Mobile App Stack · decision tool
PWA (installable web app) vs Native (Swift / Kotlin) — for your app, not in general
PWA (installable web app) or Native (Swift / Kotlin)? Scored on documented capabilities for your requirements — the honest fit comparison, with "No clear winner" when they're genuinely close.
Capabilities verified 2026-07-17 against official documentation · fit weights are our estimates (see methodology) · share the URL to share your configuration
As of Jul 2026, for this page's default requirements, PWA (installable web app) is the clear pick at 69% capability fit (Native (Swift / Kotlin): 36%). This is a capability-fit decision, not a price ranking — StackSays does not invent a unified dollar comparison across these tools' incompatible billing units. Change any requirement below and the verdict recomputes.
Your requirements
The verdict updates as you change these. Share the URL to share your answers.
Clear pick
PWA (installable web app) (69% fit)
Ranked by capability fit
PWA (installable web app) vs Native (Swift / Kotlin) — the tradeoffs that decide it
- Reuse web skills: PWA (installable web app) — Reuses your React/JS skills and code (documented). Native (Swift / Kotlin) — New language/stack — no web reuse.
- Single codebase: PWA (installable web app) — One codebase for both platforms (documented). Native (Swift / Kotlin) — Two separate codebases — ~2x the work.
- App-store reach: PWA (installable web app) — PWA can't be in the App Store without a wrapper — you said you want stores. Native (Swift / Kotlin) — Ships to the app stores.
When to pick Native (Swift / Kotlin) instead: when the lines above where it leads matter more to you than the ones where PWA (installable web app) leads. Change the inputs to see the ranking flip.
This is a capability-fit decision, not a price ranking — these tools bill in incompatible units (per-search vs per-RAM cluster vs per-PB scanned) and several publish rates only in their own calculators, so StackSays does not invent a unified dollar comparison. Every score above traces to a documented capability; see Data sources below.
At a glance
| Tool | Deployment | Open source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Native (Swift / Kotlin) | Self-hosted | No | 2026-07-17 |
| PWA (installable web app) | Self-hosted | Yes | 2026-07-17 |
Data sources
| Tool | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|
| Native (Swift / Kotlin) | Apple/Android native docs (capabilities) | 2026-07-17 |
| PWA (installable web app) | web.dev PWA (capabilities) | 2026-07-17 |
A monitor re-checks these pages for changes; when a vendor moves a price, the date updates and every verdict recomputes.