Which One Earns More for a Single Developer: Website or App?

Computers have existed way longer that mobile phones. This is the reason why websites have existed way longer than mobile apps. For example Facebook began as a website and then later after a few years passed had a mobile app accompanying it. Facebook is not alone. There are many content heavy mobile apps who originated as websites.

Comparing websites to apps is an exhaustive matter because there are so many factors to discuss and would not fit this article. I shall instead take a smaller position and discuss creating websites against apps as a single person developer business. I have experienced developing and maintaining both mobile apps and websites for many years including their early starts.

I think the foremost question that comes to mind for people wanting to develop websites and mobile apps is the question of which is most profitable. My straightforward answer would be website development based from my research as of 2020.

Many people during the early days of app development saw their potential because of the increasing popularity of mobile phones . Many enterprising people easily realised that people would be using heavily their mobile phones as against all their other electronic gadgets and apps where still a novelty but are increasingly also getting popular.

To make a long story short. Many single developers turned from developing websites into developing mobile apps instead. At first mobile app development became very popular and profitable. As many developers from single persons to well financed companies enter the industry it became increasingly saturated.

Before a single developer can compete with producing many simple apps in the hopes of at least getting a tiny bit of the app market share. This strategy is now obsolete as app users have become accustomed to the multitude of high quality apps available. The big companies are now taking over as they have the resources to create the highest quality apps and can market them more effectively.

There is now a term called "App Fatigue" which means that mobile users are losing their interest fast in at least trying mobile apps that they do not download any apps at all. This is advantageous for established app developers whose apps will not easily be replaced but bad for other app developers whose apps are not tried at all by consumers.

There is also the issue of maintaining apps. There are regular software upgrade requirements being enforced by both Google and Apple that you need to comply with in order for your apps to continue to be available in their respective online stores. I have seen single app developers who have hundred of apps spend days even weeks just to comply with these requirements.

As I have mentioned there are two major online app stores in the industry and they are Google and Apple. Though one can earn money by only creating apps for one store they lose the potential profit of earning at the other store. Each have their own set of customers which a developer does not reach when they develop for only 1 platform.

Mobile app monetisation is also primarily limited to ad revenue and in-app purchases. One of the biggest drawback of an app business is that your fate is dictated by the terms of Google and/or Apple. They can suspend or totally close your account and it is within their powers. I have read of many accounts being suspended or closed abruptly and there is nothing the developer can do about it.

This is one of the greatest advantage of a website business over an app business. You are not controlled by any business and therefore no one can suspend or close your website based on their decision. This means you can put whatever content you want on your website as long as it is legal.

Since your method of monetisation is not controlled in a website you can run ads and offer additional products for pay to customers just like mobile apps. Unlike mobile apps you can monetise by offering e-books, courses, video products and so on. You can even ask donations if you want to. Best of all you do not have to share your earnings with the app stores.

A website works in both Android and Apple phones without the developer having to develop separate softwares for each. There are also other phones besides the two mentioned and websites also work in these phones. Some of these alternative phones are Microsoft, Unix, and other smaller mobile system phones. This means that developers can reach all potential users of their website as long as they have mobile phones.

Websites also have the added advantage of working on laptops and personal computers. Websites also work on tablets. But you may say mobile apps also work on tablets. Mobile phones and tablets have different sizes and incidentally there are mobile phones of all types and sizes. A developer must ensure their mobile app works across all of these devices.

This means that sometimes the developer has to sometimes compromise the app design to make it fit across all devices. If they cannot do this then they do double work and do separate app design for each device. A single website design on the other hand works across all devices without the need for compromises in design for each device.

You might say that mobile apps do not require an internet connection to work thus more people would be able to use it unlike a website which only works with internet connection. This is true however mobile apps cannot be monetised without an internet connection. Paying ads and other customer transactions on mobile apps cannot run without at internet. Both mobile apps and websites cannot be monetised without an Internet connection.

Conclusion

The advantage of website over mobile app development business is that you are more in control of your business like its content and monetisation. There are applications however that are more suited to mobile apps rather than websites and vice versa. There are earning opportunities in both but you have to decide which one is for you depending on your skills and the applications you desire to build.