Resources Building it
Web app or mobile app for your first release?
Build for where your users actually are when the problem happens. For most business products that is a browser. For people on the move, it is a phone. Here is how to decide.
Start with the moment of use
Ask where your user is, and what device is in their hand, at the moment your product does its job. A finance manager reconciling payments is at a desk. A care worker logging a visit is in someone's home with a phone. A teacher recording a behaviour referral might be either. The answer usually decides the platform before any technical argument does.
Side by side
| Web app | Mobile app | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Desk-based work, admin, dashboards, B2B buyers | Field work, frequent short use, consumers |
| Getting it to users | A link. No app store review. | App store approval and updates |
| Device features | Limited but growing | Camera, location, offline, push notifications |
| Cost to build first | Lower | Higher, especially for two platforms |
| Speed of changes | Instant for everyone | Users must update |
Choose a web app first when
- Your buyers are businesses and your users work at a desk.
- The product is mostly forms, records, reports and workflow.
- You expect to change things often during the pilot.
- Your customers' IT teams restrict what can be installed.
Choose a mobile app first when
- Users are on the move, or use the product many times a day for a few seconds.
- You need the camera, location, offline working or push notifications.
- Your users are consumers who expect to find you in an app store.
Many products need both, eventually
A common shape is a mobile app for the people doing the work and a web dashboard for the people managing it. That does not mean building both at once. Start with the side that proves the value, and add the other when pilot customers ask for it.
React Native, Flutter, or a progressive web app?
If you do need mobile, cross-platform frameworks let one codebase serve both iOS and Android, which cuts the cost of a first release considerably.
- React Native shares a language with most web development, which makes hiring easier and lets some code be shared with a web dashboard.
- Flutter gives very consistent visuals across devices and strong performance for animation-heavy interfaces.
- A progressive web app is a website that can be installed on a phone's home screen. It avoids app stores entirely, at the cost of some device features.
For most first releases, either framework is a sound choice. We build in both, and pick based on your product, your existing team, and who you will hire later, rather than on preference.
Regulated markets change the answer slightly
If your product handles health, care, financial or children's data, think about lost and shared devices early. Mobile apps can store data on the device, which helps offline work and complicates security. A web app keeps data on the server, which is often simpler to defend in a supplier questionnaire.
Not sure which way your product leans? Our Fundraising Tech Pack answers this as part of the first-release scope, and the first release cost guide covers what each choice does to the budget.