"We need an app" is one of the first things founders tell us. Sometimes they do. Often what they need is a product that works well on a phone, and that can be a web app: a site that behaves like an app, opens from a link and can sit on the home screen.
The choice matters because it changes the budget, the timeline and how fast you can fix things after launch. Here is how to decide.
The three options
A web app
You build it once and it runs in the browser on any phone, tablet or computer. People open it from a link, a QR code or Google, with nothing to install. It can be added to the home screen with its own icon, and on iPhone, web apps added to the home screen can send notifications (since iOS 16.4). You can update it any time without waiting for anyone's approval.
A cross-platform app
One codebase, built with tools like React Native or Flutter, published as two apps: one in Apple's App Store and one in Google Play. It feels like a phone app and can use more of the phone, such as background location, Bluetooth and offline storage.
Two native apps
A separate app for iPhone and one for Android. It gives the most control and the best performance, and it costs roughly two builds and two sets of fixes. Most first versions don't need it.
When an app store app is worth it
Choose an installed app when your product depends on things a browser does poorly:
- People use it daily, and a home-screen icon and reliable notifications are the whole point.
- It must work offline, for example a field team with no signal.
- It needs the phone in ways the web can't reach well: background location, Bluetooth devices, heavy camera work.
- Being found in the app stores really matters to your customers.
If none of these is true, start with a web app. You can still build store apps later, once you know what people use.
What sets the cost
Number of platforms
A web app is one product. A cross-platform app is one codebase but two store listings, two review processes and testing on both iPhone and Android. Native means two codebases.
The part users don't see
Most of the work in an app is behind it: accounts, a database, an admin panel to manage content and orders, and the logic that ties them together. A polished front end on top of a thin back end is where many first budgets go wrong.
Accounts, payments and notifications
Sign-up, password reset and permissions add screens and security work. Payments add a provider, receipts and refunds. Notifications need a service to send them and settings to switch them off.
How you charge matters too. Selling physical goods or real-world services, like a cake or a haircut, goes through your own payment provider. Selling digital content or subscriptions inside a store app usually has to go through Apple's and Google's in-app purchase, which takes a commission (15% for most small businesses).
Languages and right-to-left
Hebrew and Arabic run right to left, so every screen mirrors. Building it in from the first screen costs far less than adding it later.
App store accounts and reviews
Publishing needs an Apple Developer account ($99 a year) and a Google Play developer account (a one-time $25). Apple reviews every update before it goes live, which usually takes a day or two but can take longer. A web app skips all of this.
Keeping it running
Apple and Google release new versions of their systems every year, and apps need testing, and sometimes fixes, to keep working. Add hosting, the back end, security updates and small changes. Ask for this cost before you start, not after launch.
A sensible path for most first versions
- Write the one sentence your first version must prove.
- Build a web app that does that one thing well on a phone.
- Put it in front of real users and watch what they actually use.
- If the reasons for a store app above become true, build it then, on top of the same back end.
You keep the budget for what users ask for, and nothing is thrown away: the back end and the design carry over.
How we can help
If you're not sure which route fits, our design audit (₪1,500, delivered in 14 days) or a 2-week sprint (₪6,000) turns the question into a clear scope before you commit to a build. Both are on our consulting page.
For builds, we start with a free 30-minute call and send a fixed quote within 48 hours, in Arabic and English, with right-to-left done properly. Book a free call and we'll tell you honestly whether you need an app yet.
