How to Cheaply Publish an App or Game (Mobile + Web)

A practical map.

Short paths. Low cost. Minimal friction.

What do you say when someone asks...

“How can I cheaply make and publish an app?”

Especially in their favorite language...

Apps on Mobile (Cross-Platform Frameworks)
Progressive Web Apps (PWA)
PWA Games via itch.io
App Stores
Backend / Hosting for Custom Stacks
Native Development + LLM-Assisted Porting

Apps on Mobile (Cross-Platform Frameworks)

Build once. Deploy to iOS + Android.

React Native

Official site: https://reactnative.dev/

JavaScript / TypeScript
Shared logic across platforms
Large ecosystem
Safe default choice

Flutter

Official site: https://flutter.dev/

Dart
Strong rendering performance
Consistent UI
Very popular

Qt

Official site: https://www.qt.io/

C++ / QML
Mobile + desktop
Good for performance-heavy apps

Apache Cordova

Official site: https://cordova.apache.org/

HTML/CSS/JS in native wrapper
Simple for web developers
Less popular today

Ionic

Official site: https://ionicframework.com/

Web tech + native bridges
Works with Angular / React / Vue
Often paired with Capacitor

Xamarin / .NET MAUI

Official site: https://dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/apps/maui

C# / .NET
Good if you’re in Microsoft ecosystem

Solar2D (formerly Corona SDK)

Official site: https://solar2d.com/

Lua
Lightweight 2D games

Titanium SDK

Official site: https://titaniumsdk.com/

JavaScript-driven native apps
Niche today

Publishing Costs

iOS: $99/year (Apple Developer Program)
Android: $25 one-time (Google Play)

Trending Picks (2026)

If starting fresh:

Flutter
React Native
Ionic + Capacitor

Older stacks are niche.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA)

Authoritative overview: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps

A PWA is:

A website
Installable
Offline-capable
No app store required

Built with:

Web App Manifest
Service Worker

Install Experience

Android:

Often shows install prompt
Low friction

iOS:

Manual
Share → “Add to Home Screen”
No automatic prompt

This is the main friction point.

Benefits

One codebase
Instant deploy
No store review
Update instantly

PWA Games via itch.io

Platform: https://itch.io/

Upload HTML5 build
Instant URL
No approval process
Great for indie launches

Godot (WebAssembly Export)

Engine: https://godotengine.org/

Exports to HTML5 (WASM)
Small builds
Fast iteration
Excellent 2D
Good lightweight 3D

Strong PWA fit.

Unity (WebGL)

Engine: https://unity.com/

WebGL export
Larger runtime
Strong 3D ecosystem
Heavy for small PWA games

Unreal Engine

Engine: https://www.unrealengine.com/

AAA visuals
Large builds
Web not first-class
Better for native builds

Quick Game Decision

Small PWA → Godot
Mid 3D Web → Unity
High-end 3D → Native Unreal
Fastest publish → itch.io + Godot

App Stores

Google Play

https://play.google.com/console/

$25 one-time
AAB upload
Global distribution
15–30% revenue share

F-Droid

https://f-droid.org/

Open source only
No fee
Smaller audience

Android Sideloading

Direct APK install
No approval
Trust friction

Apple App Store

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/

$99/year
Strict review
Code signing required
15–30% revenue share

iOS Sideloading

Requires developer account
Not consumer-friendly
Limited use case

Distribution Snapshot

Max reach:

Google Play + Apple App Store

Open source:

F-Droid

Internal use:

Sideload

Fastest path:

Backend / Hosting for Custom Stacks

If you’re not using shared PHP hosting.

You still have cheap options.

1) Static + Tiny API

AWS S3 Static Hosting https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/WebsiteHosting.html

Host static frontend
Add serverless functions
Very low ops

Good for:

Small web apps
Leaderboards
Auth flows

2) Serverless Functions

AWS Lambda https://aws.amazon.com/lambda/

Firebase Functions https://firebase.google.com/docs/functions

Pay per request
Good for spikes
No server maintenance

Watch:

Cold starts
Different dev workflow

3) Edge Functions

Cloudflare Workers https://developers.cloudflare.com/workers/

Global edge
Lightweight APIs
Very fast

4) Small VM / Custom Runtime

Examples:

AWS EC2
Lightsail
DigitalOcean
Fly.io

You run:

Python
Go
Node
Rust
Custom binaries

Pros:

Full control

Cons:

You manage everything

5) Hosting at Home

Let’s Encrypt for HTTPS https://letsencrypt.org/
Port forwarding
Dynamic IP issues

Fine for:

Prototypes

Risky for:

Production launch

Practical Indie Stack

Most common:

Static frontend
Serverless backend
Cheap storage
CDN

Upgrade to VM only when needed.

Native Development + LLM-Assisted Porting

Sometimes the best solution is:

Write native.

Android

Languages:

Java
Kotlin

Official: https://developer.android.com/

iOS / iPadOS