Insights · 4 min read
Web app or mobile app: which does your business need?
By Austin Hunter ·
Many projects start with "we need an app," but the right answer is often a web app, a mobile app, or a web app first with a mobile app later. The choice changes the cost, the timeline and how people find and use what you build.
The difference
A web app runs in the browser at a web address, on phones and computers alike. You update it once and everyone has the new version. A mobile app is installed from the App Store or Google Play, can use more of the phone (camera, notifications, offline storage, location in the background), and lives on the home screen, but each release goes through store review and users have to update.
A web app is usually right when
- Most use happens at a desk: admin tools, dashboards, CRMs, portals, scheduling for staff.
- Users visit occasionally (pay a bill, check a status, book once a month) and won't want to install anything.
- You need it live quickly and want to change it often.
- The budget covers one version, not two.
A mobile app is usually right when
- People use it daily or on the move: field crews, drivers, members, customers who come back often.
- It needs the phone itself: the camera, reliable push notifications, offline use, barcode scanning, Bluetooth.
- Being on the home screen and in the app stores matters for your customers.
Often the answer is both, in order
A common path is a web app for staff or admins first, then a mobile app for the people in the field or your customers, both sharing the same backend and data. Modern cross-platform tools also let one codebase serve iPhone and Android, which keeps the second step affordable.
Questions to settle first
- Who uses it, how often, and on what device?
- Does it need to work without a signal?
- Do you need notifications that reliably reach people?
- Who will keep it updated each year? Mobile apps need yearly store updates.
We build both
We build web apps, iPhone and Android apps, and the backends behind them, and we run our own apps in both stores. On a free call we'll tell you which we'd build first for your situation, and why.