# Telegram Mini App or a website: what to choose for a catalog

> A Mini App fits when your audience is already in Telegram and you need subscriptions and notifications. A website is needed for search and SEO. The best setup is both: the site attracts, the Mini App retains.

Date: 2026-10-29 · Source: https://oneswitch.ru/en/blog/telegram-mini-app-ili-sajt/

When you need a catalog, say of housing, tickets or services, the question comes up: build a website, a Mini App or both. The short answer: both, with different roles.

## What a Mini App gives you

- It opens inside Telegram in one tap, with no registration.
- It knows the user, so saving searches and subscriptions is easy.
- It can send notifications through the bot when new items appear.
- It looks great on a phone, where most of the audience sits.

## What a website gives you

- It is found in search and in AI answers.
- You can place articles, guides and a page for every destination on it.
- It works without Telegram and is convenient on a computer.

## How to connect them

The site brings people from search, and the buttons lead to the bot and the Mini App, where a person saves criteria and gets notifications. The data lives in one database, so the catalog on the site and in the Mini App is always the same.

## What you need technically

1. A shared database and API.
2. A bot with commands, subscriptions and broadcasting.
3. A Mini App in HTML and JavaScript that reads the API.
4. A site with SEO markup and a catalog.

## FAQ

### Is a Mini App hard to build?

A basic version with a catalog and filters takes a couple of weeks if the API already exists. The hardest parts are the data and notifications, not the interface.

### Do I need a Mini App if I have a bot?

A bot is good for short scenarios. When you need filters, photos and item cards, a Mini App is noticeably more convenient.

### Is a Mini App indexed by search engines?

No, so SEO traffic comes from the website, while the Mini App works for retention and repeat visits.