The Apple Developer Program is the standard paid membership for shipping Apple software. It costs $99 USD per year (with regional variations) and is the prerequisite for almost everything: App Store and TestFlight distribution, Developer ID signing for Mac apps outside the App Store, push notification entitlements, Sign in with Apple, and access to early betas of iOS, macOS, and Xcode.
Two enrollment types
- Individual
- Tied to a single Apple ID. The developer name shown on the App Store is your personal legal name. You cannot add teammates. Cheapest path to a personal app.
- Organization
- Tied to a legal entity and a D-U-N-S number. The developer name shown on the App Store is your company name. You can invite teammates and assign roles. Required for any team larger than one person.
Free Apple ID vs paid membership
Anyone can create an Apple ID, sign in to developer.apple.com, download Xcode, and read the documentation without paying. That free tier gives you a personal team and an automatically managed development certificate, which is enough to build and run your own app on your own device. The catch is that a personal-team build stops launching after 7 days, and nothing about the free tier can distribute to anyone else.
| Free Apple ID | Paid membership ($99/year) | |
|---|---|---|
| Build to your own device | Yes, expires after 7 days | Yes, for a year |
| Distribution certificate | No | Yes |
| App Store and TestFlight | No | Yes |
| Registered devices | Personal team only | 100 per device class, per year |
| Push notifications | No | Yes |
| App Groups, iCloud, Sign in with Apple | No | Yes |
| App Store Connect API | No | Yes |
What it does not cover
- In-House distribution to employees without going through the App Store: that needs the separate Apple Developer Enterprise Program.
- Distribution of unsigned apps: even with a membership, every shipping build must be signed.
- App Store fees themselves: the $99 covers membership, not the percentage Apple takes on paid apps and in-app purchases.