What is the difference between an ‘App’ and a ‘Web Service’ on an App Platform? What does each instance contain after the build process, how do they work, and what are their purposes/use cases?
This textbox defaults to using Markdown to format your answer.
You can type !ref in this text area to quickly search our full set of tutorials, documentation & marketplace offerings and insert the link!
Hi there,
An App is just the wrapper. Components do the work.
Inside an App you can have Web Services (APIs/backends), Static Sites (frontend builds), Workers, Scheduled Jobs, and Functions. The App groups them together for networking, env vars, deploys, and billing.
You always create an App, then add the components you need.
Make sure to check out the docs here:
https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/app-platform/how-to/manage-components/
Get paid to write technical tutorials and select a tech-focused charity to receive a matching donation.
Full documentation for every DigitalOcean product.
The Wave has everything you need to know about building a business, from raising funding to marketing your product.
Stay up to date by signing up for DigitalOcean’s Infrastructure as a Newsletter.
New accounts only. By submitting your email you agree to our Privacy Policy
Scale up as you grow — whether you're running one virtual machine or ten thousand.
Sign up and get $200 in credit for your first 60 days with DigitalOcean.*
*This promotional offer applies to new accounts only.