SPA vs MPA- A Complete Comparison for Your Web Development

SPA vs. MPA are web-based browser applications used for building web applications. Every business needs a website or web application. Whether a small-scale or large-scale business, you need a website to perform well in your content delivery. SPA is derived from the acronym Single Page Application.

Here’s how the single-page Application works.

When you gain access to your SPA, the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript loads from the server; it sends no more HTML after it has finished loading. It automatically updates its content as users continue to interact without reloading.

The key concept behind SPA is that they retrieve data from APIs and update the DOM without requiring a full page reload. This allows for faster and more seamless user experiences and optimized web application development services.

So, SPA has revolutionized web development by providing smoother user experiences and reducing server load. However, they require careful consideration of performance optimization techniques because they heavily rely on JavaScript for rendering content.

MPA‌, however, stands for Multi-Page Application. As the name implies, they are web applications with more than one page. MPA is a combination of server-side rendering and client-side rendering (CSR). A user could request a specific page on an MPA, and the server generates the corresponding HTML file and sends it back to the client’s browser.

This initial render typically includes static content necessary for the page’s structure. Once the initial HTML loads, any interactive elements or dynamic content on the page are handled by JavaScript frameworks such as React or Angular. These frameworks take over control from the server and enable seamless interactions in web development without requiring full-page reloads.

One advantage of MPA is that it provides search engine optimization benefits.

MPAs can offer faster initial load times than SPAs since we fetch only the resources for each specific page request. However, it’s important to note that MPAs may have slower subsequent navigation between pages because of server requests for each new page visited. This can be mitigated by implementing techniques like pre-fetching or caching commonly accessed resources.

Both applications offer a wide range of benefits that will be beneficial to your business.

Let’s delve deeper into what SPA and MPA mean and how to know which applications work well for your business.

What is a Single Page Application?

You must have come across the SPA web application as a business owner or a web application developer. If you haven’t, you must have heard people discuss the SPA and how it has helped their business grow. It is also excellent for your website users.

SPA is a website application that rewrites contents from the server and loads a fresh page for its users to interact freely. Single-page applications include Gmail, Google Maps, Netflix, Pinterest, Paypal, Facebook, Twitter, Trello, and GitHub. The number of industries using this model is rising due to how easy the website is to navigate.

One significant benefit of the SPA model is how cost-efficient it is. It costs less than other web Application sites.

Here are the pros and cons of the SPA web application.

Pros of SPA Application

Speed: In the SPA web applications, users enjoy their experience because it doesn’t lag, loads fast, and contents are smoothly presented across the web page. It offers convenience and delivers a quality and engaging knowledge to web users.

It reduces server load: Posts only necessary information and content on the page. This is one crucial factor that reduces unnecessary data, ‌increasing the site’s speed.

No need for the internet: SPA can run without the internet. Every request from the user is downloadable and made available on the web page. According to Google search, a page that takes over 200 milliseconds to load might impact business and sales.

SEO ranking: As we must have learned, SPA has one page, making it easy to generate a better ranking.
SPA reduces data transfer: As opposed to a multi-page application, SPA does not deal with transferring large amounts of data; instead, limited data is shared between the client and server, and as a result, it lowers the usage frequency.

Cons of SPA Application

Security Challenge: One of the security concerns disturbing the Application is the exposure of being hacked. A single-page application tends to be hacked through cross-site scripting attacks. So, if you want to use this web, keep this in mind. If you and your client’s web page are under attack, consider building a more efficient web application development process.

It deletes user history from the browser: Your searches don’t save when using SPA. You lose a previous page once you click the following button. Managing this challenge requires that industries use the HTML 5 history API. This API gives web application development companies access to navigate the web of history with JavaScript.

Complex: We know this Application has good advantages in terms of user experience, but it can be a hard nut to crack. Developing and maintaining the page is complex. Ensuring proper handling of operations is also complex. Therefore, as businesses grow, managing the page becomes tedious.

Significant browser memory: Single Page Applications can consume much memory, especially as the user navigates the page. However, this will cause a low performance of the user device.

Browser compatibility issues: SPA usually experience browser compatibility issues that do not support JavaScript features. This will require lots of effort to stay consistent across different browsers.

What is a Multi-page Application?

Multi-page applications, or MPAs, are web applications with several pages. The website loads each time users click a different link. You will find links to various web application pages if you identify multiple websites. Unlike the Single-Page Application, MPA demands multiple UI design layers because it combines other pages.

These Multi-page applications require a data transfer from the server to the browser and multiple UI design layers as it collates different pages.

Examples of Multi-Page Applications are blogs, e-commerce websites, forums, job portals, healthcare portals, government websites, educational platforms, online banking, news websites, web designs, and sites that sell customer services.

Here are the pros and cons of the MPA web application.

Pros of MPA Application

Easy website integration: MPA allows easy integration with Google Analytics. This is a necessary aspect for the sake of your visitors to assess valuable information from your website. Also, you’ll be able to know which page your visitor visits more and which one they like on your website. With this feedback, you can use the information gotten from your visitors to improve your website.

It is SEO-friendly: Website and mobile application developers and users desire their page to rank at the top of Google. So, the MPA model has a different page for services, and they try to rank it on the Google search engine through SEO.

Multi-page Application has multiple pages: This proves to be a good web application because users can add as many pages to a website as they want. It can also be customized anytime you want too.

Out-of-the-box solutions: Here, there are several development solutions. Each solution helps you to develop a seamless and rapid MPA. One example of this solution is e-commerce platforms.

It is simple to navigate: Having different pages in a website can be seamless and accessible sometimes, in small projects or when transitioning from a traditional website to a more suitable and efficient website for your business.

Cons of MPA Application

It is slow in performance: The Multi-page Application is unlike the Single-page Application, where the performance level is at a high speed. For MPA, it reloads anytime a user clicks on a different page. Pages like CSS, JavaScript, and HTML reload when there is a separate action.

Difficulty in development time: Web development companies or independent web developers code from scratch for frontend and Backend. They usually experience problems during the backend separation, thus taking more time to develop.

The hassle of maintenance and security: Regularly updating a website is complicated because web development companies have to make every page secure, which makes it quite challenging. Another challenge developers face is as the page grows in number, it becomes clumsy.

Offline capabilities: They have limited offline capabilities. While you can work with SPA without the internet, you cannot do the same with Multi-page Applications.

It needs to be more interactive: It is less interactive because of its frequent reloads. It has a less interactive feel and seems like it could be more exciting to site users.

Ways to know which application suits your business needs

No one can directly answer what application suits your business, but we can provide you with a wide range of options. However, deciding which web app to use depends on the features you want to create for users.

If you operate a large-scale business, a Multi-page Application suits your business. This is so because you’ll possibly sell products or services that need multiple features to function correctly. But if you are looking for an interactive site, the single-page Application is for you.

With a little data, you can easily navigate the platform. Search engine optimization is one significant disadvantage of using these platforms. However, users still have an excellent experience with platforms like Saas Platforms, social networks, and communities.

Another way to know which website platforms suit your business is to know your business goals. If your business needs a multi-page application, developing a single page will not work perfectly well for your business. For instance, if you aim to churn out content regularly, there are better pages than a single page. Instead, a multi-page Application will provide all the necessary pages to churn out content consistently if you love SPA and are ready to go with the flow of making your website look clumsy. You can go with it, but preferably, use the hybrid website.

Third, if you need your content to rank high in Google, then a Multi-Page Application will be the best for your business. But if ranking on Google doesn’t matter because you operate a small-scale enterprise, then the Single Application is the perfect choice for your business.

If you love the lively feel that comes with a single-page application, then go for it.

Ensure it aligns with your business goals. This will be a good choice if your industry demands that users be more interactive. But if you want your website to look superficial and not clumsy, MPA is your best bet. It is easier to maintain and doesn’t require its clients to interact.

The uniqueness of the SPA is in its transition. It makes transitioning to other pages so easy and seamless.

If your website follows a specific pattern with different pages, then the MPA might be the right one for your business.
Suppose you plan to build a mobile app and create a Single Application. But multi-page apps are more relevant to your business if you want a website that only suits online or e-commerce platforms.

Conclusion

As established in this blog choosing the most suitable model for your business depends on your business needs and the solution it provides. Use the SPA tool if your business boosts a single product or service. Meanwhile, a Multi-page App is suitable if your company promotes various services.

By now, you must have known the difference between each tool and concluded which is best for your business. But if you’re having difficulties building a website or web app, and looking for a good web development company that provides top-notch web design and development services, connect with Hidden Brains to discuss more about it.