Top 6 PWA Builders for Shopify
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) are shaking up the digital world, blending the best features of websites and native apps into one powerful package.
PWAs are built with web technologies but deliver an app-like experience, making them perfect for Shopify stores who want to get in on the mobile commerce market, worth more than $500 billion per year in the US alone.
If you want to turn your Shopify store into a PWA, keep reading, as we share some of the best tools to help you do it.
What Are PWAs and Why Are They a Big Deal?
A Progressive Web App (PWA) is like an app, but without the extra baggage of a long and expensive development process.
PWAs use web technologies, like HTML, CSS and JavaScript, and run in the browser, yet they feel more like a native app than a static website.
With a PWA, your store can unlock some of the benefits of mobile apps, without the investment and need to juggle separate platforms.
Here are a few reasons to build a PWA:
- Fast development time: turning your website into a PWA is a quick and affordable way to provide an app-like experience.
- PWAs let you use push notifications to a larger extent than with static websites.
- You'll provide a much better user experience for mobile shoppers, helping to increase conversion rate, increase AOV, and reduce abandoned cart rate.
- PWAs are SEO-friendly, and can be indexed and found in Google search, unlike native apps.
Progressive Web Apps don't have to be an alternative to native apps; but compared to a standard, boring website, they offer serious advantages.
Learn more about the benefits of building a PWA for your eCommerce store here.
Top Shopify PWA Builders
Now let's dive into the best tools for the job - apps and services that help you turn your Shopify store into a PWA.
1. PWA & Mobile App ‑ Ampify
With Ampify, transforming your Shopify store into a mobile app takes mere seconds. This streamlined PWA solution delivers a seamless experience on customers’ phones, boosting conversions without the hassle of coding or app store approval.
Plus, it comes with built-in push notifications to recover abandoned carts, announce sales, and more. Keep your store top of mind and inform customers about exclusive offers effortlessly.
Key Features 📝
- With AmpifyMe’s PWA, your store can be added directly to the user's home screen—no app store required.
- Highly customizable, AmpifyMe allows you to tweak features to your liking. Missed something? Just let us know, and we'll add it as fast as we can!
- Even if your users are offline or have spotty connections, your store loads smoothly from their home screen. Talk about a reliable shopping experience!
- Did you know 53% of users bail on a site if it takes more than 3 seconds to load? AmpifyMe ensures your site is faster than a speedster on roller skates!
- AmpifyMe also supports engaging notifications to keep customers in the loop.
Pricing 💸
Installation is free! For ongoing use, the Hobbyist plan is just $29.99/month, and the Company plan is $79.99/month.
2. Progressier
Progressier has earned the trust of over 21,000 web apps by turning your Shopify store into a sleek Progressive Web App. Imagine making your store installable on any device, whether it’s an iPhone, Android, Mac, or PC.
Engage users with smart web push notifications and design eye-catching app screenshots—because, let’s face it, no one wants to stare at a bland screen.
Key Features 📝
- Progressier makes your web app installable on iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, and Chrome OS, with step-by-step guidance in over 20 languages.
- Encourage users to turn on notifications. With Progressier's intuitive dashboard, you can craft and send alerts at the perfect time. Personalize notifications with user data via API, because one-size-fits-all notifications are so last season.
- Enjoy a code-free alternative to Workbox. Choose from strategies like Stale While Revalidate or Network First and assign resources without writing a single line of code.
- Manage multiple PWAs on the same domain, generate them dynamically, and tweak the manifest details at runtime. Think of it as juggling without the risk of dropping anything.
- Keep an eye on push subscriptions and app launches in real-time. Analyze by operating system and spot trends over time.
- Discover the power of Progressier, your all-in-one no-code platform. Control every aspect of your Progressive Web App from a single dashboard. No coding required—just pure simplicity.
Pricing 💸
The Founder plan is priced at $25/month, the Growth plan at $59/month, and the Scale plan at $199/month.
3. Appify PWA
Want to turn your online store into a sleek app-like experience? Appify’s Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) allow your customers add your store to their home screens and open it like a native app in fullscreen mode—no browser bars in sight.
Key Features 📝
- With Appify PWA, your users can add your store to their home screens and open it in fullscreen mode, just like a native app! Just like that!
- Enjoy faster load times thanks to browser caching. And if users find themselves offline, they can still browse your store—talk about being prepared!
- Appify PWA is a Google favorite, scoring high in PWA audits and giving your SEO a solid boost.
Pricing 💸
The standard plan is just $9.99 per month.
4. S ‑ PWA & Mobile App
Founded in 2019, SetuBridge’s Progressive Web App (PWA) is making waves. With its lightning-fast speed and minimal memory usage, it won’t hog your device’s resources or slow down other apps.
The app’s manifest meets all the requirements to convert any site into a PWA, while customization options let you tweak the splash screen color, theme color, and web application icon right from the backend.
Key Features 📝
- Delight users with an interactive “Add To Home Screen” popup – it's like a personal invitation to your app!
- Customize the installation message popup from the backend.
- Track install events with “Google Analytic Tracking” – perfect for those who like to keep tabs on their app’s popularity.
- Keep users engaged even offline or with poor internet. No to boredom!
- Access a summary graph of app install events (Last 30 Days) in the backend – a dashboard that’s as informative as it is sleek.
Pricing 💸
All this goodness comes at just $1.99 per month!
5. PWA ‑ iOS & Android Mobile App
With Soft Pulse, their Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) is like giving your website a VIP pass to your customers' home screens.
They make your store easily accessible on mobile devices, boosting engagement and potentially increasing revenue. Plus, you can turn the same PWA into an Android app and list it on the Google Play Store, which helps your store get noticed and reduces your ad spend.
Key Features 📝
- Personalize your app with your own splash screen and logo. Preview how it looks on your device's home screen, and set up cache and offline pages like a pro.
- Installable on both Android and iOS devices without taking up extra space—customers can visit your store with just one click.
- Speed is crucial; high-performing sites keep users engaged and coming back for more. Think of it as a fast pass to a better user experience.
- Fast, integrated, and reliable—check out device-specific analytics in numbers and graphs, get installation steps for Android and iOS, and enjoy priority support.
- PWAs combine the best of web and native app features, thanks to specific technologies and standard patterns that make them both versatile and effective.
Pricing 💸
Installation is free! The advanced plan is $5.99/month, while the enterprise plan costs $29.99/month.
6. Qe: PWA for iOS & Android
Ready to supercharge your business? QeRetail’s PWA Builder app is here to turn your website into a sleek native app with zero hassle. Whether you want to build a mobile app or just enhance user experience, it’s all at your fingertips.
Transform your website into an app seamlessly, reaching more users and ramping up engagement. It’s like giving your website a turbo boost without the tech headaches.
Key Features 📝
- Your site becomes a PWA with a snap—installation has never been this easy.
- Personalize your app’s name and icon for both Android and iOS—make it truly yours!
- Talk about a cost effective solution! Keep more of your cash; say goodbye to pricey fees for Android and iOS.
- With Cross-Platform Compatibility, Looks great and works well on any platform—no more playing favorites.
- With lightning fast speed, your website will zoom faster than you can say "load time."
Pricing 💸
One plan, just $5/month!
Wrapping Up
In summary, Progressive Web Apps combine the best of both worlds: they offer the ease of web apps with the user experience of native apps. They’re cost-effective, fast, and SEO-friendly—making them a smart choice for many businesses.
However, PWAs don't give you everything you get from a native app. You can't get into the app stores, your use of push notifications is limited, and the user experience is not quite as good.
To unlock the full power of apps, try MobiLoud.
MobiLoud converts your website into true mobile apps, which your users can download and use on their own devices, independent of the browser.
You'll have push notifications, native UI, an app store presence, and app-exclusive features, all built in from the start.
The MobiLoud team does all the work for you. Your apps will retain all the features from your website, and are fully synced with your site, for minimal overhead moving forward.
If you're looking at PWAs for their simplicity and affordability, MobiLoud works much the same way. In fact, it's the perfect complement to a PWA. You can use one of the tools above to deliver a PWA for people who visit you in a browser, and mobile apps for your most loyal customers who prefer shopping in an app.
Curious? Want to start giving your customers a better mobile shopping experience? Get started now, or learn more when you schedule a free consultation call today.