Best CodePush Alternative for React Native (2026)

The Problem

Why Teams Are Abandoning CodePush

Microsoft handed CodePush to AppCenter. AppCenter shut down. Now your OTA pipeline is a liability, and the issues go deeper than just the sunset date.

Service Shutdown

AppCenter CodePush was officially retired on March 31, 2025. Any app still relying on CodePush servers is running on borrowed time or is already broken.

New Architecture Broken

React Native 0.76+ enables Bridgeless mode by default. CodePush's reload mechanism depends on the old JS bridge, and it silently fails in Bridgeless mode, leaving users on stale bundles.

No Hermes Optimisation

Hermes is now the default JS engine in React Native. CodePush predates Hermes-specific bundle optimisations, meaning you're shipping larger, slower bundles than necessary.

No Bundle Signing

CodePush does not cryptographically sign update bundles. A compromised CDN or MITM attack can push malicious code to every device running your app with no integrity check.

No CI/CD Native Integration

The CodePush CLI was bolted onto AppCenter's ecosystem. Teams using GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, or Bitrise had to maintain fragile shell-script glue to connect deployments.

Zero Analytics

CodePush provided basic install counts but no adoption rate tracking, crash correlation, rollback telemetry, or update funnel visibility, which are critical data points for production deployments.

Evaluation Criteria

What to Look For in a
‍CodePush Replacement

Not all OTA solutions are equal. Here are the non-negotiable criteria before you commit to a new pipeline.

React Native New Architecture Support

Must handle OTA reloads in Bridgeless mode (RN 0.76+). Solutions that depend on the old JS bridge will silently fail without warning on modern React Native.

Cryptographic Bundle Signing

Every update bundle should be signed and verified on-device before execution. Without this, any compromised CDN node can push arbitrary JavaScript to your entire user base.

Instant Rollback

When a bad update ships, you need a one-command CLI rollback that reaches 100% of devices in seconds, not minutes. Check whether rollback is atomic and whether it requires another OTA cycle.

Native CI/CD Integration

First-class GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Bitrise plugins, not shell scripts. Deployment should be a single workflow step with proper secrets management and audit logs.

Bundle Download & Rollback Analytics

Track update adoption rates by version, device type, and region. Correlate crashes with specific update versions so you know whether to roll back before your support queue spikes.

Global CDN with Low Latency

Update delivery speed directly impacts user experience. A global CDN with edge nodes in Asia, Europe, and the Americas ensures consistent sub-second download times regardless of user location.

2.1s

Avg Deploy Time

99.9%

Update Success Rate

300+

CDN Edge Nodes

<30 mins

Migration Time

The Solution

Meet AppsOnAir CodePush

Purpose-built for modern React Native. AppsOnAir CodePush is a drop-in replacement that works with React Native version 0.70 and above, supports Bridgeless mode natively, and ships with the enterprise security and observability features that CodePush never had.

Built-in Bridgeless restart module, with no custom native code required

Ed25519 bundle signing verified on-device before execution

Real-time adoption dashboard with crash correlation

GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Bitrise plugins with zero shell-script glue

Atomic rollback to all devices with a single CLI command

Start Free Migration

Update Flow

1. Push to main branch

GitHub / GitLab / Bitbucket

2. CI builds + signs bundle

Ed25519 signature attached

3. AppsOnAir CDN distributes

300+ edge nodes globally

4. App verifies + applies update

Bridgeless-aware restart

Features

Everything CodePush Never Had

AppsOnAir CodePush was designed from the ground up for how production React Native apps are actually built and shipped in 2026.

New Architecture Native Support

Ships a TurboModule-compatible restart bridge that works in both bridgeless and legacy bridge modes. Supports RN 0.70 through 0.81 with zero configuration changes as you upgrade.

Ed25519 Bundle Signing

Every bundle is signed with your private key and verified on-device before a single line of JS runs. MITM attacks, CDN compromises, and replay attacks are cryptographically blocked.

Atomic Rollback

One CLI command in the terminal rolls back all devices to any previous version. No second OTA cycle is needed, the previous bundle is already cached on-device and activated immediately.

Real-Time Adoption Analytics

Live dashboard showing update adoption by version, device model, OS, and region. Set automated rollback thresholds. If the crash rate exceeds X%, roll back without human intervention.

Native CI/CD Plugins

First-class GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, and Bitrise plugins. Deploy OTA updates as a single workflow step with no shell scripts, no AppCenter CLI, and no undocumented API calls.

Staged Rollouts

Roll out to 1%, 10%, or 50% of users before full release. Target by user segment, device type, or app version. Pause, expand, or retract a rollout at any point without a store update.

Features

All CodePush Alternatives Compared

AppsOnAir CodePush vs AppCenter CodePush vs Expo Updates vs Self-Hosted, across every dimension that matters in production.

Feature

AppsOnAir CodePush

AppCenter CodePush

Expo Updates

Self-Hosted

Service Status

Active & Maintained

Discontinued Mar 2025

Active

Depends on you

RN New Architecture (Bridgeless)

Full Support

Broken

Supported

Manual — requires custom native module

Bundle Signing

Ed25519

None

Partial

DIY — you build it

Instant Rollback

Single CLI Command, atomic

Promote previous

Channel-based

Custom implementation

CI/CD Integration

Native plugins

Discontinued CLI

EAS CLI

Shell scripts only

Staged Rollouts

% + segment targeting

% only

Custom implementation

Analytics Dashboard

Full adoption + crashes

None

Basic stats

DIY with third-party

Hermes Bundle Support

Optimised

Basic

Supported

Manual configuration

React Native Only

RN + Expo bare

RN only

Expo ecosystem

Any

Global CDN

300+ edge nodes

Discontinued

AWS CloudFront

Your infrastructure

Pricing

Free tier + usage-based

No longer available

Free + EAS plan

Infrastructure cost only

Migration Effort

Drop-in, <30 mins

N/A — Discontinued

Medium — SDK swap + config

High — weeks of DevOps

Migration Guide

Migrate from CodePush to AppsOnAir

Most teams complete the migration in under a day. Replace your old AppCenter CodePush setup with AppsOnAir and continue shipping OTA updates with minimal code changes.

Before You Start

AppCenter CodePush servers were discontinued on March 31, 2025. If your application still points to old AppCenter CodePush endpoints, OTA updates may no longer work correctly.

01

Create Your AppsOnAir App

Create your application in AppsOnAir and copy your deployment keys from the CodePush section.

Native Configuration

# Android Configuration
# File: android/app/src/main/res/values/strings.xml

<string moduleConfig="true" name="CodePushDeploymentKey">YOUR_ANDROID_DEPLOYMENT_KEY</string>
<string moduleConfig="true" name="CodePushServerUrl">https://codepush.appsonair.com</string>

# iOS Configuration
# File: ios/[ProjectName]/Info.plist

<key>CodePushDeploymentKey</key>
<string>YOUR_IOS_DEPLOYMENT_KEY</string>

<key>CodePushServerURL</key>
<string>https://codepush.appsonair.com</string>

# --- NEW ARCHITECTURE UPDATES ---
# If you are on the new architecture, apply these changes:

# File: android/app/build.gradle
// FROM:
apply from: "../../node_modules/react-native-code-push/android/codepush.gradle"

// TO:
apply from: "../../node_modules/@code-push-next/react-native-code-push/android/codepush.gradle"

# File: android/settings.gradle
// REMOVE the following lines:
include ':app', ':react-native-code-push'
project(':react-native-code-push').projectDir = new File(rootProject.projectDir, '../node_modules/react-native-code-push/android/app')

02

Install AppsOnAir Compatible SDK

Install the compatible React Native CodePush package and link native dependencies.

Terminal

# Install package
npm install react-native-code-push

# Install iOS pods
cd ios && pod install && cd ..

03

Update Your App Entry Point

Continue using your existing CodePush integration and update your deployment configuration if required.

App.tsx

import CodePush from "react-native-code-push";

useEffect(() => {
  CodePush.sync({
    installMode: CodePush.InstallMode.IMMEDIATE,
    updateDialog: true,
  });
}, []);

04

Update CI/CD Pipeline

Replace your existing AppCenter OTA deployment command with the AppsOnAir CodePush CLI command.

Before & After

# Old AppCenter command
appcenter codepush release-react

# Install AppsOnAir CLI
npm install -g @appsonair/codepush-cli

# New AppsOnAir command
appsonair-codepush release-react workspace-app-ios --target-version 1.0.0

05

Deploy Your First OTA Update

Log in using the AppsOnAir CodePush CLI and deploy your first OTA update.

Terminal

# Login
appsonair-codepush login

# Release update
appsonair-codepush release-react workspace-app-ios --target-version 1.0.0

Migration complete. Your OTA update pipeline is now running on AppsOnAir.

Scaling Scenarios

How It Holds Up At Scale

OTA at 10k users is a different problem from OTA at 10M. These are the scenarios where architecture decisions actually matter.

Scenario 01 · Large User Base

Pushing to 2M Devices in a Single Deploy

When a critical bug fix needs to reach every user fast, your OTA infrastructure faces its hardest test: millions of devices checking simultaneously and all downloading the same bundle from a standing start.

AppsOnAir: CDN edge servers deliver from 300+ PoPs with no origin surge. Staged rollouts let you ramp from 1% → 10% → 100% with real crash data at each threshold before expanding.

Self-hosted S3: Origin servers face the full thundering herd unless CloudFront cache headers are preconfigured perfectly, which is easy to get wrong under pressure at 2 AM.

Staged Rollout Timeline — 2M Users

T+0min

Deploy to 1% · 20k devices · Monitor crash rate

T+30min

Expand to 10% · 200k devices · Check adoption

T+2hr

Expand to 50% · Auto-check crash threshold

T+4hr

Full rollout — 2M devices updated ✓

Scenario 02 · Emergency Rollback

A bad OTA reaches 500k users, roll it back

Crash rate spikes to 8% within 15 minutes of a full deploy. You need every affected device on the previous version instantly. How each solution handles this defines whether it is production-ready.

AppsOnAir: One CLI command in the terminal. The previous bundle is already cached on-device, so no new download cycle is needed. 500k devices revert on the next app foreground.

Expo Updates: Rollback requires promoting a previous release to the active channel, which triggers a new download push that must propagate to all devices. Slower by design.

Self-hosted: Update the manifest pointer, flush the CDN cache, and verify the rollback bundle is still in storage. Zero automation and high MTTR.

Rollback Time to Full Resolution

AppsOnAir — Atomic <30 sec

Expo Updates 5–15 min

Self-hosted — Manual 30–120 min

Scenario 03 · Enterprise / Compliance

Enterprise Audit & Compliance Requirements

Financial services, healthcare, and enterprise B2B teams face audit requirements that most OTA solutions were not built for. Every deployment needs a full trail: who deployed, when, what changed, and which devices received it.

SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 certified infrastructure

Role-based access control with separate deploy permissions per environment

Bundle signing keys stay in your vault. AppsOnAir never holds your private key

SOC 2

Type II certified
(In Progress)

ISO 27001

:2022 certified

RBAC

Per-environment

Microsoft CodePush
‍Is Dead
‍Here's What's Next

Why Teams Are Abandoning CodePush

Service Shutdown

New Architecture Broken

No Hermes Optimisation

No Bundle Signing

No CI/CD Native Integration

Zero Analytics

What to Look For in a
‍CodePush Replacement

React Native New Architecture Support

Cryptographic Bundle Signing

Instant Rollback

Native CI/CD Integration

Bundle Download & Rollback Analytics

Global CDN with Low Latency

Meet AppsOnAir CodePush

Everything CodePush Never Had

New Architecture Native Support

Ed25519 Bundle Signing

Atomic Rollback

Real-Time Adoption Analytics

Native CI/CD Plugins

Staged Rollouts

All CodePush Alternatives Compared

Migrate from CodePush to AppsOnAir

Before You Start

Create Your AppsOnAir App

Install AppsOnAir Compatible SDK

Update Your App Entry Point

Update CI/CD Pipeline

Deploy Your First OTA Update

How It Holds Up At Scale

Pushing to 2M Devices in a Single Deploy

A bad OTA reaches 500k users, roll it back

Enterprise Audit & Compliance Requirements

Got Questions? We've Got Answers

Stop Running on
Dead Infrastructure

No Noise.‍Just Mobile Value.

Microsoft CodePush ‍Is Dead ‍Here's What's Next

Why Teams Are Abandoning CodePush

Service Shutdown

New Architecture Broken

No Hermes Optimisation

No Bundle Signing

No CI/CD Native Integration

Zero Analytics

What to Look For in a ‍CodePush Replacement

React Native New Architecture Support

Cryptographic Bundle Signing

Instant Rollback

Native CI/CD Integration

Bundle Download & Rollback Analytics

Global CDN with Low Latency

Meet AppsOnAir CodePush

Everything CodePush Never Had

New Architecture Native Support

Ed25519 Bundle Signing

Atomic Rollback

Real-Time Adoption Analytics

Native CI/CD Plugins

Staged Rollouts

All CodePush Alternatives Compared

Migrate from CodePush to AppsOnAir

Before You Start

Create Your AppsOnAir App

Install AppsOnAir Compatible SDK

Update Your App Entry Point

Update CI/CD Pipeline

Deploy Your First OTA Update

How It Holds Up At Scale

Pushing to 2M Devices in a Single Deploy

A bad OTA reaches 500k users, roll it back

Enterprise Audit & Compliance Requirements

Got Questions? We've Got Answers

Is Microsoft CodePush completely dead?

What is the best CodePush alternative for React Native in 2026?

Does AppsOnAir CodePush support React Native New Architecture (Bridgeless)?

Can I self-host a CodePush replacement?

How long does migration from CodePush to AppsOnAir take?

Does OTA update violate App Store or Play Store guidelines?

What happens if an OTA update fails or crashes on device?

Does AppsOnAir CodePush work with Expo?

How does AppsOnAir handle Hermes bytecode bundles?

Stop Running onDead Infrastructure

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No Noise.
‍Just Mobile Value.

Microsoft CodePush
‍Is Dead
‍Here's What's Next

What to Look For in a
‍CodePush Replacement

Stop Running on
Dead Infrastructure