What's the difference between a website and a web app?
In TeleportHQ, every project is either a website (a presentation website) or a web app. A website presents your business with pages, images, text and forms; its code can be downloaded and it needs no extra subscription. A web app also runs live features such as workflows (automations), user sign-in, an online store, online bookings, a blog and an admin panel. In exchange, a web app's code can't be downloaded, going back to a website means restoring a backup, and it needs a Web App slot to keep publishing after a 7-day full-access window.
A quick example
A bakery that shows its menu, opening hours and a contact form needs a TeleportHQ website. A bakery that lets customers create an account, order cakes online, pay at checkout, and get an email for every order needs a TeleportHQ web app. So does a bakery that lets customers book a table or a baking class online.
Websites in TeleportHQ
A TeleportHQ website is a site that presents information. It can have as many pages as you need, animations (including Motion elements), forms, several languages, SEO settings, and content from data sources such as a headless CMS or a Google Sheet.
A website can also have interactive parts that run in the visitor's browser: elements that show or hide on a click, tabs, pop-up windows (modals), collapsible text, calendars, countdowns, a kanban board, drag and drop, a language switcher and a cookie banner. Adding them doesn't turn the website into a web app.
What you get with a website:
- You can download its code on a paid plan, as React, Next.js, Vue, Nuxt, Angular or HTML, and host it anywhere. Some widgets, such as calendars, countdowns, the kanban board, drag and drop, the cookie banner and the language switcher, only work in the Next.js download: other code downloads leave them empty or without their behaviour, and the download window names the ones your project uses. See Can I download my site's code?.
- No Web App slot is needed. Publishing a website is covered by your workspace plan.
A website has no user accounts, no cart and no workflows. It can still show data: connecting a data source, the built-in TeleportHQ database included, keeps it a website. In the Create Project panel, the Presentation Website and Blank project cards both start a website. The Presentation Website card reads "Presents your business — no accounts, store or bookings; code you can download".
Web apps in TeleportHQ
A TeleportHQ web app is a site with live logic behind it. Web apps can use:
- Workflows: automations for form submissions, button clicks, schedules and webhooks. See What are workflows?.
- User accounts and login for your visitors. See How to add sign-up and login to your site.
- An online store, a blog, a help center and an admin panel for managing your data.
- Online bookings: items your customers book by time, night or day, such as appointments, tables, classes, rooms or rentals, with calendars, opening hours and booking emails.
- An AI chatbot for your visitors, and elements that need a server, such as site search, a newsletter signup and file uploads from visitors.
What changes when a project is a web app:
- Code download is no longer available. You can still publish and host the web app from TeleportHQ.
- There's no switch back. To make it a website again, restore the backup TeleportHQ saves right before the change (see below).
- It needs a Web App slot to keep running. Trial and Premium workspaces include 1 Web App slot. Pro workspaces include none, so each web app needs a slot bought for it, or an upgrade to Premium. Every web app beyond the included one needs its own slot. See Why does my web app need a slot, and what is the 7-day window?.
What happens to a web app without a Web App slot
A TeleportHQ web app that isn't covered by a Web App slot works in stages:
- For the first 7 days, it has full access. You can edit it, preview it and publish it, and its workflows run. The published site shows a TeleportHQ watermark.
- After 7 days, its published site goes offline and the project is archived.
- After that, a workspace that has paid keeps the archived project: it isn't deleted.
Assigning a Web App slot to the project at any time keeps it or brings it back. After that, publish it again to put the site back online.
How a project becomes a web app
A TeleportHQ project becomes a web app in one of these ways:
- At creation. In the Create Project panel, you pick Web App, E-commerce or Bookings. A booking site is a web app too. See How to create a new project.
- Later, from a website. You add a workflow, switch on user sign-in, an online store, bookings, the blog or the help center from Plugins, use Global state (values shared by every page), or add an element that needs a server, such as Site Search, Newsletter Signup, Autocomplete or Upload Asset. Each of these opens a window titled Enable Web App features? first, with the buttons Keep as a Presentation Website and Enable Web App features, and nothing changes until you confirm. The window is skipped only when you ask the AI Assistant for a web app feature by name, such as "add a login page": your request counts as confirmation. See How to turn a website into a web app.
Showing or hiding elements, states inside a page or component, tabs, modals and the other widgets that run in the visitor's browser never open this window: they work in websites.
When a website becomes a web app, TeleportHQ saves a backup of the project named Before Web App features Enabled. A project that is still blank (an empty home page and no components) gets no backup, because there is nothing in it to restore. To turn the project back into a website, restore that backup from Backups in the editor's bottom toolbar, or ask TeleportHQ support to restore it for you. Backups aren't included in the trial, so on a trial, ask support. See How to back up and restore your project and How to get help.
On your dashboard, web app projects show a Web App badge on their card. Online stores also show a Store badge, and projects that take bookings a Bookings badge.
Which one should I choose?
- Choose a website if you want to show information, collect messages with a form, and keep the option to download your code.
- Choose a web app if visitors need to sign in, buy products, book online or submit data that you manage, or if you need automations that run on their own.
If you aren't sure, start with a website. You can add web app features later. Going back to a website means restoring the backup from before the switch.