WeWeb PWAs vs. WeWeb Native Apps with Despia: What You Really Need to Know

If you’re building with WeWeb, you already have a big advantage: speed. You can launch complex applications in days, not months. But at some point, you’ll need to decide how your users actually experience that app:

• As a Progressive Web App (PWA), which runs in the browser.

• Or as a native app compiled and published through Despia.

Both paths are valid, and both come with trade-offs. I’ve been digging into the differences - especially now that Despia has released a native WeWeb plugin - and here’s what I’ve found.

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Why PWAs Still Matter

PWAs get overlooked sometimes, but they’re still incredibly powerful. A WeWeb PWA is basically your app running in the browser, with the option for users to “install” it to their home screen.

The upside is obvious:

• You can launch instantly - no waiting on app store approval.

• You have one codebase that works across devices.

• Costs stay low, since all you need is hosting.

The downside is equally clear:

• Native integrations (Face ID, push notifications, offline databases, background tasks) are limited or inconsistent.

• You won’t be listed in the App Store or Google Play.

• Some users don’t think of a PWA as a “real app,” even if the experience is good.

PWAs are perfect for early-stage projects, or tools that don’t rely on mobile hardware.

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Where Despia Changes the Game

Despia has been around as a way to wrap WeWeb apps into native binaries. But the recent native WeWeb plugin makes it much smoother. You can now install Despia directly from the WeWeb Marketplace, follow no-code-friendly guides, and tap into a huge range of native features.

Here’s what that really means in practice:

• You can build with WeWeb as usual, but also use native capabilities like biometric login, background location, NFC, Siri, push notifications, offline databases, and even GPU-based rendering.

• You still don’t need to touch Xcode or Android Studio. Despia handles the signing, builds, and submissions.

• Updates aren’t painful. Thanks to over-the-air updates, you can push changes live to your native app when you update your WeWeb project, similar to how CodePush works.

In short: Despia takes away much of the friction that usually comes with going native.

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Comparing the Two

When you strip away the technical details, the comparison looks like this:

• PWAs are fast, lightweight, and cost-effective. Great for testing ideas or shipping tools that don’t depend on native features.

• Despia native apps give you app store visibility, access to everything a modern phone can do, and a more polished, native-like feel.

The big difference isn’t just functionality - it’s perception. An app in the App Store signals legitimacy in a way a PWA never will, even if the code behind them is the same.

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So, Which Should You Choose?

If you’re at the stage where you just need to validate an idea, go with a PWA. It’s the fastest and cheapest option.

If you’re moving into production, want to reach a broader audience, or need serious device integration, then Despia is the way forward. The fact that you can now go native with minimal extra effort makes that decision even easier.

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Final Thoughts

I don’t see this as an either/or question anymore. The real power of WeWeb and Despia is that you can start as a PWA and upgrade to native when the time is right - without rebuilding your app or switching platforms.

That flexibility is rare in app development, and it’s one of the reasons WeWeb + Despia is such an interesting combination for makers and teams right now.