"We need an app."
It's one of the most common things we hear at the start of a project. Sometimes it's true. Often, what the organisation actually needs is a better website, a simple web app, or a tool that connects two systems they already use.
Getting this right matters. Build the wrong thing and you can spend months and a large budget on something your users never open. Build the right thing and it pays for itself.
This guide explains the four main options in plain language, when each one makes sense, and what to decide before you talk to any developer.
The four options, in plain English
1. A website
What it is: Pages people read. Your story, services, impact, contact details, news.
Choose it when you mainly need to be found, be trusted and get people to contact you, apply, donate or buy.
Good examples: company sites, NGO sites, school and university sites, landing pages for a product launch.
A good website today is not just a brochure. It can take applications, accept payments, collect sign-ups and connect to your CRM. For many organisations, a strong website does 80% of what they imagined an app would do.
2. A web app
What it is: Software that runs in the browser. People log in and do things: submit, track, manage, approve.
Choose it when users need accounts, dashboards, records or workflows, and you want it to work on any device without an app store.
Good examples: admissions portals, client dashboards, booking systems, internal tools for staff, loan application and tracking systems.
A web app is often the smartest first step. One build works on phones, tablets and laptops, and you can update it instantly without waiting for app store approval.
3. A mobile app
What it is: An app people download from the App Store or Google Play.
Choose it when people will use it often, sometimes several times a week, or when you need phone features: push notifications, camera, GPS, offline use.
Good examples: booking and marketplace apps, field data collection, delivery and logistics, fintech and savings apps.
Mobile apps cost more to build and maintain. You're often building for two platforms, iPhone and Android, and every update goes through app store review. They're worth it when daily use and phone features are central to the product.
4. Custom software and integrations
What it is: Software built around how your organisation already works, often connecting tools you already use.
Choose it when your team is copying data between spreadsheets, emails and systems by hand, or when no off-the-shelf tool fits your process.
Good examples: connecting your website forms to a CRM, automating reports, internal management systems, linking payment platforms to your records.
This is often the least visible work and the most valuable. Saving your team ten hours a week adds up fast.
Five questions to answer before you build anything
These questions will save you time and money, whoever you hire.
1. Who is it for? Name the actual people. "Donors and government partners." "Students applying for 2027." "Salon owners in Lagos." Different audiences need different things.
2. What should they be able to do? Read and contact you? That's a website. Log in and manage something? That's a web app. Use it on the move every day? That might be a mobile app.
3. How often will they use it? Once or twice a year points to a website. Weekly points to a web app. Daily points to a mobile app.
4. What does it need to connect to? Payments, email, a CRM, an existing database, a government portal? Integrations shape the cost and timeline more than most people expect.
5. Who will keep it updated? If your communications team needs to change content without a developer, that must be designed in from the start.
You don't need perfect answers. Rough answers are enough to start a useful conversation.
Start smaller than you think
One of the most useful things we tell clients is: launch the smallest version that proves the idea, then grow it.
Take a beauty services marketplace we worked with, a platform connecting clients with beauty professionals. Before their mobile app launched, they needed to prove people wanted it. Instead of starting with the full app, we built a focused marketing platform that explained the product to both clients and businesses, and collected waitlist sign-ups. It brought in more than 660 sign-ups before launch, giving them a ready audience on day one.
Or a private university that needed more than a website. Alongside the main site, we built a live admissions portal where prospective students apply and track their applications online. A brochure site couldn't have done that job; a full mobile app would have been more than students needed.
Different needs, different builds. The right answer came from starting with the questions above. See more of our work.
What to include when you email us
You don't need a formal brief. A short email with these points is plenty:
- Who you are: organisation name and what you do
- What you want to build: website, app, software, or "not sure yet"
- Who it's for: your main users
- What they should be able to do: two or three key actions
- Timeline: when you'd like to launch, and why
- Budget range: even a rough range helps us suggest the right approach
- Examples: any sites or apps you like, and what you like about them
We read every enquiry and respond within one business day. If we're not the right fit, we'll say so and point you in a better direction.
Read more about our services.