Website or mobile app: which does your business need?

Start with the difference

A website opens in any browser from a link, on any phone or computer, and can be found on Google. A mobile app is installed from an app store, lives on the home screen and can use phone features such as notifications and the camera.

When a website is the right choice

• You want to be found by new customers through search.
• People only need you occasionally, for example to book or enquire.
• You want the quickest and most affordable way to get online.
• You need to share information, take bookings or sell products.

A modern website can handle bookings, payments, forms and customer accounts, and works on every device without anyone installing anything.

When an app is worth it

• People will use it often, daily or weekly, such as a loyalty app, fitness classes or a service customers manage regularly.
• You need phone features like push notifications, the camera, location or working offline.
• The app is the product, for example a marketplace or booking platform with its own community of users.

The cost and time difference

An app needs design for small screens, development for the platforms you target, testing on real devices, app store review and updates over time. That is usually more work than a website with a similar purpose. Cross-platform tools such as Flutter and React Native let one codebase run on both iPhone and Android, which brings the cost down.

The middle path

Many businesses launch a fast, mobile-friendly website first and add an app later when real customer demand is clear. A web app, which behaves like an app inside the browser, can also be a good stepping stone.

Five questions to ask yourself

1. Will customers open this every week, or only once in a while?
2. Do I need something only an installed app can do?
3. Do I need customers to find me through Google?
4. What is the smallest version I could launch to test the idea?
5. Can I cover the cost of building and maintaining it?