Choose a website app when your app is mainly content, forms, shopping or a web app you already have: it costs a fraction of native development, is ready the same day, and updates whenever you update your site. Choose native development when the app depends on heavy device features — Bluetooth hardware, background tracking, 3D, real-time audio or video processing.
| Website / HTML app | Native app | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to first version | Same day | Weeks to months |
| Cost | $7 / month | Thousands to tens of thousands |
| Content updates | Instant, from your site | A new app release each time |
| Push notifications | Yes (OneSignal) | Yes |
| Camera, location, microphone | Yes, through the site | Yes |
| Offline use | HTML/ZIP apps fully; website apps partly | Yes |
| Bluetooth, background services, 3D | No | Yes |
| One codebase with your website | Yes | No |
A good rule
If your website already does what the app should do, convert it. If the app's main job is something a website cannot do, build it natively — or start with a website app to prove the idea, then invest in native once you know people use it.
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