People use "website" and "app" interchangeably, and most of the time it doesn't matter. But when you're trying to solve a business problem, the distinction makes a real difference in what you should build and what it will cost.

WHAT A WEBSITE DOES

A website presents information. It tells visitors who you are, what you do, how to reach you, and why they should choose you over someone else. It's where people go when they're deciding whether to hire you. It answers questions, builds trust, and gives you a place on the internet that you own.

A well-built website does this well, loads fast, looks professional, and costs almost nothing to run. That's the $295 build: hand-coded HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, deployed free on Cloudflare Pages, domain at $10.46/year. Done.

WHAT AN APP DOES

An app enables action. It lets someone do something: book an appointment, check a status, submit a request, manage inventory, join a waitlist. The defining feature is interactivity — the user inputs something and the system responds meaningfully.

Apps don't replace websites. They extend them. Your website gets someone interested. Your app helps them take the next step or stay engaged after they've become a client.

THE OVERLAP

A contact form on your website is borderline — it's a simple input, not really an app. A booking system with calendar selection, intake questions, and confirmation texts is clearly an app. A live waitlist that shows estimated wait times is an app. A client portal that tracks project milestones is an app.

The rule of thumb: if users are entering data that changes what they see or what happens next, it's an app.

WHICH ONE DO YOU NEED?

If you don't have a professional web presence yet: website first. Every business needs one. It costs $295 and takes less than a week.

If you have a website but a workflow problem — clients not showing up, staff coordinating over text, customers calling for information they could access themselves — that's an app problem. Solve it with a custom tool built for exactly what you need.

Many clients get both. The website builds trust and brings people in. The app handles what happens next.

WHAT THEY COST TO BUILD CUSTOM

A website: $295 one-time. A custom app: $200–$400 one-time, depending on complexity. Both are flat fees. Both come with full code ownership. Neither has a monthly subscription.

Compare that to $89/month for Squarespace plus $30/month for a booking platform — $1,428 a year, every year, for tools you don't own.

NEED ONE OR BOTH?

Tell me what you're trying to solve. I'll tell you whether it's a website problem, an app problem, or both — and what the flat price looks like.

Start the Conversation →