pwa development cost

PWA Development Cost

Progressive Web App (PWA), a term that is no longer strange to the technology stage, is becoming more popular than ever in the e-commerce world. As predicted by Gartner Research, consumer-facing apps will soon be replaced by PWA in 50% of cases. Such a hypothesis poses common questions such as “Does PWA development cost more than mobile-native apps?” and “How much does a PWA cost?”

Let’s look at the following all-important reasons behind the PWA movement and find out an answer to the questions of its cost.

PWA – A New Wave In Global E-Commerce

In truth, PWA is a form of web application that takes advantage of new technologies supported by current browsers to deliver a user experience comparable to that of native apps. Thus, PWA has many striking advantages that make it more preferable.

Exceptional features

PWA proves itself reliable with a broad range of abilities from working offline, pushing notifications, fast loading to multi-device compatibility and SEO support.

App-like features and advanced functions all contribute to PWA’s efficient operation.

Faster development process

If the functional capability is the factor making PWA favored by users, its simplicity in development is why it is an ideal choice for online store owners.

Despite its high quality being considered level with native apps, PWA development is a much less complex process. The major reason is that PWA only requires a single codebase to run across operating systems. There is no need to develop disparate apps for Android and iOS.

Moreover, PWA is completely independent of app distribution platforms that help businesses cut down fees on releasing, updating the app and 30% of revenue for the app stores.

PWA Development Cost Is Varied

The price of building a Progressive Web App can range from exceptionally low to extra high, depending on your solution of choice.

The solutions, by way of explanation, differs in cost due to their dissimilarity in results.

After considering both the benefits and drawbacks of the most widely-used PWA solutions, we can categorize them into three groups.

PWA could be achieved by Low cost

Using PWA extensions is the representative solution of this group. There are loads of free PWA extensions, making them at hand for everyone. Moreover, even the expensive ones only cost a maximum of around $300 each.

  • Pros of using PWA extensions

Obviously, a low price is the greatest strength of this solution, as we have just mentioned. The total cost, including the installation fee, is still affordable.

Besides, PWA extensions can be installed easily into the regular website to add PWA features. Accordingly, it demands neither a skillful developer nor a long-time development process.

  • Cons of PWA plugin installation

Despite those appealing benefits, poor performance is another side of the coin. You cannot expect much from such a cheap solution. As the saying goes, “You get what you pay for”.

Although being puffed up by several online advertisements, PWA extensions, in fact, are not equipped with the full core functions of a Progressive Web App. Everyone knows that a real PWA has app-like features such as push notifications, add to the home screen or offline operation. However, most PWA plugins are able to deliver just a few of these features.

Therefore, you cannot turn your website into a standard PWA with this solution.

PWA can also be built with a Fair budget

For businesses looking for an affordable PWA solution, applying PWA themes is one of the best options.

PWA themes, like PWA extensions, can be divided into two groups: free themes and premium ones.

You can absolutely find an open-source PWA template that costs nothing. A high-quality one provided by professionals, in contrast, will be priced up to $2,000.

However, only premium PWA themes are commended due to their surpassing quality.

  • Pros of paid PWA themes

Firstly, most of the premium PWA themes have a full range of PWA key features.

Secondly, they often offer a variety of exquisite storefront designs as well as built-in features. Those designs are optimized to match any screen sizes from petite to extra large and can be customized to suit your store’s concept. Their advanced features can help you to level up user experience and economize on additional extensions.

Finally, you can implement PWA themes installation at ease. As a ready-to-use solution, premium PWA themes can save your time and effort for implementation compared to custom solutions.

  • Cons of PWA templates for selling

Even though this solution is more effective than using PWA extensions, its price is higher on average.

Another weakness of PWA themes is that some of your extensions might be inactive if you install them on your current website. You need to custom APIs to make them work on the new PWA storefront to handle that problem.

PWA development might also be Pricey

Starting from around $5,000, custom PWA development is the most expensive solution.

  • Pros of custom PWA development services

It goes without saying that a tailor-made PWA definitely will give everything you need right from the start.

No matter your requirement, you can pour money into it to get a perfect product in terms of both design and function.

  • Cons of custom PWA design and development

Building a PWA from start to finish is a challenging job that requires to be developed by an expert.

Besides, due to its complexity, the development process consumes a long period of time (at least 3 months). Consequently, this solution may cost you an arm and a leg.

Wrap Up

Every coin has two sides. After considering the 3 approaches above, PWA themes stand out to be the most appropriate solution in terms of both price and quality. Despite that, if you have a low budget or are willing to pay more, the other two might be taken into your consideration.

Hoping that from the above information, you can get a better understanding of PWA development cost. Although the financial aspect plays an important role, the tremendous benefits of PWA to e-commerce are undeniable.

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