Do you need an event website, an event app, or both?
A website gets your event found and gets people to sign up. An app serves the people who are there. Here is how to tell which you need — and which WebMobi product does each.
The short answer
Every event that wants an audience needs a website: one page with the date, the place, the programme and a way to sign up. An app is worth adding when the day itself has work in it — checking people in at the door, several sessions or rooms, exhibitors, or a venue with poor signal.
WebMobi helps event organizers and individuals create event experiences online, from event websites to branded event apps. It does that with two self-service products, one for each side of this question.
Side by side
| Event website | Event app | |
|---|---|---|
| Main job | Get the event found and get people to sign up. | Serve the people who are there, and run the door. |
| When it matters most | Weeks before the event, while people decide. | On the day, and in the days around it. |
| How people reach it | A link — nothing to install. Search engines and shared messages lead to it. | An install from the App Store or Google Play, usually after they have registered. |
| Who uses it | Anyone curious about the event. | Registered attendees, and your staff at the door. |
| Check-in | Not its job. | QR codes scanned at the door, check-in by name, walk-ins, and session attendance. |
| No signal at the venue | A web page needs a connection. | Door check-in in the app keeps working offline and syncs when the signal returns. |
| Effort to set up | Create the event and publish — the page is the whole product. | The same event, plus staff, check-in and the app itself to plan for. |
A website is enough when…
- It is a single session — a class, a workshop, a talk, a meetup.
- People arrive and you recognise them, or a printed list will do.
- Your main problem is being found and getting sign-ups.
- You are one person or a small volunteer team.
- You sell tickets through a site you already use and only need a page that points to it.
Add an app when…
- You check people in at the door and want a record of who came.
- The venue WiFi cannot be trusted on the day.
- There are several sessions or rooms, and you need attendance per session.
- People turn up who never registered, and you need to add them at the door.
- There are exhibitors, and attendees need the exhibitor directory and booths in their pocket.
How WebMobi’s two products map to this
Both run on the same event, so you can start with one and add the other without re-entering anything.
The website side
WebMobi Event Website Builder
WebMobi Event Website Builder is a self-service event website builder that helps individuals and event organizers create and publish an event website, share it anywhere, take registrations, and get discovered through WebMobi’s event discovery.
Your event gets its own page at an address you choose — and can change later without breaking shared links. Public published events are listed on WebMobi’s Discover page. Registration or a link to your ticketing site is a separate choice.
See the Event Website Builder →The app side
WebMobi Event App Builder
WebMobi Event App Builder is a self-service event app builder that helps conference organizers, associations, agencies and event teams create and launch branded event apps — with registration, check-in (including offline check-in and walk-ins), session attendance, agenda, speakers and exhibitors in one platform.
Every attendee gets a QR code; staff scan it on the web or in the iOS and Android app, check people in by name, add walk-ins, and point scanning at a single session. Your event opens inside the WebMobi app on every plan; an app under your own name is a one-off add-on.
See the Event App Builder →A note on the app today: The WebMobi app is on iPhone and Android. Offline QR scanning works on both. Checking people in by name while offline, and adding walk-ins in the app, are on iPhone today and reach Android with the next Google Play update of the app.
What neither one does
- No livestreaming or hybrid event hosting.
- No badge design or printing — attendees carry a QR code.
- No lead-retrieval scanning for exhibitors — exhibitors get a directory listing and a booth page.
- No waitlists, promo codes or refunds, and no ticket payments in WebMobi — link to your ticketing site.
- Offline working is the mobile app’s job; a web page, including the web check-in page, needs a connection.
Already know you need the app side? Read about the conference app, event check-in and event registration, or compare pricing.
FAQ
Do I need an app for my event?
Only if something happens on the day that a web page cannot handle. For a class, a workshop or a meetup, an event website with registration is usually enough. You start needing an app when you check people in at the door, track attendance per session, run several rooms, or host exhibitors.
Is an event website enough for a conference?
For promoting it and taking registrations, yes. On the day, a conference usually needs door check-in, a pocket agenda and session attendance — which is what the app is for.
Do I have to enter everything twice with WebMobi?
No. The website and the app read the same event: build the agenda once and it appears on the site and in the app. Your event page also has an “Open in app” button.
Will attendees install an app just for my event?
Some will not, which is why the website has to stand on its own. With WebMobi your event opens inside the WebMobi app, which people may already have from another event, rather than a new app for each event.
Can I have an app with my own name and icon?
Yes, as a one-off add-on ($999 on the pricing page), published under your own name on the App Store and Google Play. Store review times are set by Apple and Google, not by us.
Does the app work without internet?
Door check-in in the app does: scans are saved on the phone and synced when the connection returns. The WebMobi app is on iPhone and Android. Offline QR scanning works on both. Checking people in by name while offline, and adding walk-ins in the app, are on iPhone today and reach Android with the next Google Play update of the app.
Which WebMobi product should I start with?
If you are one person or a small team putting an event on the web, start with the Event Website Builder. If you are a conference, association, agency or event team running registration and check-in, start with the Event App Builder. Both run on the same event, so you can add the other later.
Start with the page. Add the app when the day needs it.
Both products run on the same event, so nothing you build for the website is wasted when you add the app.