HotCodePush
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Stallion and HotCodePush, measured

Stallion leads on rollback diagnostics. HotCodePush, the over-the-air (OTA) update service for React Native, Expo, Capacitor and Cordova, adds channels, version ranges, automatic build matching and rollouts that run both ways.

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Compared

Where HotCodePush and Stallion differ

Verified on 2026-10-21; Stallion figures from stalliontech.io, its pricing and learn.stalliontech.io.

Feature HotCodePush Stallion
Compatibility The fingerprint by default; a semver range when you need one One app version per release
Environments Channels inside one app, a protected flag on any of them A separate project per environment
Rollouts Raised or lowered; a device keeps its release Raised only; paused or rolled back instead
Devices behind a rollout The newest release for every native layer stays served, so a device gets the newest one it fits A device off the latest release gets the previous one only at 100 %
A bad update on a device A readiness gate: first render within 10 seconds, plus crashes Crash-aware rollback, as Stallion describes it
Rollback observability A typed reason for every skipped or failed device, the device probe Adoption and rollback analytics, with an MCP server
Frameworks React Native, Expo, Capacitor, Cordova React Native 0.76 and newer, Expo SDK 52 and newer

Last verified 2026-10-21.

Based on Stallion's public pricing and documentation pages; names are trademarks of their owners.

Architecture

Ranges, channels and the newest release that fits

A Stallion release targets one app version. HotCodePush releases carry the fingerprint or a semver range, and a device gets the newest one it fits.

A Stallion release is a bundle promoted for one app version, and a device off the latest release gets the previous one only once that release is at 100 percent. A HotCodePush release carries the fingerprint, or a semver range when you want one, and lives on a channel inside the app. The newest release for every native layer you have shipped stays served, so a device that misses a partial rollout still gets the newest release it qualifies for.

How the fingerprint works

Diagram: one Stallion release per app version beside HotCodePush channels where the newest release for each native layer stays served.

Switch in four steps

  • 1 · Install the SDK

    Add the HotCodePush SDK for your framework, React Native, Expo, Capacitor or Cordova, and remove the previous update client. The SDK is MIT-licensed and replaces the update layer alone; your native code, your plugins and your store listing stay as they are.

  • 2 · Create your channels

    Create one channel per audience you ship to today, production first, then staging or beta. A preview channel lets you test the new path on your own devices before anyone else; whoever holds its link follows it, and nobody else reaches it.

  • 3 · Ship one store release

    Ship one store release with the new SDK inside. The binaries before it keep taking their old updates until their users move, so nothing breaks in the field, and devices on the new binary use HotCodePush from their first start.

  • 4 · Run the release step

    In your pipeline, replace the old release command with hotcodepush release create. It packages the bundle, signs it, works out what changed and releases to the channel you name, so every merge to main reaches devices without a store review.

Full migration guide

Switching from Stallion

Yes. The gate confirms a release when the app's first render lands in time; a crash before that, or a screen that never renders, rolls the device back to its last confirmed bundle and reports why. Stallion's rollback fires on a crash. Rollback on the device
Channels. Create one per environment inside the app, protect the production one so only signed releases reach it, and switch a device at runtime by name or id; Stallion uses a project per environment with its own credentials. Set up environments
Yes. The switch ships inside a store release; binaries before it keep taking their old updates until their users move. A preview channel lets you test the new path on your own devices first. Preview channels
Nothing native. HotCodePush updates the JavaScript, markup, styles and assets your app already ships; the native layer, the plugins and the store listing stay as they are, and the fingerprint keeps an update off a binary it was not built for. Compatibility
Yes. Every framework gets deltas, built by our delta service when you release, so a device downloads only the files it lacks. React Native and Expo also get a small patch of the main JavaScript bundle inside the pack. How an update reaches a device
Your data is yours. The API lists everything, so a full export is a script, and the usage and audit log pages download CSV. The SDKs are MIT-licensed and the update format stays backward compatible, so an app on an old SDK keeps updating. API reference

A package swap, not a rewrite.

Swap the package in your next store release.

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