Mobile app or PWA: which should your business choose?

“We need an app.” It’s a request we hear often, and the right answer isn’t always to build an app to publish on the App Store. Depending on your goal, a PWA, or even a well-designed mobile website, can do the same job for a fraction of the price. Here’s how to decide.

The three options

The native app

It’s downloaded from the App Store or Google Play and installed on the phone. It has access to all the device’s features and offers the smoothest experience. Today, it’s most often built with a cross-platform framework like React Native or Flutter, which produces the iPhone and Android versions from the same code.

The PWA (Progressive Web App)

It’s a website that behaves like an app: it can be added to the home screen, open full screen, work partly offline and send notifications. No app stores, no updates to download: a single version, accessible from a simple link.

The responsive website

A website designed well for mobile, without app features. For many businesses, it’s enough: your customers want to find your opening hours, book or order, not install yet another app.

The comparison

• Cost: a PWA is significantly cheaper, because there’s only one version to build and maintain.
• Visibility: a PWA is indexed by Google like a website; a native app is visible in the stores, but not in standard search results.
• Installation: users hesitate to download an app; a PWA can be used immediately from a link or a QR code.
• Features: native apps keep the edge for Bluetooth, certain sensors, heavy processing or advanced offline use.
• Notifications: available on Android and, since 2023, on iPhone, but only if the PWA has been added to the home screen.
• App store fees: an Apple developer account is paid annually, and in-app purchases are subject to a commission.

When should you choose a native app?

• Your service is used several times a week by the same people.
• You need advanced phone features (Bluetooth, background location, NFC).
• Being in the app stores is part of your credibility or your acquisition.
• You sell a subscription or content your customers use every day.

When is a PWA enough?

• A loyalty programme or a digital membership card.
• Booking, ordering or order tracking.
• An internal tool for your field teams: call-outs, inventories, reports.
• A customer area to view documents, invoices or appointments.

What really matters: the back office

Native or web, an app is only as good as what lies behind it: the database, user accounts, payments, connections with your other tools (till, CRM, accounting). That’s often where most of the work lies, and where the quality of the project is decided. We explain this in our article on connecting your website to a CRM.

A concrete example

For MY Sauna, self-service saunas in Switzerland, no app download was needed: customers book on the website, pay online and automatically receive an access code by text message. Simple for the user, and zero staff on site.

How much does it cost?

It all depends on the features, but remember the order of magnitude: a simple PWA generally costs much less than an equivalent native app, and its maintenance is lighter. The most important thing is to define the scope of the first version well. Tell us about your project: as part of our app development services in Marseille, we help you choose the right option and price it precisely.