Mobile app: native, cross-platform or PWA, which to choose?
Native, cross-platform or PWA mobile app: the differences in cost, timeline and features, and the questions to ask before requesting a quote from an agency.
Building a mobile app starts with a choice that weighs on everything else: native, cross-platform or PWA. This choice sets the budget, the timeline and what the app will be able to do. Here are the three options explained without jargon, and the questions to ask before requesting a quote.
Three ways to build a mobile app
The native app
It is developed separately for each system: one version for iPhone (iOS), one for Android. This is the option that gives access to every phone feature and the best performance, but it requires two developments, and so two budgets for building and maintenance.
The cross-platform app
It is written once, with tools such as Flutter or React Native, then published on the App Store and Google Play. For the user, it downloads and works like a native app. It is now the most common choice for a business app: a single development for both systems.
The PWA (progressive web app)
It is a website designed to behave like an app: it can be added to the home screen, opens full screen and can work offline for some uses. It does not go through the stores: people reach it by a link. It is the fastest and least expensive option, with limits on some phone features.
Comparison
| Native | Cross-platform | PWA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development | One per system | One for iOS and Android | One, the website's |
| Relative budget | Highest | Middle | Lowest |
| In the app stores | Yes | Yes | No, reached by link |
| Phone features | All | Most | Some |
| Updates | Approved by the stores | Approved by the stores | Immediate |
The questions that decide
Do your users need to find it in the stores? For a consumer app, being on the App Store and Google Play matters. For an internal tool or one meant for your existing customers, a link is often enough.
Which phone features do you need? Camera, location and notifications are available in all three cases, with restrictions for PWAs on iPhone. Bluetooth, specific sensors or heavy processing point towards native or cross-platform.
How often will it be used? An app opened every day justifies a download. For occasional use, few people install an app: a PWA or a well-designed mobile site does better.
What is your maintenance budget? An app is updated with each new version of iOS and Android. Two native apps mean twice that work.
What people forget to budget for
- The server: almost every app relies on an admin area and a database, which have to be built and hosted.
- Developer accounts with Apple and Google, needed to publish.
- Store review: Apple and Google examine every app and may ask for changes, which adds time before launch.
- Maintenance: fixes, system updates, upgrades.
Our recommendation by project
- Internal tool, client portal, booking, catalogue: start with a PWA or a web-based business application. You validate the use at lower cost.
- Consumer app or a service used every day: cross-platform offers the best balance between budget and quality.
- Game, augmented reality, connected hardware, critical performance: native is justified.
If in doubt, start with a first version cut down to the essentials: real use will tell you whether to go further. Our guide to the cost of a custom SaaS explains this MVP logic, which applies to mobile too.
In practice
Before asking for a quote, note three things: who will use the app, how often, and the three functions without which it has no point. That is enough to choose the right approach and avoid paying for native when a PWA would have done.
We build all three types of app and recommend the one that matches your use, not the most expensive. Discover our mobile app development service, or book a call to talk it through: you then receive a free quote within 48 hours.
To go further: Digital agency in Paris