VisionCamera vs Expo Camera
Choosing between VisionCamera and Expo Camera based on available features, platform support and native integration requirements
Both VisionCamera and Expo Camera are popular Camera libraries for React Native and Expo - however each come with their own feature set and limitations, showcased here on this page.
- Expo Camera (expo-camera) is the Expo SDK's Camera view. Pick it for Expo Go, Web, and fast Expo setup.
- VisionCamera (react-native-vision-camera) is a native Camera framework built with Nitro. Pick it for camera-first apps, pro capture controls, high-performance Camera apps, realtime frames/ML, depth, HDR/RAW, multi-cam, custom outputs, or native plugins.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | VisionCamera | Expo Camera |
|---|---|---|
| Works in Expo Go | ❌ | ✅ |
| Works on Web | ❌ | ✅ |
| Camera View Component | ✅ | ✅ |
| Capturing Photos | ✅ | ✅ |
| In-memory Photo Capture | ✅ | ✅ |
| Android Snapshot Capture | ✅ | ❌ |
| Capturing Videos | ✅ | ✅ |
| Barcode Scanning | ✅ | ✅ |
| System Barcode Scanner UI | ❌ | ✅ |
| Scan Barcodes from Image URL | ✅ | ✅ |
| Locking AE/AF/AWB | ✅ | ❌ |
Configurable focusTo(...) | ✅ | ❌ |
| Realtime Frame Processing | ✅ | ❌ |
| Drawing onto the Camera with Skia | ✅ | ❌ |
| Realtime Depth Frame Processing | ✅ | ❌ |
| Depth in Photos | ✅ | ❌ |
| Capturing RAW Photos | ✅ | ❌ |
| Photo HDR | ✅ | ❌ |
| Video HDR/Dynamic Ranges | ✅ | ❌ |
| Maximum Photo Resolution | ✅ | ❌ |
| Android Camera Extensions | ✅ | ❌ |
| Video Stabilization | ✅ | ✅ |
| Preview Stabilization | ✅ | ❌ |
| Low Light Boost | ✅ | ❌ |
| Exposure Bias | ✅ | ❌ |
| Configurable FPS | ✅ | ❌ |
| Specific Camera/Lens Selection | ✅ | Front/back + iOS lenses |
| External Camera Devices | ✅ | ❌ |
| Multi-Camera Support | ✅ | ❌ |
| Persistent Video Outputs | ✅ | ❌ |
| Coordinate Systems | ✅ | ❌ |
| Location Tags | ✅ | ❌ |
| Photo Output Callbacks | ✅ | ❌ |
| Preview Image During Capture | ✅ | ❌ |
| Custom Photo JPEG Quality | ✅ | ✅ |
Photo qualityPrioritization | ✅ | ❌ |
Custom Video maxFileSize | ✅ | ✅ |
Custom Video maxDuration | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom Video Bitrate | ✅ | ✅ |
Custom Video codec | ✅ | ✅ |
| Native Frame Processor Plugins | ✅ | ❌ |
Custom Native CameraOutputs | ✅ | ❌ |
Expo projects
Expo Camera is an Expo SDK package and runs in Expo Go.
VisionCamera is a third-party native package and runs in an Expo Development Build (expo prebuild), or in a bare React Native app.