The difference between a website and a web application is not the technology, but what you do with it.
A web application is software that runs in a browser and that users use to perform work: enter, search, approve or process data. Where a website mainly shows information, a web application processes information. Consider a customer portal, a planning system or a dashboard. You don't have to install anything; a browser is enough.
IN COMMON LANGUAGE
Website or web application?
A website answers the question "what do you do and how do I reach you". Visitors read, click through and contact us. The content changes occasionally.
A web application answers the question "how do I get this work done". Users log in, enter data and see results that vary per person. The content changes continuously, because it is created by the use itself.
The boundary is not always sharp. A webshop is technically a web application with a shop window in front of it. The distinction that matters practically: does it have users with their own environment, or not?
WHY IT MATTERS
Where you notice that you need an application
Almost everyone starts with an Excel file. That works fine until several people need to use it at the same time, or until no one knows which version is the correct one. That moment is the signal.
An application is a larger investment than a website and will pay for itself differently: not in requests, but in hours that you no longer spend and mistakes that are no longer made.
- Multiple people in the same file — the classic reason.
- Users with their own environment — every customer or employee sees his own data.
- Work with fixed steps — request, approval, implementation, invoicing.
- Data from multiple systems — that should come together in one place.
- Reporting that is now manual work — the same exercise in Excel every month.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about a web application
Is a web application the same as an app?
No. You install an app from an app store and run it on your phone; You open a web application in the browser and it works on any device. For business software, the browser is often the better choice: no installation, no approval process, and everyone uses the same version right away.
Does it also work on a phone?
Yes, provided it is built that way. We build applications that are responsive as standard, so that a technician on location can do the same as a colleague behind a desk: usually with a simpler screen for the actions required along the way.
What happens to my data?
They remain yours. After full payment, the rights to the custom work are transferred and you will receive the source code and documentation, without additional transfer costs. More about this can be found on our ownership page.
CONTINUE READING
Of course, continue reading about this subject.
Work that by itself running?
Tell us which process currently takes too much time. We outline what changes an application makes and what that costs.