PWA vs native app: cost
The biggest cost difference between a PWA and a native app is not the account fees — they are small — it is how many codebases and release pipelines you end up maintaining.
| Factor | PWA | Native app |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront account cost | $0 | $99/yr (Apple) + $25 one-time (Google) |
| Codebases to maintain | One (your website) | Two (iOS + Android) or one cross-platform |
| Release process | Standard web deploy | Store submission + review |
| Typical time to ship v1 | Days to weeks | Weeks to months |
Developer account fees
Publishing on Apple’s App Store requires an Apple Developer Program membership, which costs $99/year per Apple’s published pricing. Google Play requires a one-time $25 registration fee for a developer account. A PWA needs neither: it installs directly from your website, so there is no per-platform account fee at all.
Codebases and engineering time
Native means at minimum two codebases — Swift/Kotlin or a cross-platform framework compiled separately for iOS and Android — each with its own build tooling, testing and release process. A PWA is your existing website plus a Web App Manifest and a service worker, so most teams ship it with the engineers and codebase they already have.
Review and release overhead
Every native update goes through App Store and Play Store review, which can take anywhere from a few hours to several days and can be rejected, delaying a fix. A PWA update is a normal web deploy: push to production and the next page load picks it up, with the service worker refreshing cached assets in the background.
Ongoing maintenance
Native apps need to track new OS versions, deprecated APIs and store policy changes on two platforms. A PWA is maintained like the rest of your website, using the same monitoring, analytics and deploy pipeline, which usually means fewer specialised engineering hours per month.
FAQ
Does a PWA have any store fees at all?
No. Because a PWA installs from your website rather than an app store, there is no Apple Developer Program fee and no Google Play registration fee. Those fees only apply if you additionally choose to wrap and submit the app to a store.
Is the $99 Apple fee one-time or recurring?
It is an annual membership fee, billed every year you want your app available in the App Store, per Apple’s Developer Program page.
Is Google Play’s fee also recurring?
No, Google’s Play Console registration is a one-time $25 fee per developer account, not an annual charge.