What Is the Difference Between Developing a Website and an App?

Often business owners are faced with the task of getting an application developed, and their only frame of reference is website development. Author Rachel Youens explains the differences between the two, along with differences in pricing and methodology.

Web development today can be a fairly automated process. Content Management Systems (CMSes) such as WordPress and Drupal have made website development easier and more affordable. Since web application development is still a new area for developers, prices are more substantial, and development is a manual process. Websites can use canned templates, along with HTML, CSS and JavaScript, while applications require the use of programming languages, Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) and more time and effort.

Websites are pretty much limited to the features incorporated into the web browser. Web applications for mobile devices can use both the standard features of web browsers, along with the device-specific features of their particular platform, such as GPS, Bluetooth, accelerometers and more. Each of these features require time, testing and raise the cost of development.