Very often the concepts of web page and web application are used indistinctly, as if they were identical.
Nothing could be further from the truth, each of them obey very different needs, which we will explain below.
To speak of a website is to speak of a set of static pages that provide certain information and require a content manager.
On the other hand, the web application refers to a platform with which the user can interact and perform certain actions.
A clear example of a website is the one used by a company, which describes the products or services it offers and provides contact information. They are static and do not require constant updating.
On the other hand, web applications are always dynamic and are subject to continuous changes.
There are two types: those in which the user contributes content (Facebook, Youtube…. etc.) and those that collect data from other sources to present them to the user (Google Analytics, Semrush).
There are five main differences between a web application and a web page:
- It is intended for the user to perform certain actions, while the web page is merely a transmitter of information.
- It can be part of a web page, but never the other way around.
- A web application has a higher level of complexity, because its functionality is greater than that of a website.
- The investment and development time is higher in a web application.
- More front-end incidence on the website, more back-end development for the applications.