❌Website - ✔ Mobile App?
I know web programming. And I can say very easily. You always have an expense while developing a web project. Domain + Hosting. As traffic increases, hosting needs to be upgraded.. On the other hand, as the traffic increases in mobile applications, you do not pay extra money. Or you don't pay extra for new apps.
If we look at the Indie Hacker mind, I think it is more profitable to make applications without database operation.
Do you agree with this? If you don't agree with this view, why don't you agree?
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As a mobile developer I voted "Website" here is why:
Mobile apps are great when you already have some user base and some specific use case that is good for mobile app - it is harder to tell newcomers to install app than invite to your website. Apps are great for increasing engagement because users have your app installed, you can send push notifications and other cool stuff - but it is harder to convince them to use your app.
Yes, it has many advantages and disadvantages. My main focus is on startup expenses. I have a question for you. Do you think website fees are more expensive or mobile application fees? (Except for advertising and marketing!)
The only mobile fees you have is:
If you choose to have some backend that might be your additional expense. But you can use Firebase or Appwrite. The first might be paid. Second one is free but also self-hosted so you must pay for hosting. But still, i think thats cheaper than website hosting
I'm not sure that's true.
Both mobile apps & websites are just interfaces for the user to interact with, you still need a backend.
You might be referring to an app that has only local functionality and doesn't interact with a backend. The equivalent of that would be a static website which is dirt cheap to host and scale.
Wow you just opened my mind with lot of possibilities. I have never thought about this mobile app for the saas. Ofcourse it may not work for lot of places but hell yeah.
Although it doesn't work on everything, it can work as a result. My focus here is on the expenses of the startup.
Let's take a look at bear.app you can use all the future for free except the sync. If you want the sync then it's just 1.49$/month. Great.
Web – gotta spend money to make money and most clouds have free tiers. Play your cards right and you'll end up paying for hosting and start up costs with profit you've made from customers before you ever touch your personal savings.
There isn't a right or wrong answer here. It's entirely dependent on your use case. I think you are confusing some terminology as well. A mobile app CAN also have a backend (api and database), that may possibly need to be scaled up with a large spike in traffic. Same as any website...
Yes, I know. There is no right or wrong. But I don't compare right and wrong. I'm comparing the total expenses in order for the startup/project to survive. You get paid to the website every year. But I have a Google Play Store account for years and I only paid $25 on login. I don't pay extra every year.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear. I can get a domain that costs roughly $10/year. That’s less than the $25/year Google play fee. I can easily get free hosting as well, that will “scale” to thousands of users because there’s no backend.
Now if you introduce a backend to EITHER a mobile app or website, you still have to scale it regardless, if you get a large influx of users. Does that clarify? So at the end of the day, most of your costs will come from maintaining and scaling a backend. Not from the $25 Google app fee or the $10 domain name.