Phone vs Desktop: Who Finishes Their Website

Desktop users published at nearly twice the phone rate. Of 635 We.Inc signups with a known device, 27.2% joined on a phone. Phone users started a project almost as often as desktop users (56.6% vs 59.7%), yet only 6.4% published, against 12.0% on desktop.

Signups by device, Aug 22 to Oct 27, 2026
Device at signup	Signups	Started a project	Published a site
Desktop or laptop	459	274 (59.7%)	55 (12.0%)
Phone	173	98 (56.6%)	11 (6.4%)

Updated October 28, 2026

A growing share of people find website builders from an ad or a search on their phone. We looked at whether starting on a small screen changes how far someone gets, using the device recorded when each account was created.

Publish rate by device and system

Share of signups that published a site, groups of 20 or more
	Value
iPhone (n = 58)	15.5%
macOS (n = 97)	15.5%
All desktop (n = 459)	12.0%
Windows (n = 334)	10.2%
All phones (n = 173)	6.4%
Android phone (n = 115)	1.7%

Method and date range

We ran one read-only aggregate query against our production database on October 28, 2026, limited to accounts created August 22 to October 27, 2026 that have a stored signup browser string.

n = 635 signups with a known device (459 desktop, 173 phone, 3 tablet). Signups in the window without a stored browser string are not included. Published means at least one of the account's projects has a publish time.

Staff and internal accounts, test-like addresses and bot mail domains were dropped in SQL. Only grouped counts were returned, and operating systems with fewer than 20 signups are shown only inside their device totals.

Limitations

Device is recorded once, at signup. Someone who signed up on a phone and built on a laptop counts as a phone user.
Phone publish counts are small (11 sites), so the phone rate could move several points with a few more launches.
Ad campaigns during the window sent many Android visitors through in-app browsers, which may not represent Android users in general.

Cite this study

We.Inc, "Phone vs Desktop: Who Finishes Their Website", October 28, 2026, https://we.inc/research/phone-vs-desktop-website-builders.

Where phone users drop off

The start rates are close, so the difference is not about willingness to try. It opens up between first draft and publish, which is when people check text, swap photos and fix details.

Our earlier data hub did not record device. This window begins on August 22 because that is the first day the browser string was saved with each new account.

How it works

Took customer signups from August 22, 2026, when device details started being stored at signup, to October 27, 2026.
Classified each signup's browser string as phone, tablet or desktop, and by operating system, inside the database.
Checked whether each account later created a project and whether any of its projects was published.
Reported groups of at least 20 signups; tablets (3 signups) are left out of the comparison.

Tips

Starting on a phone is fine, but finishing on a computer helps. Phone users began projects at almost the same rate and then fell behind before launch.
If you build on a phone, keep the first version short: one page, your contact details and one clear action.
Android signups had the lowest publish rate of any group; iPhone signups were in line with desktop.

Frequently asked questions

Can you build a website on your phone?

Yes. 56.6% of phone signups in this study started a project. Fewer reached a live site, 6.4% versus 12.0% on desktop, so editing details is easier on a bigger screen.

Did iPhone and Android users behave differently?

Yes, sharply. 9 of 58 iPhone signups published (15.5%) compared with 2 of 115 Android signups (1.7%). Part of the Android group arrived through in-app browsers from social ads, which may explain some of the gap.

Which desktop systems published most?

macOS signups published at 15.5% (15 of 97) and Windows at 10.2% (34 of 334). Linux and ChromeOS groups were under 20 signups each.

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