Convert a Website to a Desktop App for Windows and Mac
Paste your website’s address. Appy Pie turns it into an app with an installable web app (PWA) that opens in its own window on Windows and Mac, plus Android and iPhone apps from the same project.
What You Get on the Desktop (and What You Don’t)
Appy Pie turns your website into an app, and every app comes with a PWA: a version of your app built to install from the browser. On a Windows PC or a Mac it opens in its own window, with no address bar or tabs, and sits in the Start menu, taskbar or Dock like any other program.
- Its own window and icon on Windows and Mac
- Your live website inside, so it is always up to date
- Android and iPhone apps from the same project
- Not an .exe, .msi or .dmg installer file
- No Microsoft Store or Mac App Store listing
Need a real installer file? The .exe section below covers the tools that make one.
Spring bouquets
Example: a shop’s website installed as an app, pinned to the taskbar.
How to Convert a Website to a Desktop App
From your website’s address to an app on your customers’ computers.
Paste your website URL
Any public site that works well in a browser: WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, a web dashboard or your own HTML.
Customise the app
Set the app name, icon, colours and navigation, and add Appy Pie features such as push notifications.
Publish
Choose a plan and publish. Your PWA goes live at its own address, and your Android app can go to Google Play from the same project.
Install it on Windows and Mac
Share the PWA link. Your users install it from Chrome, Edge or Safari in two clicks, using the steps further down this page.
Publishing for the first time? Our app publishing guide walks through both stores.
Can You Convert a Website to an .exe? The Honest Answer
Most “web to exe” tools promise a one-click file. Here is what each route really gives you.
Not with Appy Pie.
A website is not a program: an .exe has to carry its own browser engine to show your pages, which is what tools like Pake and ToDesktop package for you. Appy Pie takes the lighter route: an installable web app that uses the browser engine already on the computer. If you need a file you can email, put on a USB stick or send through IT, pick one of the routes below.
Install it as a web app
Free to installChrome, Edge and Safari install your site, or your Appy Pie PWA, as an app with its own window and icon. No file, no installer, always current.
Best for: customers and teams who just want the app on their computer.
Pake
Free, open sourceBuilds small .msi, .dmg and .deb installers from a web address, using Tauri. Run from the command line or GitHub Actions.
Best for: developers happy with a terminal. See Pake
ToDesktop Builder
From $100/moTurns a web app into signed desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, with auto-updates and download hosting. 7-day free trial.
Best for: software companies shipping a paid desktop product. See ToDesktop
HTML Executable
From €45Compiles HTML files, PDFs or Word documents into one Windows .exe, with optional copy protection. Free trial.
Best for: offline manuals, ebooks and courses. See HTML Executable
Be careful with anonymous online “URL to EXE” generators. An .exe runs with full access to the computer, and an unsigned one triggers Windows SmartScreen warnings for everyone you share it with.
Install a Website as an App on Windows or Mac
Works for your Appy Pie PWA and for most other websites. Free, and it takes under a minute.
Google Chrome
Windows, Mac, Linux, ChromeOS
- Open the site in Chrome.
- Click the install icon at the right of the address bar, or open the ⋮ menu.
- Choose Cast, save and share then Install page as app.
Microsoft Edge
Windows and Mac
- Open the site in Edge.
- Open the … menu.
- Choose Apps then Install this site as an app. Pin it to the taskbar or Start menu when asked.
Safari
macOS Sonoma or later
- Open the site in Safari.
- Open the File menu, or the Share button.
- Choose Add to Dock. The app appears in the Dock and Launchpad.
Menu names change between browser versions. If you can’t find the option, look for “Install” or “Add to Dock” in the browser’s main menu.
Browser Tab, Desktop Web App or .exe: What’s the Difference?
Three ways the same website can sit on a computer.
| Browser tab | Installed web app (Appy Pie PWA) | .exe or .dmg installer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own window and icon | No | Yes | Yes |
| Start menu, taskbar or Dock | No | Yes | Yes |
| Updates when your site changes | Yes | Yes | Only if the tool adds auto-update |
| File you can email or put on a USB stick | No | No | Yes |
| Works fully offline | No | Mostly no | Only if the content is packaged inside |
| Size on disk | None | Very small | From under 10 MB (Pake) to 100 MB or more (Electron) |
| Code signing to avoid security warnings | Not needed | Not needed | Needed, and paid |
What It Costs to Turn a Website Into a Desktop App
The PWA comes with every Appy Pie plan. Prices as our app pricing page shows them.
Desktop web app and Android
$16per app a month- Ad-free PWA to install on Windows and Mac
- Android app for Google Play
- 500 push notifications and 500 downloads a month
- Unlimited app editing, email support
Desktop web app, Android and iPhone
$60per app a month- Everything in Basic
- iPhone app for the App Store
- 2,000 push notifications and 2,000 downloads a month
- Help submitting to the app stores, premium support
Store fees are extra: Google Play charges $25 once and Apple $99 a year. The desktop install needs no store and costs nothing more.
Read from our pricing data on October 5, 2026. Try any plan free for 7 days for personal, non-commercial use.
Website to Desktop App Tools Compared: Appy Pie, ToDesktop, Pake and HTML Executable
Each one is good at something different.
| Appy Pie | ToDesktop Builder | Pake | HTML Executable | Chrome or Edge install | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | Installable web app and Android app; iPhone on Platinum | Signed Windows, Mac and Linux apps | .msi, .dmg and .deb installers | One Windows .exe | An app window for one site |
| Price | From $16 a month; 7-day trial | From $100 a month; 7-day trial | Free, open source | From €45; free trial | Free |
| Coding needed | None | None | Command line | None | None |
| Their strength | Desktop, Android and iPhone from one project, no code | Real installers with auto-update and code signing | Tiny, fast installers at no cost | Offline content with copy protection | Instant and free for your own use |
| Where we fall short | No .exe or .dmg file, no store listing | If you need an installer file, ToDesktop, Pake or HTML Executable do something we don’t. | |||
ToDesktop, Pake and HTML Executable details read from their own sites on October 5, 2026. Nativefier, which older comparisons still list, has been archived and unmaintained since September 29, 2023.
What Customers Say About Turning Websites Into Apps
Quoted as written on G2 and Capterra, with dates.
Fully customisable web based apps made simple.
Jamie P., Designer · 21 May 2026
Changes made in the app automatically cross over to the website saving us lot of time!
Leah V. · 3 May 2024
With Android app, we can have same website without any problem.
Masoom R., CEO · 7 June 2023
The other side: James H. (Capterra, 3 of 5, June 2025) objected to paying “$60 a month just to keep your app functional in both Android and Apple” while still testing, and Barry F. (Capterra, 1 of 5, November 2025) found publishing “almost isn’t possible without becoming a paying customer”. Both are right that publishing is paid. None of these reviews is about the desktop install specifically; it is the same app.
What This Desktop App Converter Does Not Do
Read these before you start.
Website to Desktop App FAQ
What people ask before they turn a website into a desktop app, including the “.exe” questions.
Paste your website’s address into the box on this page and Appy Pie builds an app around it. The app comes with a PWA (an installable web app). Open that PWA in Chrome or Edge on Windows or Mac and choose Install, or Add to Dock in Safari on a Mac, and it gets its own window and an icon in the Start menu, taskbar or Dock. The same project also gives you Android and iPhone apps.
Not with Appy Pie: it does not produce .exe, .msi or .dmg files. If you need an installer file, the realistic routes are Pake (free and open source, for people comfortable with a command line), ToDesktop Builder (from $100 a month, with code signing and auto-updates) or, for offline HTML content, a compiler such as HTML Executable (from €45, Windows only).
Yes, two. Chrome and Edge can install most websites as an app for free, and Pake is a free, open-source tool that builds desktop installers if you are comfortable with a command line. Appy Pie has a 7-day free trial; publishing your app with its PWA starts on the Basic plan at $16 a month.
An .exe compiler bundles your HTML files and a small browser engine into one Windows program. HTML Executable does this from €45 and has a free trial, and Pake can package a website the same way for free. If your HTML is already online, installing it as a web app from Chrome or Edge gives a similar result without any file.
Open the site, or your Appy Pie app’s PWA, in Chrome or Edge on Windows. In Chrome choose Cast, save and share, then Install page as app; in Edge choose Apps, then Install this site as an app. It appears in the Start menu and can be pinned to the taskbar like any other program.
Yes. In Safari on macOS Sonoma or later, open the site and choose File, then Add to Dock. Chrome and Edge on a Mac install it the same way they do on Windows. The app opens in its own window from the Dock and Launchpad.
A PWA (progressive web app) is a website built to install like an app. Once installed it has its own window, icon and taskbar or Dock entry, and it can send notifications where the browser allows. It is not an .exe: it runs on the browser engine that is already on the computer, which is why it is small and always up to date.
Yes. The app shows your live website, so new pages, products and posts appear straight away, with nothing to reinstall.
Mostly not. It shows your live website, so pages need a connection. A browser may keep some recently opened pages, but plan for an online app.
Not through Appy Pie. Microsoft’s own free tool, PWABuilder, can package a PWA for the Microsoft Store if you want a store listing, but that submission is yours to make.
Yes. The Basic plan covers the PWA and an Android app for Google Play; the Platinum plan, $60 a month, adds iPhone. See the website to APK and website to IPA converters for the detail.
Be careful. An .exe from an unknown generator runs with full access to your computer, and an unsigned one triggers Windows SmartScreen warnings for anyone you share it with. Use a tool whose source or publisher you can check, such as Pake, ToDesktop or HTML Executable.
Ready to Put Your Website on the Desktop?
Paste your address and see the app before you pay. The same project gives you a desktop web app, an Android app and, on Platinum, an iPhone app.
Convert My Website
Written and reviewed by
Abhinav GirdharFounder, Appy Pie
Building no-code app and website tools for 10M+ users since 2016.
About the teamLast updated