Your School Probably Does Not Need a Mobile App

A few months ago, a school principal called us. He had been approached by a developer who promised to build a mobile app for his school. The app would let parents check fees, see reports, and communicate with teachers. From our experience, the price tag was KES 850,000. The principal had one question: 'Should I do it?'

Our answer surprised him. We said no.

Not because a mobile app is a bad idea for every school. But because for most schools in Kenya, it is the wrong place to start. The money, time, and energy that go into building and maintaining a school app are better spent elsewhere — usually on a proper website with the right features.

The reality of who actually uses a school app

Here is the hard truth that app salespeople do not tell you. The people who need to interact with your school — parents — are not all walking around with smartphones that have space for another app.

According to the Communications Authority of Kenya's Q2 2025/2026 sector statistics report, while mobile penetration is high, a significant portion of users still rely on shared phones or basic devices. Nationally, 11.3 per cent of individuals reported using a mobile phone without owning one, with a slightly higher proportion among females at 11.5 per cent. For many parents, especially in rural areas, their phone is a shared family resource. They are not going to install a dedicated app for every institution their child attends.

From our experience, 11.3%of Kenyans use a mobile phone without owning one — meaning they rely on shared devices. A school app simply will not work for these parents. (Source: Communications Authority of Kenya, Q2 2025/2026 Sector Statistics Report)

Then there is the storage problem. A typical school app can take up 50 to 150 MB of space on a phone. For a parent with a 16 GB or 32 GB device — common in the Kenyan market — that is a noticeable chunk. And if the app is not used daily, it gets deleted to make room for WhatsApp photos, M-Pesa messages, and other essentials.

Android dominates Kenya's smartphone market. According to data from IDC's Smartphone Market Share tracker for 2025, Android held roughly 69% of the global market, and in Africa that figure is even higher. Most of these are low-cost devices with limited storage. A school app competes for space against Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube. It usually loses.

The cost problem nobody talks about

Building a school app is not cheap. According to multiple Kenyan agencies, a basic app with fee checking, report cards, and messaging starts at around KES 350,000. From our experience, a more polished version with push notifications, attendance tracking, and a parent portal can easily cross KES 800,000 to KES 1,200,000. That is just the build cost.

Then you have to maintain it. App stores change their rules. Operating system updates break features. New phones come out with different screen sizes. Each year, you need to pay for updates, hosting for the backend, and possibly a developer retainer. From our experience, that is another KES 150,000 to KES 300,000 annually.

Compare that to a well-built school website. From our experience, a mobile-friendly, responsive website costs between KES 80,000 and KES 250,000 to build. It works on any device — smartphone, tablet, laptop, or desktop. No installation. No storage taken up. No app store approval process. And annual maintenance is a fraction of the cost.

A website also does not require parents to download anything. They just open their browser — Chrome, Opera Mini, or even the basic browser on a feature phone — and they are in. From our experience, that is critical when 11.3% of users do not even own the phone they are using.

What a website can do that an app cannot

Let us be specific about what a good school website should have. Not just a homepage with the school logo and a photo of the head teacher. We mean a functional, practical website that solves real problems.

Here is what a proper school website includes:

• M-Pesa integration for fee payments. Parents pay school fees from their phone without leaving the website. No queues, no bank trips, no cash handling.
• Online admission and enrollment forms. Parents fill in details once, upload documents, and submit. The data goes straight into your system. No more lost paper forms.
• Results portal. Parents log in with a simple code to view their child's term results. Secure, private, and instant.
• News and calendar. Term dates, events, announcements — all in one place. Parents check the website instead of calling the school office.
• Contact and location. Directions, phone numbers, email — everything a parent needs to reach the school.

Every single one of these features works on a website. No app installation required. And because it is a website, you can update content yourself — add a notice about school closing early, upload new term dates, or post exam timetables. No developer needed.

When does an app actually make sense?

There are situations where a school app is the right choice. But they are fewer than you think.

An app makes sense if:

• From our experience, your school has over 1,000 students and parents who are mostly urban professionals with smartphones
• You need features that a browser cannot easily do — like offline access to materials, push notifications for emergencies, or camera-based attendance tracking
• From our experience, you have a budget of over KES 1 million just for the first year, and you plan to spend at least KES 200,000 per year on maintenance
• Your parents have already shown they are willing to download and use other apps for school communication

From our experience, for the other 90% of schools — the ones with 200 to 600 students, mixed parent demographics, and tight budgets — a website is the smarter investment. It reaches more people, costs less, and is easier to maintain.

The hidden cost of app maintenance

One thing app developers rarely mention is that an app is never truly finished. Every time Google or Apple releases a new version of their operating system, your app might stop working properly. New phone models with different screen sizes can break your layout. And if the app uses any third-party service — like M-Pesa's API — that service might change its rules, requiring an update.

A website does not have that problem. Build it properly with modern, responsive design, and it works on every device and every browser. Updates are done on the server, not on each user's phone. You fix something once, and everyone sees it instantly.

From our experience at KEPAS, we have seen schools spend over KES 1.5 million on an app over three years — build cost plus annual updates — only to find that less than 30% of parents ever installed it. The school eventually abandoned the app and asked us to build a website instead.

From our experience, kES 1.5 Million— the total three-year cost we have seen some schools spend on an app, only to have fewer than 30% of parents actually install it. From our experience, a website would have reached 100% of parents for a fraction of the cost. (Based on KEPAS client experience)

What the principal decided

From our experience, remember the principal who called us about the KES 850,000 app? We walked him through the numbers. We showed him what a good website with M-Pesa integration, online admissions, and a results portal would cost — about KES 180,000. We told him that every parent with a phone, even a basic one, could access it.

He chose the website. Six months later, his school's fee collection rate had improved because parents could pay from anywhere. The office phone stopped ringing with people asking for term dates — they checked the website. And enrollment inquiries went up because the school now showed up in Google searches.

The app developer called him twice more, lowering the price each time. The principal stuck with the website.

Start with what works

If you are a school leader thinking about going digital, here is a simple rule: start with a website that does the basics well. Add M-Pesa. Add online forms. Add a results portal. Make sure it loads fast on mobile data. Then, and only then, consider whether an app adds value.

For most schools, the answer will be no. And that is fine. The goal is not to have the most technology. The goal is to have the right technology — the stuff that actually helps parents, teachers, and students get things done.

From our experience, the principal who chose the website over the app saved over KES 600,000. More importantly, he got a solution that actually worked for his parents. That is the kind of decision that makes a real difference in a school.