Website vs web app: which do you need?
Easy Insight ·
"I need a website" and "I need a web app" sometimes describe the same project and sometimes describe two projects an order of magnitude apart in cost. Getting the words right early saves a lot of confusion later.
The simplest way to tell them apart
A website is mostly read. Visitors come, take in information, maybe fill a form, and leave. The site you're reading is a website.
A web app is mostly do. People log in and get work done: enter data, manage records, run a process. It remembers who they are and what they did.
If your users are logging in to accomplish a task, you're in web-app territory. If they're mainly finding out about you and getting in touch, it's a website.
Why the distinction costs money
A website's complexity is roughly the number of pages. A web app's complexity is the number of things users can do and the rules around them, which grows much faster. That's why a good marketing site might be a few thousand pounds and a modest web app several times that. Calling a web app a "website" in your head is how projects get badly under-budgeted.
The grey area: interactive sites
Plenty of sites sit in between: a pricing estimator, a booking flow, a customer login that shows a few personalised things. That's fine. The question isn't which box it fits, it's how much of it is "do" versus "read", because that's what drives the effort.
What we'd ask you
When you come to us with "I need a website," the first thing we work out together is how much doing is really in there. Sometimes it's a genuine website with one clever interactive bit. Sometimes "website" was quietly hiding a web app. Naming it correctly is the first honest step to a budget you can trust.
Not sure which yours is? Tell us what you're trying to do and we'll help you name it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a website and a web app?
A website is mostly read: visitors take in information, perhaps fill in a form, and leave. A web app is mostly do: people log in and get work done, and it remembers who they are and what they did. If your users log in to accomplish a task, it is a web app.
Why does the distinction matter for cost?
A website's complexity is roughly its number of pages. A web app's complexity is the number of things users can do and the rules around them, which grows much faster. That is why a good marketing site might cost a few thousand pounds and a modest web app several times that.
What about sites with interactive features?
Plenty of sites sit in between: a pricing estimator, a booking flow, a customer login. The useful question is not which box it fits but how much of it is "do" versus "read", because that is what drives the effort.
How do we work out which one a project is?
By establishing together how much doing is really in it. Sometimes it is a genuine website with one clever interactive bit; sometimes "website" was quietly hiding a web app. Naming it correctly is the first honest step to a budget you can trust.
Next step
Thinking about a site or a web app?
One scoping call with the developer who would build it, then a fixed written estimate before any work starts. Websites from £3,500, custom web apps from £8,000, on the same stack as the page you're reading.