Median.co alternative for turning a website into an Android app

Choose Median.co if you already have a website or web app that works well on a phone and you want it in the App Store and Google Play with native menus, push notifications and plugins around it: as of November 2026 it wraps your live site in native iOS and Android apps under a paid per-app license, with a free tier for building and testing. Choose App Builder Agent if you want a new Android app rather than your site in a frame: you describe it (or paste your site's content), watch it run in the emulator preview, change it by chatting, and press Download APK, starting free. Median keeps the app and the site identical; App Builder Agent gives you a separate app built for the phone.

Who each tool is for

Median.co (formerly GoNative.io, founded in 2014 and renamed in 2023) converts a website or web application into native iOS and Android apps. As of November 2026 its architecture docs describe the core plainly: your website, served from your own domain, renders inside a native WebView (WKWebView on iPhone, Android System WebView on Android), and Median does not change your web content. Around it you configure native parts in Median App Studio: a top bar, a sidebar and a bottom tab bar built from native components, a splash screen, offline pages, dark mode and other device controls. Push notifications connect through providers such as OneSignal, Firebase Cloud Messaging, Braze and Customer.io, and native plugins add things like Face ID and Touch ID, social login, scanning, analytics and in-app purchases. A JavaScript Bridge lets your web code call them, and because the content comes from your server, website changes appear in the app without a new store release. You can download the full Xcode and Android Studio source, and for Android its publishing FAQ recommends building an Android App Bundle (AAB) in App Studio for Google Play. It suits teams with a mature, mobile-friendly site who want it in both stores fast.

App Builder Agent starts from a description instead of a URL. You describe the app in plain English in a chat; an AI agent writes one React Native codebase (or Flutter, if you ask); the app runs in the emulator preview in the builder, where you tap through it; and you change anything by chatting. If you have a website, you paste what it is for, its pages and its text, and the app gets native screens built for a phone rather than the site in a frame. Download APK in the Preview tab gives you a file to install on any Android phone, and on paid plans a signed APK plus AAB is ready for Google Play. A hosted backend with an online database, sign-in and an admin panel is added when you ask, and the same account builds websites and games. It suits people who want an app that does more than the website, or who want to test on Android phones before paying anything.

Side-by-side comparison

Median sells its licenses as self-serve tiers, priced on its own pricing page, with add-ons such as an App Store publishing service.

Choose Median.co if

• Your website already works well on a phone and you want that exact experience in an app, not a different one.
• You want the app to stay in sync with the site automatically: you publish a change on the website and it shows in the app without a store update.
• You need iOS and Android together, from one license, with an App Store publishing service on offer.
• Your users sign in or book on the site today, and you want those existing web flows to keep working inside the app, with native push notifications and biometric login added through plugins.
• You have a web developer who can use the JavaScript Bridge, or the budget for Median's managed Business plan to build and maintain the app for you.

Choose App Builder Agent if

• You want an app that is different from your website: native screens, a bottom menu, saved items, offline content and features the site does not have.
• Your site is not mobile-friendly, or you have no site at all and only an idea. Wrapping a page that is awkward on a phone gives you an awkward app.
• You want to start free and install a working app on a real Android phone before paying for anything.
• You want a backend in the same place: an online database, sign-in and an admin panel that the agent adds when you ask.
• You also want a website or a game from the same account. The business website and landing page apps in the gallery show what a single description produces.

The same app in each tool

Take a yoga studio whose website has a class timetable, teacher pages, prices, a contact page and booking through a hosted booking page. The owner wants members to find the studio on Google Play and get a notification when a class is added.

In Median.co you enter the site's address in App Studio and see it running inside an app. You add a bottom tab bar with Timetable, Book, Teachers and Contact pointing at the matching pages, set the splash screen and icon, connect push notifications through OneSignal, and add an offline page for when there is no signal. The timetable and booking keep working exactly as they do on the site, and when the owner edits the timetable on the website, the app shows it the same minute. For publishing, you build the AAB for Google Play and the iOS app from the same license, or buy Median's publishing service. If the site already looks good on a phone, this is the quickest route to both stores.

In App Builder Agent you open the APK app builder and describe the app, pasting what the site holds:

The app appears in the emulator preview. You book a test class, then refine: "show a waiting list when a class is full", "add a class pass counter on the profile", "let me post a news item from the admin screen". Sign-in, bookings and the timetable live in the hosted backend that the agent adds. Download APK in the Preview tab gives you a build to install on your own phone and send to a few regulars; on a paid plan the signed build gives you the APK and AAB for Google Play. The difference from the Median version is that the timetable and bookings now live in the app's own backend rather than on the website, so the app no longer mirrors the site: it is a second product to keep up to date. The web app to Android APK guide covers the case where your site already has sign-in and an API the app should reuse.

If you only want your site inside an app with a splash screen, back and refresh buttons and an offline screen, App Builder Agent can build that too from the website to APK maker. But for a plain wrapper Median.co is the more complete product, with its native menus, plugin catalog and iOS builds.

What to expect if you switch

From Median.co to App Builder Agent. There is no project import, and nothing to import as such: a Median app is your website plus configuration. Treat the website as the specification. Paste its pages, text and any API or feed address into the chat, and say which pages become native screens. If your Median app is already on Google Play, an update to that listing has to use the same package name and be signed with the key Google Play expects; Median's docs say signing with its keystore needs a license and a request to its team, so sort that out before you move, or publish the new app as a separate listing. You gain native screens, a hosted backend and a free start; you lose automatic sync with the website, the iOS build and Median's plugin catalog.

From App Builder Agent to Median.co. Median needs a website to wrap. If you built a website with App Builder Agent, it is published at an appbuilderagent.com/p/ address on paid plans, but think twice before wrapping it: the site is the whole app, so a Median app is best pointed at a site you control on your own domain. For a mobile app you built here, export the complete project on a paid plan and keep it; Median will not run it.

Using both. A business with a good website can wrap it with Median.co for the stores and keep it in sync, then use App Builder Agent for a separate companion app the website cannot be, such as a staff app or a loyalty card. The three routes, wrapper, PWA and rebuild, are compared in convert a website into an Android app, and the case for skipping the store entirely is in PWA vs native Android app for a small business.

Tip: before you wrap a website, open it on a cheap Android phone on a slow connection and use it for five minutes. If it is pleasant, a wrapper like Median is a fine choice. If you keep zooming, waiting or getting lost, an app built for the phone will serve your customers better.

Free options, stores and iPhone

As of November 2026 Median.co lets you build and test free in App Studio for non-commercial use, with a "Powered by Median.co" screen at launch, and sells per-app licenses for white-label apps on both iOS and Android. App Builder Agent's free plan starts with Google sign-in and no card: the agent builds your first app and you get a free APK download; keeping on editing with the agent, more projects, signed builds and source export are on the paid plans, which run 30 days each with no automatic renewal. For Google Play, both end in an AAB, and Google's one-time US$25 registration applies; new personal developer accounts must run a closed test with at least 12 testers for 14 days before production. Google Play's minimum functionality policy also expects an app to offer more than a website in a frame, which is worth reading before you submit any wrapper; see publishing on Google Play from the US, UK or EU and signed APK and AAB for the Play Store. For iPhone, Median builds the iOS app directly, with Apple's US$99 a year developer program; App Builder Agent's route is the source export plus Xcode on a Mac, explained in can an AI app builder make an iPhone app. The wider field is in best AI app builders in 2026.

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