Progressive Web App benefits in 2025

Are you constantly juggling resources, trying to reach the widest audience possible and deliver an experience that keeps users coming back? You’ve heard about native apps and web apps. 

But what about Progressive Web Apps or, in short, PWAs? Sounds techy…

What if understanding PWAs could give your startup a boost in 2025?

This guide is for entrepreneurs, decision-makers, and non-coders. We'll explain PWAs, why they're increasingly relevant, and how they compare to traditional native apps. We'll focus on what matters for your business: growth, user satisfaction, and cost-effectiveness. 

Let's explore if a PWA might be the smart, efficient, and powerful solution your startup needs right now.

What is a Progressive Web App?

A Progressive Web App (PWA) is essentially a modern website that behaves like a mobile app. It’s built with common web technologies (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) but uses a special “manifest” file and a background service worker to enable app-like features. 

For example, PWAs can be added to a phone’s home screen, load instantly, and even work offline or on spotty networks. In fact, as one developer notes, PWAs “bring speed and reliability to the web” with features historically only in native apps – offline access, home-screen icons, full-screen display, push notifications, background sync, and more. 

By 2025, all major browsers support PWAs on desktop and mobile (with improving iOS support), so a PWA truly “walks like an app and talks like an app” but lives in the browser. 

This makes PWAs a very smart choice for startups and non-technical founders who want an app-like presence without the usual drawbacks of native app projects.

In simple terms, a PWA’s architecture is just a normal web app plus the extras that make it behave like an app.

Why businesses choose PWAs. Key benefits

The benefits of progressive web apps are all about saving time and money while boosting user engagement. 

The biggest selling point is development cost and speed. 

Since a PWA is one web app that works everywhere, you only need one codebase for iPhone, Android, desktop, etc. This can cut development costs dramatically. In fact, industry data shows building a PWA can be “three or four times lower” in cost than a comparable native appsam-solutions.com. 

It’s also faster to build: PWAs can often be developed “more quickly due to the single codebase”progressier.com. 

By contrast, native apps usually require building two (or more) separate versions (one for iOS, one for Android), which means more developers and longer timelines.

Lower cost & faster time-to-market

With a PWA, you avoid the expense of separate Android and iOS teams. You pay only for one development project, and updates roll out instantly. According to one analysis, a single PWA “meets the requirements of all devices” and costs about 3 to 4 times less than a native app.

Wider reach on any device

WAs run on any device with a modern browser – mobiles, tablets, laptops, desktops, and even some TVs or kiosks. Customers don’t need to hunt in an app store; they just visit a URL. This cross-platform reach means your product can reach more users (including those on low-end phones or desktop computers). For example, if a user switches from phone to tablet to laptop, the PWA can continue where they left off.

Better performance and user experience

PWAs load very quickly because they intelligently cache content. They can even work offline or under poor connection by using the Service Worker to serve cached pages. The result is a snappier, more reliable experience than a typical website. Some sites that switched to PWAs saw 80% more mobile sessions, 43% lower bounce rates, and eight times faster loading on average. 

Less friction for users

Progressive web app design is focused on ease of use. Users can “install” a PWA by simply tapping an “Add to Home Screen” button without downloading anything from a store. This simplicity greatly reduces drop-off: no more convincing people to download a bloated app. 

One founder on a startup forum advised that PWAs “avoid Apple/Google blocking," allowing immediate access and seamless content sharing without a download step.

Notifications work, too. PWAs can ask for permission to send push notifications so you can re-engage users directly, just like an app does.

Automatic updates and maintenance

Maintenance is also easier because the PWA is web-based, and updates happen instantly when you redeploy your web app. Users always see the latest version without needing to manually update an app. In practice, PWAs “update on the fly by refreshing the app in the browser.” 

This contrasts with native apps that require app-store approvals and user downloads for every update.

Avoiding app store headaches

By not relying on Apple’s or Google’s app stores, PWAs spare you the commission fees and submission delays. You keep control of distribution: no gatekeepers, no 30% cut. Customers find your PWA through your website or search engines. In fact, PWAs can be indexed by Google, giving you SEO benefits that pure apps lack. 

PWA vs native app. What’s the difference?

With PWAs, users visit your URL, and the app behaves a lot like a native one: it can work offline, send push notifications, and live on the home screen. 

A native app is built specifically for one platform (iOS or Android), using platform-specific tools (Swift/Objective‑C for Apple, Kotlin/Java for Android). You distribute it through an app store, and it has full access to device features (camera, Bluetooth, background services).

Key differences:

• Development speed and cost. PWAs are faster to build and maintain (one codebase), while native apps require two separate teams or cross‑platform frameworks.
• Performance & features. Native apps are smoother and can tap deeper into device hardware. PWAs handle most common needs but can’t access everything (e.g., health sensors).
• Distribution and discoverability. PWAs don’t need app‑store approval. Users just visit a URL. Native apps get visibility in app stores but undergo reviews.

Real-world PWA success stories

The best proof that PWA’s do work and work rather nicely is in the real-world stories. Here are a few.

Forbes

Forbes launched a PWA in 2017. 

Google reported that Forbes’s PWA gave an “almost 50% lift in sessions, triple the rise in scroll depth and 100% boost in engagements” compared to the old mobile site. People stayed longer reading articles, which means more ad views and revenue. 

Forbes’s Chief Product Officer noted that because people stay longer, “the more they view ads, thanks to increased personalization that yields better engagement.”

Spotify

Spotify’s PWA went live in 2019, turning its web player into an installable, app‑like experience via modern browsers. After launch, Spotify saw its free-to-paid conversion jump from 26.6 % to 46 %, and by 2021, it reached 58.4 %, showing that a quick, seamless web app can drive subscriptions.

Beyond conversions, the PWA also led to 30 % more monthly active users and 40 % more average listening hours per month, as users could easily add the app to their home screens or desktops without large downloads.

Uber

Uber’s PWA, known as m.uber, is extraordinarily small (just 50 kB when gzipped) yet loads in under 3 seconds even on a 2G connection, making it accessible on low-end devices and slow networks.

Because it’s so lightweight, the PWA runs smoothly on low-end phones and in regions with spotty connections, reducing bounce rates and making ride requests possible for more people. Users get the look and feel of a native app, complete with real-time driver tracking, without installing anything from an app store.

Conclusion

For founders and non-developers, the takeaway is clear: 

PWAs offer a modern way to deliver app-like products with relatively low risk and cost. 

They are not the answer for every scenario (heavy 3D graphics or deep device integration might still need native), but for most consumer and enterprise services, a PWA covers 80–90% of the same ground. 

Because PWAs are just websites with special features, the team needed to build or maintain them often overlaps with your web team. You can start with a simple website and progressively enhance it to become a full PWA as your needs grow.

We have also covered other progressive web app benefits that matter to founders - broader reach, native-like UX, higher engagement, easy maintenance, and more control over distribution. 

These strengths make PWAs especially attractive for e-commerce, SaaS, media, education, and virtually any sector.

So, given the market momentum and how many development services there are available at the moment, it’s easier than ever to experiment.