A progressive web app is your existing website plus three small files: a manifest that describes the app, a service worker that keeps it fast and available offline, and a set of icons. Paste your URL and FreeWebToApp writes those files for you, in your browser, in about a minute.
Need a package for Google Play instead? Build an Android APK + AAB · Compare the four routes
The zip contains exactly what a browser needs to offer an install prompt for your site, plus a setup note. Everything is generated client-side — there is no server that sees your site.
manifest.jsonName, short name, start URL, display mode, theme and background colours, and icons marked maskable so Android can crop them safely.
sw.jsA service worker with the caching strategy you picked — network-first, balanced or aggressive — that precaches your start page and cleans up old caches.
offline.htmlA branded page in your colours shown when there is no connection, instead of the browser's dinosaur.
icons/Eight PNG sizes from 72 to 512 px, rendered from the one image you upload, with maskable padding where launchers need it.
SETUP_GUIDE.mdThe three lines to add to your site's <head>, where to put the files, and how to check the install prompt appears.
app-release.apkOptionalA signed Trusted Web Activity test APK plus assetlinks.json, if you tick the Google Play route.
Paste your site URL, give the app a name and a short name (the one that fits under an icon), pick the theme and background colours it should launch with, and upload a single 512×512 icon.
Network-first for sites that change constantly, balanced for most sites, aggressive for content that rarely changes. The service worker is generated to match, with an offline page for when nothing is cached. Which strategy should I pick?
Unzip into your site root, add the manifest link and the service-worker registration snippet from the setup guide, deploy. Chrome's install prompt appears once the files are live over HTTPS. Field-by-field manifest guide
Both platforms install web apps. They do not offer the same things, and a page that pretends otherwise sends you into a support thread later.
Also Edge, Samsung Internet and other Chromium browsers
Limits below are set by Apple, not by the builder
Users experience an app. You maintain a website.What "installable" actually means
When a site meets a handful of technical conditions — served over HTTPS, a valid manifest, sensible icons — Chrome on Android offers an Install app prompt, and Safari on iPhone lets people add it to the home screen from the share sheet. The result opens in its own window with no browser chrome, gets its own icon and task-switcher entry, and can keep working when the network drops.
That is the whole appeal: one codebase, no store review cycle for content changes, and no 15–30% platform cut on anything you sell. The trade-offs are real too — iOS still limits some capabilities, and discovery through an app store does not happen unless you also list there. We cover both sides in Compare and in the PWA vs native guide.
Four ways to put a website on a phone. This site produces the first three; the fourth is named so you know when to walk away.
Manifest, service worker and icons. Installs from the browser, no store, no review cycle, updates when your site does.
PWA Builder →The PWA Builder's Android option produces a Trusted Web Activity test APK and assetlinks.json; Bubblewrap or PWABuilder turn the same manifest into the AAB. Or take the Android builder's APK + AAB bundle (US$5).
Kiosk, internal team, sideload. A signed APK with your icon and splash screen, optional push and AdMob, no store involved.
Android app builder →Bluetooth on iOS, background geolocation, deep OS integration. That is a native or cross-platform framework — not this tool, and we say so.
Read the comparison →Every website builder puts files in a different place, and some don't let you host a service worker at the root at all. These guides explain what works on each platform and what to do when it doesn't.
Plugins vs. generated files, the wp-content scope problem, WooCommerce caching rules.
Why you can't upload sw.js to a Shopify store, and the two routes that still get you an installable app.
Wix's own mobile app vs. a real installable web app, and what Velo can and can't do.
Code injection limits and the wrapper approach that works around them.
Custom code is easy; hosting sw.js at the root needs a small proxy. The exact setup.
Caching game assets for offline play, orientation lock, full-screen and audio unlock.
Blogspot subdomains, custom domains, and what "installable" means for a blog.
Website Builder vs. cPanel hosting — completely different answers.
Icons in every size, screenshots in device frames, a QR code that installs the app, colours pulled from your logo. All run in your browser; nothing is uploaded.
One upload → every manifest, Apple touch and Android icon size, with a maskable preview.
Phone frames, captions and 3D tilt for manifest screenshots and landing pages.
A scannable code for your install page or Play listing, styled to your brand.
Dominant colours from your logo, as hex and CSS — and which one to use for theme_color.
Starter copy for the manifest description, install page and Play listing, within character limits.
A 1024×500 banner with your icon and headline for Play listings and install pages.
Preview the Play listing — icon, title, short description, screenshots — before submitting.
Open Graph, Instagram, X and LinkedIn graphics from one design.
Animated device preview as WebM or GIF for install pages, social and a Play promo video.
Written by the people who maintain the builder, checked against current Chrome, Safari and Google Play behaviour, and dated.
Everything between "my site installs from Chrome" and "my app is live on Google Play": PWA readiness, assetlinks.json, the AAB, listing assets, Data safety, closed testing and the review points that catch TWAs specifically.
Read the guide →The three files that turn a website into something people install, what "installed" actually means on Android, iPhone and desktop, and what a PWA cannot do — stated without hype.
Read the guide →Cost, time, capabilities, discovery, updates, monetisation — compared without a thumb on the scale, with the cases where native genuinely wins.
Read the guide →No. A PWA is a website that browsers can install; it runs in the browser engine and updates whenever your site does. An Android app is a package (APK or AAB) installed by the system. You can wrap a PWA into an Android package for Google Play — that is a Trusted Web Activity — and this site helps with both, but they are different deliverables with different trade-offs.
Yes, with limits set by Apple. Safari can add any website with a manifest to the home screen, and since iOS 16.4 installed web apps can receive web push notifications. There is no automatic install prompt on iOS — the user goes through the share sheet — and some device APIs remain unavailable. Our iPhone guide lists exactly what works.
Two lines in the <head> (a manifest link and a small script that registers the service worker) and the ability to put three files at the root of your domain. If your host does not allow root files — Shopify, Wix and Squarespace are the usual suspects — the platform guides explain the alternatives, including the Android wrapper route.
Nowhere. The builder runs entirely in your browser tab. The URL you type, the icon you upload and the files it generates never touch a server of ours; you download a zip from memory. We run standard Google Analytics on this website and it is funded by display advertising, both of which are described in the privacy policy.
The PWA builder and every tool are free, with no paid tier, trial limit or account. The one paid item on this site is the Android builder's APK + AAB bundle for Google Play, US$5 one-time per build; the APK alone is free. The website is supported by the ads you see on these pages; the files you generate contain no ads, no tracking and no attribution to us.
One form, one zip, three files to add to your site. Free, with no account and nothing uploaded.
Build my web app → I need an Android APK/AAB