Ionic is an open-source UI toolkit for creating high-performing, high-quality mobile applications, desktop applications, and progressive web applications utilising web technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. It enables programmers to create once and run anywhere. The Ionic framework is PRIMARILY concerned with front-end user experience, or UI interaction, which is RESPONSIBLE for your app's overall appearance and feel. It's simple to understand and integrates with other libraries and frameworks like Angular, Cordova, and OTHERS. It can also be utilised without a front-end framework by incorporating a simple SCRIPT inclusion.

Drifty Co.'s Max Lynch, Ben Sperry, and Adam Bradley developed Ionic in 2013. The first version, which was launched in 2013, was based on AngularJS and Apache Cordova. The most recent edition, HOWEVER, was re-built as a set of Web Components, allowing the user to utilise any user interface framework, including Angular, React, and Vue.js. It also enables the use of Ionic components without the use of any user interface framework.