Quick Answer:
Services for converting to a PWA typically range from $3,000 to $15,000+ depending on your site’s complexity and the depth of PWA features required. A competent developer or small team can complete a robust conversion in 2-4 weeks, focusing on a service worker, web app manifest, and core offline functionality. The real cost isn’t the initial build—it’s the ongoing strategy for engagement and performance.
You’re probably looking at your website right now and thinking it feels a bit… static. It works, but it doesn’t feel like an app. It doesn’t live on your users’ home screens, it’s sluggish on a spotty connection, and you’re missing out on push notifications. You’ve heard about Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and you’re searching for services for converting to PWA because the technical checklist looks daunting. I get it. You want that app-like experience without the nightmare of app store approvals and maintaining two separate codebases.
Here is the thing. By 2026, the question won’t be “should we build a PWA?” but “why isn’t our entire digital presence a PWA?” The line between website and application has completely blurred. But most of the services you’ll find are selling you a technical checkbox exercise, not a strategic evolution. They’ll give you an install button and call it a day. That’s where you fail before you even start.
Why Most services for converting to PWA Efforts Fail
Most people, and frankly most agencies offering services for converting to PWA, get the fundamental goal wrong. They think it’s about technology. It’s not. It’s about user behavior. The failure happens when they treat it as a pure development task: “Implement a service worker, create a manifest.json, add an install prompt.” They deliver those files, take payment, and move on. Your site now technically passes a Lighthouse PWA audit, but nothing has meaningfully changed for your business or your users.
I’ve seen this dozens of times. A client comes to me after spending $8,000 with another shop. They have a PWA. But their bounce rate hasn’t moved. Their conversion rate is flat. Why? Because the service worker is just caching the homepage. The “app” has no meaningful offline capability. The install prompt is intrusive and annoying. The real issue is not the code. It’s the strategy. A PWA isn’t a feature you bolt on; it’s a philosophy of performance, engagement, and reliability that must be woven into the fabric of your site’s design and purpose. Treating it as a simple conversion is like putting a race car engine in a golf cart and wondering why you didn’t win the Indy 500.
A few years back, a mid-sized e-commerce client hired a well-known agency for a PWA conversion. They got back a beautifully packaged report and a site that could be “installed.” Sales didn’t budge. When I dug in, I found their service worker was caching product images, but not the critical “Add to Cart” API endpoints. A user on a train could browse products but couldn’t actually purchase anything when they lost signal. The entire value proposition—capturing intent anywhere—was broken. We rewrote the caching strategy to prioritize the cart and checkout flow, even if it meant showing a simplified, functional UI offline. Within a quarter, mobile conversions from returning users (the ones who’d installed the PWA) jumped 22%. The agency had checked the technical box. We solved the business problem.
What Actually Works: The Strategy-First Conversion
Forget the checklist for a moment. Successful services for converting to PWA start with a single question: What is the one thing your user needs to do when their connection fails? Your entire conversion effort orbits that answer.
Start with the Offline Experience, Not the Install Prompt
Everyone obsesses over the “Add to Home Screen” prompt. It’s the shiny object. But the real magic is the offline experience. Map out your user’s critical journey. For a news site, it’s reading cached articles. For a food delivery app, it might be browsing the menu and building a cart. For a dashboard, it’s viewing the last synced data. Build your service worker strategy around this journey first. Cache the HTML, CSS, JS, and API data needed to make that core journey functional. This creates immediate, tangible value that users will notice and appreciate, which makes them want to install your app.
Your Manifest is a Marketing Document
The manifest.json file isn’t just configuration; it’s your app’s storefront on the user’s device. Most services fill it with generic icons and a bland name. Think like a product manager. Craft a short, compelling app name. Design a suite of icons that look native and polished on every OS and device background. Write a thoughtful description. Choose a theme color that defines your brand’s space on the task switcher. This file controls how your brand lives alongside Instagram and Gmail. Treat it with that level of importance.
Integrate, Don’t Isolate
The worst conversions treat the PWA as a separate project. The best ones integrate PWA capabilities into the core development workflow. This means your caching strategy is part of your build process. Your push notification system is tied to your CRM. App-like interactions (pull-to-refresh, smooth transitions) are part of the design system. When PWA is an integrated mindset, updates are seamless, and the experience is cohesive. This is what separates a tactical project from a strategic platform shift.
A PWA isn’t something you build. It’s a quality you bake in. The best conversions are invisible—users just feel a faster, more reliable, more engaging website, and that feeling is what drives business.
— Abdul Vasi, Digital Strategist
Common Approach vs Better Approach
| Aspect | Common Approach | Better Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Goal | Pass a Lighthouse PWA audit or get an “Install” prompt. | Define and enable a core user task in offline/low-connectivity scenarios. |
| Service Worker | Generic, off-the-shelf script that caches static assets. | Custom strategy mapping cache to user journeys; includes stale-while-revalidate for dynamic content. |
| Engagement | Add push notifications as a broadcast channel for marketing. | Use push for high-value, user-specific re-engagement (e.g., “Your cart is waiting,” “Your report is ready”). |
| Installation | Aggressive, early prompt that interrupts the user. | Passive prompt triggered after user demonstrates engagement (e.g., visits 3 times in 2 weeks). |
| Measurement | Track “Install” events as the primary success metric. | Track engagement depth of installed users: return frequency, task completion rate, offline usage. |
Looking Ahead to 2026
The landscape for services for converting to PWA is shifting from novelty to necessity. First, I see bundling. By 2026, PWA capability won’t be a separate service line. It will be a standard deliverable within any comprehensive website redesign or platform migration, just like responsive design is today. Agencies that still sell it as a standalone are behind the curve.
Second, the rise of AI-assisted development will change the build process. Tools will automatically analyze your site’s traffic patterns and user flows to recommend and even generate optimized service worker strategies and caching rules. The human role shifts from coder to strategy validator, fine-tuning the AI’s output for business context.
Finally, expect deeper OS integration. We’re already seeing glimpses with app badges, share targets, and protocol handling. By 2026, PWAs will have near-native access to system-level features on more platforms, blurring the distinction further. The conversion service of the future won’t just make your site installable; it will make it feel like a citizen of the user’s device ecosystem.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much do you charge compared to agencies?
I charge approximately 1/3 of what traditional agencies charge, with more personalized attention and faster execution. My model is built on direct strategy and implementation without the layers of account managers and project managers that inflate agency costs.
Will a PWA help my SEO?
Indirectly, but powerfully. Google prioritizes page experience signals like loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability—all core tenets of a well-built PWA. The performance gains alone often lead to better rankings, and the lower bounce rate from a better experience sends positive user signals.
Can I convert a WordPress/Wix/Squarespace site to a PWA?
Yes, but with caveats. There are plugins that add basic PWA features, but they often provide a generic, low-value experience. For a strategic conversion, you usually need custom development work that goes beyond the plugin to tailor the offline experience and integration to your specific site and goals.
Do users actually install PWAs to their home screens?
The best ones do, when given a reason. If your PWA is simply a cached version of your slow website, no. If it provides a noticeably faster, more reliable, and functional experience—especially offline—users will install it to retain that benefit. It’s about earned installation, not prompted installation.
What’s the biggest maintenance burden after conversion?
The service worker cache. You need a solid versioning and update strategy. If you change your site’s CSS but the old version is stuck in a user’s cache, they’ll see a broken site. A good conversion includes a robust update flow that seamlessly delivers new assets without disrupting the user experience.
Look, by 2026, a website that isn’t a PWA will feel as outdated as a site that isn’t mobile-friendly does today. The window for gaining a competitive advantage by converting is closing. But that advantage doesn’t come from hiring someone to run a script. It comes from partnering with someone who understands that this is a shift in how you serve your users. It’s about building a digital presence that is resilient, engaging, and always there when they need it. Don’t just check the PWA box. Build a better website.
