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Your app
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We ship mobile apps published on the stores.

Native, hybrid or PWA: we tell you which one fits your project, then we build it. One codebase, iPhone and Android, published on the stores.

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// Preview

Your application, in full view.

// The essentials

Native, hybrid or PWA: the difference in 30 seconds

01
Native app

One Swift codebase for iPhone, one Kotlin codebase for Android. Two codebases to write, two to maintain. In exchange: the best performance and access to all of the phone's hardware.

02
Cross-platform (Flutter, React Native)

A single codebase, compiled for both stores. It is now the default choice for the vast majority of business apps.

03
Hybrid in the strict sense (Ionic, Capacitor)

A website wrapped in a native shell. The cheapest way onto the stores, and the one you notice most in daily use.

04
PWA (Progressive Web App)

A website installable from the browser. No store, no commission — but limited hardware access and very low visibility on iPhone.

The real trade-off is not about technology but about three questions: what the second platform costs you, what hardware you need, and whether your users will actually install anything. The table below answers the first two, the selector further down answers the third.

// The comparison

The four approaches, line by line

Criterion Native OUR DEFAULT CHOICECross-platform Hybrid (WebView) PWA
Languages Swift (iOS) + Kotlin (Android) Dart (Flutter) or TypeScript (React Native) HTML, CSS, JS + Capacitor HTML, CSS, JS
Codebases 2 1 1 1
Indicative budget — standard app 40 – 80 k€ 30 – 60 k€ 20 – 40 k€ 10 – 25 k€
Typical timeline 5–8 months 3–5 months 2–3 months 6–10 weeks
Performance The benchmark Indistinguishable from native in use Fine on simple screens, noticeable on long lists and animations Depends on the browser
Hardware access Full — NFC, Bluetooth, sensors, augmented reality Near-total, via modules Limited to existing plugins Camera, geolocation, storage. No NFC or Bluetooth on iPhone
Offline support Full Full Full Partial — browser cache
Push notifications Yes on Android. On iPhone only if the user adds the app to their home screen
Distribution App Store + Play Store App Store + Play Store App Store + Play Store Browser — no review, no commission
Commission on purchases 15 to 30% 15 to 30% 15 to 30% None
Google indexing
OUR DEFAULT CHOICE
Cross-platform
LANGUAGESDart (Flutter) or TypeScript (React Native)
CODEBASES1
INDICATIVE BUDGET30 – 60 k€
TYPICAL TIMELINE3–5 months
PERFORMANCEIndistinguishable from native in use
HARDWARENear-total, via modules
OFFLINEFull
NOTIFICATIONS
DISTRIBUTIONApp Store + Play Store
COMMISSION15 to 30%
SEO GOOGLE
Native
LANGUAGESSwift (iOS) + Kotlin (Android)
CODEBASES2
INDICATIVE BUDGET40 – 80 k€
TYPICAL TIMELINE5–8 months
PERFORMANCEThe benchmark
HARDWAREFull — NFC, Bluetooth, sensors, augmented reality
OFFLINEFull
NOTIFICATIONS
DISTRIBUTIONApp Store + Play Store
COMMISSION15 to 30%
SEO GOOGLE
Hybrid (WebView)
LANGUAGESHTML, CSS, JS + Capacitor
CODEBASES1
INDICATIVE BUDGET20 – 40 k€
TYPICAL TIMELINE2–3 months
PERFORMANCEFine on simple screens, noticeable on long lists and animations
HARDWARELimited to existing plugins
OFFLINEFull
NOTIFICATIONS
DISTRIBUTIONApp Store + Play Store
COMMISSION15 to 30%
SEO GOOGLE
PWA
LANGUAGESHTML, CSS, JS
CODEBASES1
INDICATIVE BUDGET10 – 25 k€
TYPICAL TIMELINE6–10 weeks
PERFORMANCEDepends on the browser
HARDWARECamera, geolocation, storage. No NFC or Bluetooth on iPhone
OFFLINEPartial — browser cache
NOTIFICATIONSYes on Android. On iPhone only if the user adds the app to their home screen
DISTRIBUTIONBrowser — no review, no commission
COMMISSIONNone
SEO GOOGLE

Indicative ranges for a production app, back end included. The full cost breakdown is on our page how much does a mobile app cost.

// In detail

What each approach really costs you

Native app

One Swift codebase for iPhone, one Kotlin codebase for Android. You write twice, test twice, maintain twice. In exchange, you get the very best of each platform: perfectly fluid animations, access to every sensor, and deep system integration — widgets, smartwatch, voice shortcuts.

The real cost of native is not the initial build — it is maintenance. Every change, every fix, every OS update has to be handled twice, for the whole life of the app. That is what explains the three-year budget gap, far more than the initial quote.

Choose native if your app depends on graphics performance (games, augmented reality, video processing), uses advanced hardware (NFC, Bluetooth Low Energy, health sensors), or targets deep system integration.

Avoid it if your app displays data, forms and lists — that is, the vast majority of business apps.

Cross-platform (Flutter, React Native)

A single codebase, compiled for both stores. Unlike hybrid, there is no hidden browser inside: React Native drives the phone's native components directly, and Flutter draws its interface with its own graphics engine. The result: users cannot tell a cross-platform app from a native one — and they never try to.

It is our default choice at OTTOPILOTE. For a business app — accounts, data, forms, payments, notifications — cross-platform delivers the same product as native development for half the budget and half the maintenance.

Choose it if you want iPhone and Android, a controlled budget, and a single team evolving the app over time.

Avoid it if your app is a 3D game or depends on a system feature released a few weeks ago.

Hybrid in the strict sense (Ionic, Capacitor)

A website locked inside a native shell, rendered by an invisible browser. It is the cheapest way onto the stores — and also the one you notice: scrolling catches slightly, transitions are not quite the system's, the app behaves like a website.

Watch the vocabulary. Many agencies sell "hybrid" when they actually mean Flutter or React Native, which are technically unrelated. Always ask exactly which technology will be used: the gap in perceived quality is real, and so is the price gap.

Choose it if you already have a working web app and want a store presence quickly, without rewriting everything.

Avoid it if the app is your main product — the one your customers use every day.

PWA (Progressive Web App)

A website that users install on their home screen from the browser. It opens full screen, with no address bar, works offline, and updates itself: you deploy, everyone has the new version. No Apple review, no commission on payments, and content Google can index.

The point few agencies will tell you about iPhone: push notifications have worked since iOS 16.4, but only if the user has themselves added the PWA to their home screen via the Share menu. In practice, almost no one does it spontaneously. If notifications are central to your product and your customers are mostly on iPhone, a PWA is the wrong choice — and it is the only real reason to rule it out.

Choose it if your usage is occasional (booking, checking, ordering), you want to stay findable on Google, and you refuse store commissions.

Avoid it if you need reliable notifications on iPhone, NFC or Bluetooth.

// The shortcut

Four questions, one answer

Answer in thirty seconds — we tell you which approach fits your project, and why.

QUESTION 1 / 4
Would your users open this app at least once a week?
Do you need specific hardware? (NFC, Bluetooth, sensors, augmented reality)
Do your users need reliable notifications, including on iPhone?
What budget for the first version?
A PWA is probably enough.

Your usage is occasional and depends neither on hardware nor on notifications: asking your customers to download an app would add friction for little benefit. A PWA will cost you two to four times less, stay findable on Google, and can evolve into a full app later if usage takes off.

Check it with us within 24 h →
Cross-platform is made for you.

Regular usage, iPhone and Android to cover, a budget to hold: a single codebase in Flutter or React Native gives you the same product as native development, for half the budget and half the maintenance. It is what we recommend to most of our clients.

Check it with us within 24 h →
Native is justified in your case.

Your hardware or performance needs go beyond cross-platform's comfort zone. It costs more, and deliberately so: better to pay for the right tool than to redo the project in a year.

Check it with us within 24 h →
Start with the web.

With occasional usage and this budget, a mobile app is unlikely to pay off: it has to be downloaded, kept, reopened. A fast, well-built website will get better results for less. We would rather tell you before the quote.

Check it with us within 24 h →
// The question before the question

Do you really need an app?

An app has to be downloaded, kept, then reopened. Three steps, and you lose users at each one. If your service is used two or three times a year, the best-built native app in the world will end up uninstalled — when a fast website would have done the job.

The test is simple: would your customers open this at least once a week? If the answer is no, the right answer is not "native, hybrid or PWA". It is "no app yet". We would rather tell you before the quote than after launch.

// At OTTOPILOTE

What we build, and why

By default, we build cross-platform. One codebase, iPhone and Android, half the budget and half the maintenance of native — for a result your users cannot tell from a native app.

We recommend native when the project truly justifies it: games, augmented reality, advanced hardware, deep system integration. We say so from the first conversation, because it costs more and you should know exactly why.

And when a PWA is enough, we say that too. Selling a native app to someone who does not need one means winning a project and losing a client.

Publish my app → See pricing →
// Frequently asked

What we get asked most often

Native is written in each platform's language: two codebases, the best performance, the highest budget. Hybrid is a website wrapped in a native shell: one codebase, the lowest budget, less fluidity. A PWA is a website installable from the browser, without going through the stores. In between, cross-platform (Flutter, React Native) offers a single codebase with native rendering — the best compromise for most projects.

The PWA, then hybrid, then cross-platform, then native. But the right metric is not the quote — it is the three-year cost. A native app costs about 30% more upfront, and above all twice as much to evolve, since every change has to be made twice.

For occasional usage — checking, booking, ordering — yes, easily. For daily usage that relies on notifications, background geolocation or specific hardware, no. The limit is not the PWA's quality — it is what iOS allows it to do.

Yes, since iOS 16.4, but on one condition: the user must have added the PWA to their home screen via Safari's Share menu. As long as it stays a simple tab, no notification is possible. In practice, very few users do this on their own — it is the main limit of PWAs on iPhone.

Both are mature and suit most projects. React Native fits naturally if your team already works in JavaScript or TypeScript. Flutter gives finer control over the interface and identical rendering on both platforms. The choice depends more on your existing ecosystem than on one being technically superior.

Yes, and it is often the right sequence. The PWA validates real usage at low cost. If the numbers follow, the move to cross-platform or native happens with a real data foundation and precise knowledge of what your users do — instead of guessing upfront.

// Contact

One brief, one quote,
within 24 h.

Describe the project in a few minutes. We come back with an honest first read, a ballpark and the first risks. No PowerPoint, just a clear answer.

Remote studioUS / EU / Asia — aligned time zones
Write to uscontact@ottopilote.com
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