Expo vs Merge
Side-by-side trajectory, velocity, and editorial themes.
Extending from build-and-ship into runtime observability and CI primitives.
Expo is in active release mode — SDK 55 landed in February, SDK 56 beta is now out, and the team is filling the gaps with build-time wins (Gradle and compiler caches), new product surfaces (Expo Observe in private preview), and developer-ergo additions like GitHub sign-in. A separate thread on Expo Go's App Store posture keeps recurring, signaling continued platform-store friction.
The arc is broadening past "build and ship React Native apps" into the operational layer around them: production observability with Expo Observe, CI primitives via MCP tools and compiler caches, and authentication ergonomics. The SDK cadence remains the metronome, but the most interesting motion is happening adjacent to it — at the dev-experience and runtime-ops edges.
Expo Observe is the directional bet for 2026; expect it to exit preview tying crash, performance, and user-flow analytics directly to the EAS pipeline. On the iOS side, expect ongoing posts and a push toward Dev Client and bare workflows as the more durable distribution path, with Expo Go reserved for prototyping rather than production handoff.
Merge is building an AI-infrastructure stack alongside its unified-API core, with Gateway emerging as a safety/governance layer.
Merge Unified continues a weekly cadence of API maintenance and connector expansion, with Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP launching for Accounting in beta. Merge Agent Handler — the MCP/agent-tools product — is shipping new connectors almost weekly and added Scoped Access Keys for least-privilege agent runtimes. Merge Gateway, the LLM gateway, just shipped Prompt Injection Protection, DLP, RBAC, audit trails, model pinning, and provider-free routing in back-to-back weeks.
Merge is no longer just a unified-API company. Two adjacent products — Agent Handler and Gateway — are getting the heaviest investment, while Unified gets steady connector and reliability work. The Gateway moves into safety and governance target enterprise AI deployments where native provider safety isn't enough. Agent Handler's connector pace suggests Merge wants to be the default tool-pack provider for agent builders.
Expect more Gateway governance features (custom DLP rules, broader vendor support, finer role-based controls) and continued weekly connector drops in Agent Handler — most likely targeting enterprise-SaaS gaps. The Unified roadmap may start incorporating agent-shaped endpoints, blurring lines between Unified and Agent Handler.
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