How Median works
Median, called GoNative until its rebrand, has turned websites into apps since 2014. You paste a URL into its App Studio, set up navigation, icons and plugins in the browser, and Median builds iOS and Android apps on its own native codebase. The app displays your site the way a mobile browser would, so changes to the site appear without a new build. Native features — push, biometrics, social login, barcode scanning, purchases — go through the Median JavaScript Bridge and plugins, and the number of plugins depends on the plan.
With an App Store Connect API key, Median creates the certificates and uploads iOS builds to TestFlight. You still create the app record and the listing in App Store Connect, and for Android you download the App Bundle and upload it in Play Console — or pay for Median’s publishing service.
How CapWrapp works
Connect the GitHub repo your project lives in — Lovable, Bolt and Base44 sync to GitHub in one click. If it is still a website, CapWrapp commits Capacitor, the open-source native runtime from Ionic, along with the iOS and Android projects. When you pick a commit, CapWrapp starts GitHub Actions in your own account: the web app is built and bundled into both apps, signed with keys from CapWrapp’s vault, and uploaded to TestFlight and Google Play’s internal testing track. From the Releases page you send a tested version to App Review or promote it to production on Google Play, with What’s New already translated. The store listing is written once and translated by AI. More in how CapWrapp works.
A shell around your site, or your code in the app
Median shows your live website inside its shell. CapWrapp bundles your built code into the app with Capacitor. Median’s way works for any site — even one you can’t change — and updates instantly. CapWrapp’s way needs a web app you can build, such as a React, Vue or Vite app, and every change ships as a reviewed build.
- Ownership. Median lets you download and modify its native source, to build in Xcode and Android Studio yourself; future Median updates need an active plan. With CapWrapp the iOS and Android projects are standard Capacitor projects in your repo from day one.
- Android. Median leaves the Google Play upload to you. CapWrapp uploads every Android build to internal testing and promotes it to production when you say so.
- Review. Apple’s Guideline 4.2 rejects apps that are only a website, whichever tool built them. Run the free Guideline 4.2 self-audit before you submit. Median adds native navigation and plugins for the same reason.
Pricing
Median sells a licence per app, covering iPhone and Android: Starter is $229 once, then $179 a year from the second year; Essential is $590 plus $399 a year; Plus is $990 plus $669 a year. Push, extra plugins and the publishing service are add-ons, and fully managed Business plans start at $7,200 a year. A free plan lets you try the builder with a watermark.
CapWrapp is a subscription priced by active apps, with every feature on every plan: $29 a month for up to 3 apps, $99 for 10 and $249 for 50 — $20, $79 and $199 a month billed yearly. An app counts as active for 30 days after you ship it, teammates are free, and every plan starts with a 14-day free trial with no card. Builds run on your GitHub account’s Actions minutes.
For one app, Median Starter and CapWrapp billed yearly cost about the same in the first year. For three apps, Median Starter is $687 up front and $537 a year after that; CapWrapp is $240 a year. Whichever tool you pick, Apple charges $99 a year for a developer account and Google $25 once.
Moving from Median to CapWrapp
- Put the web app’s code in a GitHub repo, if it isn’t there already.
- Connect it in CapWrapp and let it add Capacitor, with the same bundle ID and package name as your Median app, so new builds update the existing listings.
- Replace Median JavaScript Bridge calls with Capacitor plugins or CapWrapp integrations.
- Add your App Store Connect key and Google Play service account, and sign Android with the upload key Google Play already knows.