Before analyzing the benefits of a mobile website vs. an app, let’s first understand the main differences between both. Both mobile websites and mobile apps are accessible on smartphones, tablets, etc.
When you check a mobile website, it is similar to any other website. It has HTML pages which can be browsed on a browser and are linked together. They will be accessible through the internet just like a website. What differs a mobile website with a standard website is that it is specifically designed for the small, mobile devices, and touch interface. Currently, the highly mobile responsive design has become a standard for the website. It makes the standard website mobile-friendly and they are scalable as the screen-size for any device i.e. from desktop to small smartphones.
There will not be any difference in terms of the content. It means the content which was present on the website such as media files, images, audios, etc. will also be present on the mobile website. In fact, on mobile websites, the features will get the increase by using the capabilities of mobile hardware.
On the other side, mobile apps are actual applications which the users can download and install on their devices. Unlike a mobile website, which you can check without downloading it, the same is not true for a mobile app. Users can download the app as per their operating system. For e.g. Android users can download from Google play store, iOS users from Apple App store etc. The app will pull content using the internet or can also download the content so that it would be accessible without an internet connection.