What's the difference between a website and a web app?
The short answer
A website mostly shows information: pages people read, like a menu or a portfolio. A web app lets people do something: sign in, save data, get personalised results. Many products sit somewhere in between, and that's fine.
The core difference
A website is largely one-way: you publish pages, and people read or look at them. A web app is two-way: people put information in, the app does something with it, and gives something back that's specific to them.
Some examples
It's easier to see with side-by-side examples than definitions.
- A menu and opening hours page: website
- A tool where people enter ingredients and get a recipe: web app
- A portfolio of your work: website
- A dashboard where customers log in and see their own orders: web app
Why it matters for what you build first
A website is usually quicker to build and launch, because there's no accounts, sign-ins or saved data to manage. A web app takes more thought about accounts, data and what happens when things go wrong. Neither is "better": it depends on what your idea actually needs to do for people.
If you're not sure which one you need, start by describing what someone actually does when they use your product. If the answer is mostly "reads" or "looks", you probably need a website. If the answer involves "enters", "saves" or "gets back something personal to them", you need a web app.
Related guides
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