Showcase site, web app or SaaS: how to choose?

"I want a website" can mean three very different things. Picking the wrong category means either overpaying or getting stuck six months later. Here's how to decide.

1. The showcase site

Goal: be found and inspire trust. It presents your business, services and contact details. An online brochure, fast and well-ranked.

• Best for: freelancers, SMEs, professionals.
• Choose it if: users don't need to "log in".

2. The web application

Goal: let the user do something. A client portal, an internal tool, a complex form, a dashboard. There's business logic, data, sometimes accounts.

• Best for: digitising a process (quotes, bookings, tracking).
• Choose it if: you're replacing a shared Excel file or a manual process.

3. The SaaS platform

Goal: sell software online, by subscription, to many customers. Accounts, roles, recurring payments, data isolation: a full product, built to scale.

• Best for: turning an idea into a recurring product.
• Choose it if: several companies would pay for your solution.

The right reflex

Start with the problem, not the technology.

The best approach is often to start small (an MVP) then evolve. A one-to-two-week analysis phase is usually enough to clarify the right category, and to avoid building a truck when a bike would do.