s mission, the company encourages contributions via GitHub Sponsors. For organizations and companies, corporate sponsorship tiers offer visibility on the Skip homepage and documentation in exchange for direct funding of development. This model is not unique in the open-source world, but it is a critical acknowledgment that "free" software often relies on a combination of volunteer labor and institutional support to remain robust and secure.

The timing of this shift is particularly relevant. The cross-platform development field is at a moment of significant evolution. Legacy frameworks like React Native and Flutter are increasingly struggling to keep pace with the rapid evolution of native UI systems. On iOS, features like Liquid Glass and advanced SwiftUI animations demand deep platform integration. On Android, Material Expressive and the ongoing refinement of Jetpack Compose require similar fidelity. The compromises that once seemed acceptable—slightly off-native animations, custom rendering engines that don’t perfectly match platform conventions—are now resulting in dated interfaces and a tangible competitive disadvantage for apps that prioritize a unified codebase over user experience.

Skip’s value proposition has always been its commitment to a "no-compromise" approach. By leveraging a Swift-to-Kotlin transpiler and a native Android SDK for Swift, it aims to provide the code-reuse benefits of a cross-platform tool while delivering the performance and native feel of a platform-specific app. The open-sourcing of skipstone and the removal of licensing fees are strategic moves to lower the barrier to entry for teams who are ready to move beyond the trade-offs of older frameworks.

The road ahead for Skip is inherently collaborative. Software, especially a tool that must support the evolving ecosystems of Swift, Kotlin, SwiftPM, Gradle, Xcode, Android Studio, iOS, Android, SwiftUI, and Jetpack Compose, is never finished. The company’s commitment is clear, but its ability to sustain and expand this work now depends on the collective support of developers and organizations who see value in its vision. By opening the doors to the community, Skip is betting on a future where the framework’s success is not tied to a single company’s fate, but to the shared investment of those who build with it.

For developers and teams evaluating their next cross-platform strategy, the question is no longer just about capability or cost, but about long-term confidence. With its new open-source model, Skip is presenting itself as a tool designed to outlive its creators, offering a foundation for universal mobile apps that is as durable as it is capable. The next step is for the community to decide if it’s a foundation worth building upon.

Get started with Skip 1.7 today and join the community building the future of native cross-platform development.