Short answer

EAS Build for every new project. Fastlane only if you are stuck in an older bare React Native project that already depends on it, or if your CI budget is zero and you have a spare weekend.

The reason is not that Fastlane is bad. It is that EAS Build has closed the gap and removed most of the setup pain.

EAS Build strengths

• Credentials managed for you. No downloading .p12 files, no manual provisioning profiles.
• eas submit uploads to App Store Connect and Play Console from the same command.
• Works with Expo prebuild, which means config plugins are a first-class concept.
• Build profiles in eas.json are declarative.
• Build-time secrets via eas secret:create.

EAS Build weaknesses

• Costs money past a free tier. Paid plans start at ~$29/month per seat.
• Build queues can add latency at peak hours.
• Some very custom native builds still need a workaround (usually via expo-dev-client + custom hooks).

Fastlane strengths

• Free. Runs on your machine or your CI.
• Scriptable in Ruby if you want to do unusual things.
• Mature ecosystem — almost everything has a Fastlane action.
• No queue.

Fastlane weaknesses

• You manage provisioning and signing yourself. "Match" helps but is still a setup.
• You are on the hook for CI reliability. Flaky builds are your problem.
• Slower to learn. Ruby + Xcode + Gradle in one rope.
• Setup time for a brand-new project: 4–8 hours if it is your first time.

Real numbers from shipped apps

• EAS Build first-project setup: ~45 minutes to a production build on App Store Connect.
• Fastlane first-project setup: ~5 hours, two of them on Match and signing.
• EAS Build cost on a paid plan: ~$29/month for a small team.
• Fastlane cost: $0 plus whatever your CI runner costs.

For a solo dev or a small team, the $29/month is cheaper than your time.

When Fastlane still makes sense

• You are on bare React Native with heavy native customization that fights Expo prebuild.
• You must self-host everything (compliance reason).
• You want fine-grained scripting around the build (copy artifacts, Slack notifications, custom TestFlight grouping).

My default

EAS Build. For every new project. The time I save on signing alone pays the monthly fee.

What AI App Factory ships

EAS Build profiles (dev, preview, production) preconfigured in eas.json. eas submit wired for both stores. Secrets slot documented. You run two commands and you have a production build.

See pricing