Top 24 PWAs Examples Across All Industries

Published in

Design Aware

10 min readJun 16, 2021

PWAs (downloadable websites that behave like apps) are going mainstream. Here are the 24 best examples in every major industry.

We’ll cut to the chase — yes, PWAs are a great option for your business no matter your industry or audience. If you want proof, you’re in luck! We’ve compiled a comprehensive look into PWA performance across various industries so you can get inspired by what others are doing and feel confident in the PWA framework for your business.

Scroll to view the best:

Travel & Transportation PWAs
Ecommerce PWAs
Editorial & Events PWAs
Corporate PWAs
Gaming PWAs
Streaming & Video PWAs
Social PWAs
Food & Drinks PWAs

Travel & Transportation

Picture this: It’s a cold, rainy Monday morning. You’re waiting for the bus, which once again, is late. You pull out your smartphone and look for a way to cheer yourself up. Planning your next vacation might just be the perfect remedy.

Travel and transportation companies have gone mobile-first because that’s where most customer journeys begin. These same companies have always struggled with one thing, though: speed. Most tourism websites are image-heavy and slow to load by nature, especially if you’re on-the-go with inconsistent coverage. That’s why PWAs are going mainstream across the travel industry; they’re lighter, faster, and allow users to complete reservations securely, from anywhere.

Trivago

Trivago helps travellers plan and book trips on the go, and faster than ever.

First Contentful Paint: 2.3 Seconds
Size: 254 KB
Performance: 24/100
Best Practices: 86/100
Noticeable Results: 500K people added Trivago to their home screen within the few months following the PWA deployment, leading to a significant increase in engagement and repeat visits-from 0.8 to an average of 2 visits per PWA users. In parallel, clickouts to hotel offers increased by 97% (via PWA Stats.)

Google Travel

Google Travel, the consolidation of Google Flights, Hotel Search, and Trips, is another go-to source for good deals and access to competitive booking rates for travellers.

First Contentful Paint: 2.5 Seconds
Size: 262 KB
Performance: 58/100
Best Practices: 86/100

Uber

Uber knew they had to be competitive among all audiences and across the wide spectrum of accessibility.

First Contentful Paint: 1.7 Seconds
Size: 262 KB
Performance: 72/100
Best Practices: 100/100
Noticeable Results: You can order an Uber (almost) anywhere: PWA takes less than 3 seconds to load on 2G networks (via PWA Stats).

Ecommerce

Improved page performance can result in an impressive increase in conversions (via Deloitte). As shoppers in the digital age, we know that accessibility, load speed, and an intuitive interface make or break the experience. It’s crucial for eCommerce marketers to bring their A-game to optimize these KPIs. That’s why the PWA framework is such a game-changer in the eCom industry.

1–800-Flowers

1–800-FLOWERS redesigned their web experience and opted to include AR experiences and enable Venmo payments.

First Contentful Paint: 1.1 Seconds
Size: 295 KB
Performance: 83/100
Best Practices: 79/100
Noticeable Results: 1–800-Flowers increased page load and streamlined checkout lead to a 50% increase in conversions and a 25% increase in average session duration compared to the traditional website (via Moovweb.)

Adidas

Adidas opted to transform its frontend into a PWA and saw impressive results, including a speedy user experience and increased sales.

First Contentful Paint: 2.1 Seconds
Size: 295 KB
Performance: 79/100
Best Practices: 86/100
Noticeable Results: Their eCommerce grew 36% after launching their PWA (via Moovweb).

Versus

Versus’ PWA is where 15M monthly visitors compare everything, from smartphones to Universities.

First Contentful Paint: 2.6 Seconds
Size: 279 KB
Performance: 81/100
Best Practices: 86/100

Editorial & Events

Editorial sites see frequent visitors and heavy use. But customers don’t want to have 10 different news apps eating up their phone storage. PWAs allow users to open their news faster with a home screen shortcut, taking up minimal space. Editorial and events companies can alert readers about new relevant content with push notifications and even allow them to read articles while offline.

Awwwards

Awwwards is more than a famous web design competition: it’s also a daily source of inspiration for millions of people interested in internet innovation, creativity, and design.

First Contentful Paint: 1.1 Seconds
Size: 279 KB
Performance: 59/100
Best Practices: 79/100

CBS News

CBS News’ PWA is not the fastest of all PWAs. However, it still delivers multiple live video streams, articles, podcasts, and push notifications impressively well.

First Contentful Paint: 2.0 Seconds
Size: 360 KB
Performance: 21/100
Best Practices: 79/100

Google News

Google News is a go-to news source for many users looking for unbiased reporting.

First Contentful Paint: 2.0 Seconds
Size: 336 KB
Performance: 37/100
Best Practices: 86/100

Corporate

These sites don’t spontaneously drive repeat visits. They don’t necessarily justify developing a native app. Even on desktop, they are often frustrating to navigate and look like an afterthought. Yet, they’re a company display to investors, candidates, reporters, and beyond. Differentiate your company by relying on a PWA platform to provide an exceptional mobile experience to everyone, everywhere. Stop saying your company is prioritizing digital, and show it instead.

BMW

BMW opted to step on the gas and create a user experience that competes with their vehicle lineup when it comes to speed and performance.

First Contentful Paint: 2.4 Seconds
Size: 369 KB
Performance: 49/100
Best Practices: 100/100

L’Oréal

L’Oréal has been rebranding itself as the #1 Beautytech company in the world. After revamping Lancôme’s eCommerce website as a PWA (leading to an impressive +36% lift in mobile revenue, they leveraged for their corporate site showing one more time how to keep “reinventing the digital beauty experience.”

First Contentful Paint: 5.9 Seconds
Size: 254 KB
Performance: 15/100
Best Practices: 93/100

Emirates

Emirates is one of the best airlines in the world, and it shows even on its corporate and online booking site.

First Contentful Paint: 2.5 Seconds
Size: 389 KB
Performance: 53/100
Best Practices: 86/100

Gaming

E-sports and virtual gaming are quickly climbing the ranks as a favourite source of entertainment in these social distancing times. As the industry becomes more competitive, gaming companies have to remain fast, accessible, and smart to engage players. Slow load speeds or lags cause users to “rage quit” or become frustrated with their platform of choice, especially since they’ve likely invested a significant amount of time or money into their games and system setups.

Stadia

Google Stadia enables users to access free games instantly on all devices, including iOS devices, for the very first time.

First Contentful Paint: 4.0 Seconds
Size: 389 KB
Performance: 33/100
Best Practices: 79/100

Amazon Luna

Amazon Luna is the latest entrant in the game streaming category. Amazon decided to launch it as a PWA to circumvent the App Store strict rules and broaden its reach.

First Contentful Paint: 2.8 Seconds
Performance: 43/100
Best Practices: 71/100

Color Trouble

Color Trouble’s is the perfect game for design nerds like us. The goal is simple: you have to reproduce a gradient using six left and right RGB sliders. Just like when you lose your list of Hex codes and don’t want to ask your colleague for the 10th time. But this time for fun.

First Contentful Paint: 1.0 Seconds
Size: 328 KB
Performance: 53/100
Best Practices: 93/100

Streaming & Video

If you’ve ever experienced a sudden interruption in your entertainment during a workout or while being productive, you know that there is nothing more frustrating than a song that won’t load or a podcast that keeps skipping. Like the gaming industry, streaming companies often boast their load speeds to seal the deal with users. By leveraging the PWA framework, these companies can prioritize speed and accessibility for users who are often on-the-go or looking for on-demand entertainment.

Spotify

Spotify’s PWA (for desktop) delivers impressive performance and beautiful designs. No wonders why it has attracted a strong fanbase who insists that the platform is superior to Apple Music.

First Contentful Paint: 1.6 Seconds
Size: 855 KB
Performance: 97/100
Best Practices: 86/100

AudioTube

AudioTube allows users to listen to YouTube while doing something else. You just have to share a playlist or copy-paste its URL to start enjoying uninterrupted content, even when your screen turns off.

First Contentful Paint: 0.8 Seconds
Size: 295 KB
Performance: 99/100
Best Practices: 100/100

Vidno

Vidno. “Sorry I’m late, I had to re-download the app, and then I couldn’t find the meeting password.” Ugh. Vidno simplifies video conferences by making virtual meetings accessible on the web, without friction.

First Contentful Paint: 2.0 Seconds
Size: 242 KB
Performance: 52/100
Best Practices: 86/100

Social

When you head to Facebook or Instagram, you’re often searching for on-demand entertainment and updates on your friends’ social lives. When one app doesn’t load quickly enough, you’ll likely switch to another without giving it a chance to catch up. If you can’t achieve impressive speed or accessibility rankings, you’ll struggle to succeed, making the PWA framework a great option for social apps.

Twitter

Twitter is the fastest way to get breaking news and updates on current events, pop culture, and beyond at break-neck speeds. Even faster now that the platform is available as a PWA.

First Contentful Paint: 2.2 Seconds
Size: 131 KB
Performance: 75/100
Best Practices: 93/100
Noticeable Results: Twitter Lite saw a 65% increase in pages per session, 75% in Tweets, and a 20% decrease in bounce rate. Twitter Lite loads in under 3 seconds for repeat visits, even on slow networks (via PWA Stats).

Pinterest hosts video and image-based content and strives to deliver content tailored specifically to their users and their respective searches.

First Contentful Paint: 5.6 Seconds
Size: 250 KB
Performance: 9/100
Best Practices: 79/100
Noticeable Results: Pinterest saw core engagements increase by 60% and saw a 44% increase in user-generated ad revenue; time spent on the site increased by 40% (via PWA Stats).

DEV Community

DEV Community is a social platform where web developers can share resources and ideas and help each other. It’s PWA is a high performance, elegant digital experience that works perfectly for their demanding core audience.

First Contentful Paint: 2.0 Seconds
Size: 279 KB
Performance: 79/100
Best Practices: 93/100

Food & Drinks

It didn’t take long for eateries and restaurants to jump on the mobile ordering bandwagon if they weren’t already there when the pandemic began. PWAs make it easier to build user-friendly platforms that enable online ordering, delivery tracking, and more without discouraging users.

Starbucks

Starbucks enables coffee enthusiasts and beginners alike to access the menu, order, and earn points on the go.

First Contentful Paint: 3.0 Seconds
Size: 451 KB
Performance: 17/100
Best Practices: 79/100
Noticeable Results: Starbucks has increased daily active users by 2x (via PWA Stats).

GrubHub

GrubHub is a go-to food ordering and delivery app, hosting all of your favourite local restaurants and their menus.

First Contentful Paint: 2.6 Seconds
Size: 254 KB
Performance: 26/100
Best Practices: 86/100

Two Peas & Their Pod

Two Peas & Their Pod hosts thousands of recipes and meal inspiration all in one place. With their PWA, the team has simplified its approach to finding the perfect recipe by using filtering options and a more straightforward mobile layout.

First Contentful Paint: 1.7 Seconds
Size: 262 KB
Performance: 33/100
Best Practices: 79/100

For a better understanding of what PWAs can do and more examples high-performing PWAs across various industries, check out our CEO’s in-depth PWA report. You’re sure to find inspiration for your next project, and you’ll even be able to start designing your own, for free.