Local or cloud? Where your desktop app’s data should live
This is the first question Windows Studio asks before it builds an installer, and the one whose answer is hardest to change later. Here it is without jargon: what each option means, what it costs, and when it suits you.
Choose On this computer if the software is for one person or one machine, or if it must work with no internet. Choose Fanann Cloud if more than one installed copy must see the same records: the same invoices, the same orders, the same stock. Installing the same file on several PCs does not make them share data.
Five PCs do not share a local database
The installer is the program, not the data. Install it on five PCs in Local mode and each one creates its own empty database and fills it with whatever is entered there. A week later you have five different sales records, none of them complete.
The fix is not to put the database file in a shared network folder: that risks corrupting it. The option designed for sharing is one database in the cloud that everyone connects to.
What each option really means
Local: the program and its data in one place
The installed app carries everything with it. At first start it creates a database file on the PC and reads and writes it directly. There is no server to reach and no cloud account for the data, which is why it works in a basement, in a van, and when the whole street loses its connection.
- Works with no internet at all
- The data never leaves the PC
- Every PC is independent: no sharing, no syncing
- If the PC fails and you have no backup, the data is gone
Fanann Cloud: one database everyone sees
Your app is published in Fanann Cloud with a database of its own, and every installed copy connects to it over the internet. An employee signs in with their account, and what they save their colleagues see at once. The program itself carries no database keys: access is through each employee’s account.
- One source of truth for every PC and branch
- A new PC? Install and sign in, and the records are there
- Needs an internet connection to work
- An ongoing cost from your plan’s cloud allowance
Local vs Fanann Cloud: nine questions
Each row is a real need. Read the rows that look like your business and skip the rest.
| The need | On this computer (Local) | Fanann Cloud (shared) |
|---|---|---|
| A single-user tool that works offline | Excellent | Usually unnecessary |
| A POS on one machine with unreliable internet | Good, with the records staying on that machine | Needs a connection to work |
| Eight employees tracking the same stock from separate PCs | Not suitable by itself | Recommended |
| Branches that must see identical invoices | Not suitable by itself | Recommended |
| No recurring hosting charge for the database | Yes, for the local data | No: it uses your plan’s cloud allowance |
| Access from somewhere else | No: the data is on that PC | Yes, from any PC with the app installed, after signing in |
| Working during an internet outage | Yes | No |
| Backups | Your responsibility, using the app’s backup and restore tool | The records are in Fanann Cloud rather than on one PC. Still keep an export of anything you cannot afford to lose |
| Several installed copies | Independent data in each copy | Shared data for everyone signed in |
There is currently no third mode that works offline and then syncs to the cloud. Syncing a local database with the cloud is a real engineering problem (conflicting edits, device identity), and we will not call it a feature before it actually works.
Six situations, and what we would suggest for each
Familiar situations for illustration, not real customers.
A freelancer invoicing from one laptop
One person, one machine. Nobody else needs to see the invoices, and they want to work anywhere, network or not.
On this computerA restaurant with a till at the door and one on the floor
An order opened at the door has to appear on the floor, and the end-of-day report has to add up both tills.
Fanann CloudA food truck with no steady network
One machine at a pitch that may have no coverage. Selling cannot wait. A backup every evening is enough.
On this computerA warehouse: receiving on one PC, issuing on another
If the two PCs do not see the same quantity, stock gets issued before it is received, or reordered when it is already there.
Fanann CloudA clinic: a front desk and two practitioners
The front desk books and each practitioner sees their schedule from their room. One schedule means shared data. And check your country’s rules for health data before you put it in any system.
Fanann CloudA shop with one till today that may open a branch
Today, Local is enough. But if the second branch is close, start in the cloud: moving after a year of data is a small project of its own.
Depends on your plans to growWhat you actually pay for in each mode
There are no figures here, because they follow your plan and may change. These are the cost items themselves; the numbers for your plan are shown inside your account.
What you pay for in Local mode
- Your Fanann usage for designing, and build allowance for each installer
- No recurring hosting charge for the database: it is a file on your PC
- No monthly fee for running the installed app
- Your own cost: the time to back up, and the risk of a single PC
What you pay for with Fanann Cloud
- Everything in Local mode for building and designing
- Your plan’s cloud allowance: an ongoing cost for as long as the data is shared
- A plan that includes cloud-backed Windows apps
- Your own cost: an internet connection you can rely on at the workplace
Choose in four questions
Answer in order. Most people are done at the first one.
- 1
Count the PCs that will work on the same records
One PC: go to the next question. More than one that must see the same records: the answer is Fanann Cloud; skip the rest.
- 2
Ask: must it work with no internet?
If stopping when the connection drops is not acceptable, the answer is “On this computer”. No mode combines working offline with shared data.
- 3
Think about next year
A second employee? A second branch? If that is close, start in the cloud now, because moving later is a data migration.
- 4
Confirm the choice in the studio before entering real data
Windows Studio asks you to confirm before the first build. Try it with sample data, and enter your real records once you have settled.
Local to Cloud: possible, but it is a data migration. Records on the PCs do not move up by themselves. Take a backup, decide which PC holds the records you trust, build a new version for everyone to install, and expect your bill to change.
Cloud to Local: each PC becomes independent and staff stop seeing each other’s work. Export what you need first. In both directions the studio warns you before anything changes, and your data is never silently reset.
Questions about local and cloud data
I installed the same app on five PCs. Why do they not share data?
Can I put the local database in a shared network folder?
Can I start local and move to the cloud later?
What happens to a Cloud app when the internet goes down?
Where exactly is my data kept in each mode?
Can Fanann recover my local data if the PC fails?
Which is more secure: local or cloud?
After the decision: build your software
AI Windows app builder
The main page: describe your business software in plain words, watch it take shape in a Windows window, choose where its data lives and download a real installer.
Meet Windows StudioBuild a Windows app with AI
The steps in plain language with a worked example: from one sentence about the job, to an interactive preview, to the data choice, to the installer.
See the detailsAI desktop app builder
When desktop software beats a website: working offline, speed at the counter, printers and files, and data that is local or shared.
See the detailsCreate an EXE installer with AI
What is inside the installer, how to install it on more PCs, how versions work, and how to verify the file.
See the detailsAI POS software builder
A point of sale for a restaurant or shop: orders, receipts, the printer, and how staff see the same orders on more than one PC.
See the detailsAI inventory software builder
Inventory software on Windows: products, barcode input, stock movements and their history, reports, and when local data is enough.
See the detailsWindows app templates
Eight starting points you can change: POS, inventory, invoicing, expenses, front desk, attendance, labels and a file organizer, each with a suggested data location.
See the detailsGuide: Windows app from idea to EXE
A long-form guide for business owners: writing the brief, reviewing the preview, choosing the data location, building the installer, sharing and updating it.
Read the guideDecide where your data lives, then build.
Windows Studio asks you the same question in plain language and waits for your confirmation before the first installer. Signing up is free.