Route 1 — Free, do it yourself
The open-source path is genuinely free in software terms. Google's own Bubblewrap CLI wraps a PWA into a Trusted Web Activity; Capacitor builds a native shell for sites without a service worker. Both produce a signed app at zero licence cost.
The cost is elsewhere. You install and maintain the Android SDK, Java and the build tools; you generate a keystore and must protect it forever; and you debug the inevitable build failures. For a developer comfortable with the toolchain, it's a free weekend. For a non-technical founder, it's a wall. And losing the keystore means you can never update your app — a real, permanent risk the "free" framing rarely mentions.
Route 2 — "Free" web tools with a catch
Some online "website to app" tools advertise free, then gate the actual output: a watermark you can't remove without paying, a monthly subscription to keep the app alive, or an app published undertheir developer account rather than yours. The last one is the most dangerous — if the relationship ends, so can your listing. Always ask two questions: do I get the files, and is it published under my account?
Route 3 — Paid, hosted, one-time
The middle ground most non-developers want: a hosted service that does the build, signing and packaging for you, hands you the signed files and the keystore, and publishes under your own account. With SaasToStore this is one-time pricing from 9€ — a free first build to test, then pay per build with no subscription. You get the .aab, the APK, your encrypted keystore, desktop installers and multi-store publishing, and you keep all of it.
Side by side
How to choose
If you're a developer who wants total control and free tooling, go DIY — see our Bubblewrap comparison. If you want it done in minutes with the files and keystore in your hands and no subscription, the hosted one-time route wins on every axis except raw software cost. Whatever you choose, avoid anything that publishes under someone else's account or holds your app hostage behind a monthly fee. And remember Google's one-time 25$ applies either way.
Ready? Here's the full step-by-step to publish your website on the Play Store.