Summary
A web app opens in the browser from a link; a mobile app is installed from the App Store or Google Play. In short:
- Start with a web app if people use your product at a desk or now and then, if you need to be found on Google, or if you’re testing an idea you’ll change every week.
- Start with a mobile app if people will use it daily on the go, or if it depends on the phone itself: camera, location, Bluetooth, notifications or working offline.
- A web app is usually cheaper and faster for a first version: one version for every device, instant updates and no app store review or fees.
- The middle ground is a web app built to work well on phones, which people can add to their home screen.
- Many products end up with both: an app for customers and a web dashboard for the team behind it.
The difference, in a minute
A web app is software that runs in the browser: you open a link, sign in and use it, on a phone or a computer. Think of a booking tool, a dashboard or an online editor. It isn’t the same as a website: a website mostly shows information, while a web app is something you work in.
A mobile app is installed from the App Store or Google Play and lives on the phone’s home screen, with full access to the phone’s features.
In between sits the progressive web app: a web app that people can add to their home screen, that can work partly offline, and that can send notifications. On iPhones, web apps added to the Home Screen have been able to send notifications since iOS 16.4 in 2023 (WebKit).
Web app vs mobile app at a glance
| Compared | Web app | Mobile app |
|---|---|---|
| How people get it | Open a link | Download it from a store |
| How people find it | Google search and links | App Store and Google Play search |
| Works on | Any phone or computer with a browser | iPhone and Android |
| Updates | Instant, for everyone | Through store review, then each user updates |
| Phone features | Camera, location and notifications, with limits | Everything: camera, location, Bluetooth, background tasks |
| Offline | Limited | Yes, when built for it |
| Store fees | None | $99 a year for Apple, $25 once for Google, and 15–30% of digital sales |
| First version | Usually cheaper and faster | Usually costs more: two platforms and store work |
When to start with a web app
- People use it at a desk, or now and then. Dashboards, admin tools, booking and ordering rarely need to live on a home screen.
- You need to be found on Google. Web pages can show up in search; what’s inside an app mostly can’t.
- You’re still testing the idea. You can change a web app every day, for everyone at once, with no store review in the way.
- Your customers are businesses. Staff can open a link on a work laptop without installing anything.
- You sell subscriptions. Payments on the web avoid the 15–30% that the app stores take from digital sales inside apps.
That’s why several of our projects are web apps. Soma AI is a workspace for launching Facebook and Instagram ads in bulk, built for marketers, who do that work at a computer. Orbsway’s doctor panel is a dashboard where doctors manage patients and book appointments. And the meta-analysis tool we built with AIIMS Raipur gives researchers forest plots and funnel plots in the browser.
When to start with a mobile app
- People will use it every day, on the go. An icon on the home screen and notifications bring them back.
- It depends on the phone. Scanning with the camera, tracking location, talking to a device over Bluetooth or running in the background all work best, or only, in a mobile app.
- It has to work offline. A mobile app can keep everything on the device and work with no connection at all.
- Being in the app stores matters. For some audiences, a store listing is where they look first and what makes a product feel real.
Kaushal AI, the learning app we built, is a mobile app: learners watch its lessons, dubbed into Hindi, Marathi and English, on their phones. Bird Guide is an offline Android app: it runs on touch-screen kiosks at a bird centre, with no internet needed.
The middle ground: a web app built for phones
You don’t always have to choose. A web app designed to work well on phones, and that people can add to their home screen, covers a lot of what a mobile app does, without the stores. For Tradepeeps, which shares trade insights from SEBI-registered experts, we made their existing platform work properly on phones rather than building a separate app.
Where it falls short is the deep phone features: background work, Bluetooth, full offline use, and the habit-forming pull of a real app icon.
Most products end up with both
The question is usually which comes first, not which one forever. Two common paths:
- Web app first, then a mobile app once you know what users do every day and want in their pocket.
- Mobile app first, with a web dashboard for the team behind it: managing users, content and orders is far easier on a big screen.
Orbsway shows why the split helps: patients do their eye exercises in a patient app built for them, while doctors manage patients from a separate dashboard. Planning both from the start, on a shared backend, saves rebuilding later.
Cost and time
A web app’s first version is usually cheaper and quicker: one version for every device, no store setup and no waiting on review. A mobile app costs more, though building iPhone and Android from one codebase narrows the gap. For real numbers, see our guides to app development cost and MVP development.
Five questions to decide
- Where will people use it: at a desk, or on the go?
- How often: every day, or now and then?
- Does the main job need the camera, location, Bluetooth or offline use?
- How will people find it: Google, or the app stores?
- How will it make money, and would store fees on digital sales hurt?
Mostly desk, now and then, no phone features, found on Google: start with a web app. Mostly on the go, daily, built on the phone’s features: start with a mobile app.
We build both web apps and mobile apps, so we’ll tell you which fits your product. Send Radical Labs a short brief, and you’ll hear back from the people who would design and build it.
FAQs
Is a web app cheaper than a mobile app?
Usually, for a first version: one version works on every device, and there’s no app store setup, review or fees. Building iPhone and Android from one codebase narrows the gap.
Can a web app work like a mobile app?
Largely. People can add a web app to their home screen, and it can send notifications, including on iPhones since iOS 16.4. It falls short on background work, Bluetooth and full offline use.
What is a progressive web app?
A web app that people can add to their home screen, that can work partly offline and send notifications, without going through an app store.
Is a web app the same as a website?
No. A website mostly shows information; a web app is software you sign in to and use, like a dashboard, a booking tool or an editor.
Should my MVP be a web app or a mobile app?
Usually a web app, because it’s faster to build and you can change it every day. Start with a mobile app when the main job needs the phone, such as the camera, location or offline use.
Do I need both a web app and a mobile app?
Many products end up with both, often a mobile app for customers and a web dashboard for the team. Start with the one your users need most, on a backend that can serve both.
Can Radical Labs build both?
Yes. Radical Labs builds web apps such as Soma AI and mobile apps such as Kaushal AI, so it can advise on which to build first without a reason to push either. Send a short brief at radicallabs.io/contact.