Website, web app or mobile app? How to choose what to build
"We need an app" is one of the most common requests we hear, and often the answer is a website or a web app instead. Here's what each one is, what each is good at, what they cost to run, and a simple way to decide.
“We need an app.”
It’s one of the most common things people say at the start of a project, and it’s worth pausing on. Sometimes a mobile app is exactly right. Often, what the business needs is a website, or a web app that works in the browser on any phone. The difference affects what you pay, how long it takes, how people find you, and how easy it is to change things later.
This guide explains the options in plain terms and gives you a way to decide.
The four options
A website
A website is mostly about information: who you are, what you offer, what it costs, how to get in touch. People visit it, read, and perhaps fill in a form or make a purchase. Most visitors are new or occasional, and many arrive from a search engine or a shared link.
Examples: a company website, a restaurant’s menu and booking page, a portfolio, a blog, a simple online shop.
A web app
A web app is about doing things. People sign in and use it to get work done: manage bookings, track orders, update stock, submit reports, pay invoices. It runs in the web browser, on a computer or phone, and nothing needs to be installed.
Examples: an online booking system, a customer portal, a staff dashboard, an internal tool that replaces a spreadsheet.
The line between a website and a web app isn’t sharp. An online shop is a website with web-app features. But the question “is this mostly for reading, or mostly for doing?” is a useful one.
A progressive web app (PWA)
A progressive web app is a web app built to behave more like an installed app. People can add it to their home screen, where it opens full-screen with its own icon. It can keep working with a weak or missing connection, and it can send notifications on devices that support them.
It’s still built with web technology and delivered through the browser, so there’s no app store in the way, and one version works on Android, iPhone and computers.
A mobile app
A mobile app (sometimes called a “native” app) is installed from the Apple App Store or Google Play. It lives on the phone and has the fullest access to the phone’s features.
Mobile apps can be built separately for each platform, or with cross-platform tools such as React Native or Flutter that let most of the code be shared between iPhone and Android. Either way, each app is published through each store.
What each is good at
Websites are best at being found
Search engines index websites. People share links in messages and on social media. A website opens instantly from a link, with nothing to install. If your goal is for new people to discover you, trust you and contact you, a website is the foundation. An app can’t replace it: people rarely install an app from a business they don’t know yet.
Web apps are best at reach and speed of change
A web app works on any device with a browser: Android, iPhone, laptop, office computer. You build it once. When you change something, everyone gets the new version the next time they open it, with no waiting for store approval and no users stuck on an old version.
That makes web apps a strong choice for internal tools, customer portals and anything that changes often.
Progressive web apps close much of the gap
A PWA adds three things people often assume only an installed app can do:
- An icon on the home screen, opening full-screen.
- Working offline, or with a patchy connection, by storing what’s needed on the device.
- Notifications. On Android this has been possible for years. On iPhone, Apple added support in iOS 16.4 (March 2023) for web apps that people have added to their home screen.
For many business uses, such as staff tools, field work, customer portals and booking, a PWA does everything that’s needed at a fraction of the cost of separate mobile apps.
Mobile apps are best at deep device features and daily habits
A mobile app still makes sense when:
- You need device features the web can’t reach, or can’t reach reliably. For example, advanced background location tracking, some Bluetooth devices, close integration with health data, or heavy use of the camera and sensors.
- People will use it many times a day, and you want the smoothest possible experience and the most reliable notifications.
- Being in the app stores matters to your customers, for example because they expect to find you there, or because your competitors are there.
- You’re building a product that is the app, rather than an app that supports a business.
What it costs over time
The build is only the first cost. What happens afterwards often matters more.
Building
As a rough comparison, not a price list:
- A website is usually the simplest to build.
- A web app or PWA costs more, depending on what it does, but you build one version for every device.
- A mobile app needs a version for iPhone and a version for Android. Cross-platform tools reduce the duplication, but each platform still needs its own testing, setup and store listing. And a mobile app almost always needs a web back end (the server, database and admin tools behind it) too, which is the same kind of work as a web app.
Publishing
Apps in the stores need developer accounts, which come with fees: Apple charges an annual membership and Google a one-time registration fee. Each release goes through the store’s review, which usually takes a short time but can take longer, and can be rejected if it doesn’t meet the store’s guidelines.
If you sell digital goods or subscriptions inside a mobile app, the stores’ rules may require you to use their payment systems and pay them a commission. The rules are detailed and vary by type of product and by region, so check them early if this applies to you. Physical goods and services, such as food, deliveries or appointments, are generally treated differently.
Websites and web apps have none of these gatekeepers.
Keeping it working
Apple and Google release new versions of their operating systems every year, and apps need to keep up. The stores also update their requirements over time, and apps that fall behind can eventually be hidden or removed. A mobile app needs regular attention even when you’re not adding anything.
Websites and web apps need looking after too, with security updates, dependency upgrades and browser testing, but they don’t have a store deadline hanging over them.
Updating
When you fix a bug on a website or web app, it’s fixed for everyone straight away. In a mobile app, the fix has to pass store review, and then each person has to update. Some people never do, so you may need to support older versions for a long time.
A simple way to decide
Work through these questions in order.
1. Who is it for: new customers or existing users?
If it’s mostly for people discovering your business, start with a website. Nothing else is found as easily.
2. Is it mostly for reading, or mostly for doing?
Reading: a website. Doing, such as managing, booking, tracking or submitting: a web app.
3. Do people need it offline, on the home screen, or with notifications?
If yes, make it a progressive web app. Check notifications against the devices your users actually have.
4. Does it need something only an installed app can do well?
Look at the specific feature, not the general feeling. If there’s a real requirement for deep device access, heavy daily use, or store presence, consider a mobile app.
5. Can you afford to build and look after it on two platforms, for years?
If not, a PWA is usually the better answer, even if a mobile app would be slightly nicer.
A lot of good projects end up as a combination: a website for being found, plus a web app or PWA for customers or staff. A mobile app can come later, once you know exactly what people use and why.
Common reasons people want an app, and what usually fits
“Customers should be able to order from us.” A website with ordering, or a PWA if they order often. Asking a new customer to install an app before their first order loses a lot of them.
“Our staff need a tool on their phones.” A PWA is usually ideal: it installs from a link, works offline, and updates instantly. No store listing needed for an internal tool.
“We want to send notifications.” Consider WhatsApp or SMS first. They reach people who haven’t installed anything. (See The WhatsApp Business Platform, explained.) If notifications need to come from your own product, a PWA can send them on most devices.
“Our competitors have an app.” Worth understanding why, and whether their customers actually use it. Being in the store isn’t the same as being on people’s phones.
“We want to look established.” A fast, clear, well-designed website does more for trust than an app most people never download.
“It needs the camera, GPS or offline storage.” The web can do much of this now: take photos, read location while in use, scan codes, and store data offline. Check the specific requirement before assuming you need a mobile app.
Three examples
Here’s how the decision can play out for three made-up businesses.
A cleaning company wants customers to book cleans online and staff to see their schedules. Customers book occasionally and mostly find the company through search and recommendations, so a website with online booking makes sense for them. The staff use the schedule every day, often in buildings with poor signal, so a progressive web app that works offline suits them. No store listing, no app to install for customers, one system behind both.
A distributor wants its shop customers to reorder stock. The shops order every week, from the same people, often from a phone behind the counter. A web app with saved orders and one-tap reordering does the job, installed to the home screen as a PWA for the shops that want it. Order updates go out on WhatsApp, which the shop owners already use all day.
A fitness studio wants members to book classes, track progress with a heart-rate strap, and get reminders. Members use it several times a week, and connecting to the strap reliably needs Bluetooth features that the web handles unevenly. This is a case where a mobile app earns its place, alongside a website for new members to find the studio.
In each case, the question wasn’t “app or not?” but “who uses this, how often, and what does it need to do?”
Questions to ask before you commit
- Who will use this, how often, and on what devices?
- What must it do on day one, and what could wait?
- Does it need to work offline or with a weak connection?
- Which device features does it truly need?
- How will people find it the first time?
- Who will look after it once it’s launched, and what will that cost each year?
- If we start with the web, could we add a mobile app later without starting again?
The answer to the last question should be yes. If the back end is well built, a mobile app can be added on top of it later, using the same data and business rules as the web app.
How we approach it
At Variance, we build websites, web apps, progressive web apps and mobile apps, so we don’t have a reason to push you toward one. We start with who will use it and what they need to do, and recommend the smallest thing that does the job well. Often that’s a website plus a web app, with a mobile app added later if it earns its place.
If you’re not sure what you need, tell us what you’re trying to do. We’ll help you work it out before anyone quotes for anything.