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What is the difference between an 'App' and a 'Web Service' on an App Platform?

Posted on January 16, 2026

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?



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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/

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