Apple Developer Program 2026: Cost by Country, Enrollment and Benefits

The Apple Developer Program is Apple's paid membership for people and companies who want to distribute apps on Apple platforms. Apple's program page lists it as a $99 annual membership that adds TestFlight, App Store distribution, analytics and sales reports on top of the free Apple developer account. Without it you can build an app and test it on your own devices, but you cannot put it on the App Store.

Two different things share the name "Apple developer account", and that causes most of the confusion. Anyone can register for free with an Apple Account and accept the Apple Developer Agreement. Apple's account overview says free registration gives beta versions of Xcode and the operating systems, the forums, Feedback Assistant and testing on your own devices. The paid membership is a separate step that adds Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, App Store Connect, TestFlight and Xcode Cloud. In a May 2026 note to developers Apple put it plainly: a free developer account is separate from an Apple Developer Program membership.

Every figure on this page comes from a page we opened on October 24, 2026, and the link sits where the fact is used. Most are Apple's own help articles, the license agreement, and Apple's App Store listing for its Apple Developer app, which is the one place Apple shows the membership price in each country's currency. Google's help center supplies the Google Play comparison. Where Apple does not publish something, such as a typical approval time for organizations, the page says so instead of guessing.

Commission rates, the revenue share and the number of developers are a different question with their own page, our App Store statistics reference. This page covers the membership itself: what it costs, how to join, what it unlocks, and how to renew it, transfer it or leave it.

The Apple Developer app sells the membership as an in app purchase, so its price shows up in each store's own currency, the same way the price of any app does. Apple's enrollment page says prices may vary by region and are listed in local currency during the enrollment process. So the app can show $98.99 in the United States while the web page says 99 USD, and the United Kingdom, the euro countries and Japan each have a local price of their own.

Tax is the second reason a receipt can differ from the headline. Apple's program enrollment help says the purchase is taxed at the rate for your region or state when applicable. A tax exempt organization can ask for that tax back by sending its order number and exemption form to the sales tax address on the same page, after completing the purchase. Invoices for web purchases sit in your account on the Apple Store Online, and if you paid through a plain credit card form, you ask Apple Developer Support for one.

The way you pay also changes what you see. On the web, you choose from the payment methods offered during the purchase. If Apple Developer products are not sold on your region's Apple Store Online, you get a credit card form and should use a card that can be charged in US dollars, so the conversion happens at your card issuer's rate. In the Apple Developer app, you pay the local App Store price with a payment method on your Apple Account. Apple Account balance from gift cards is not accepted for the membership, with one exception: developers based in India can use it, per Apple's guide to enrolling in the app.

One rule catches people who enroll on behalf of someone else. An individual paying by credit card on the web must use their own card. Apple's enrollment help says paying with another person's card delays the enrollment and leads to a request for a copy of your government issued photo ID.

India. The Apple Developer app lists the membership at ₹8,700 a year on the Indian App Store. India is a special case in two ways. Apple's program enrollment help says enrollment in India is only available through the Apple Developer app, so the app price is the price Indian developers pay, as an auto renewing subscription. India is also the one region where Apple Account balance, such as a redeemed Apple Gift Card, is accepted as payment for the membership.

United Kingdom. The UK App Store shows £78.99 a year for the membership bought in the app. If you enroll on the web instead, the price appears in pounds at checkout. UK developers who later sell apps or in app purchases also complete Apple's tax forms in App Store Connect, a step covered further down this page.

Australia. The Australian App Store shows $144.99 in Australian dollars. Australia has an extra rule for anyone who sells: Apple's tax information help says Australia based developers must have a GST registration and an ABN to sell apps, even where the government itself would not require GST registration. A free app does not need the Paid Apps Agreement, so the rule applies only once you start charging.

Canada. The Canadian App Store shows $118.99 in Canadian dollars. Canada based developers who sell submit a GST or HST number in App Store Connect, plus a QST number if they are based in Quebec, according to the same tax help article.

New Zealand. The New Zealand App Store shows $144.99 in New Zealand dollars, the same number as Australia in a different currency. The license agreement's attachment on subscriptions bought in the Apple Developer app names Apple Pty Limited in Sydney as the Apple company that charges developers located in Australia or New Zealand.

Turkey. The Turkish App Store shows ₺649,99, that is 649.99 Turkish lira. We list it as the store shows it and do not convert it, because exchange rates move and the store price is what the app charges.

For a company or organization the fee is the same as for an individual. Apple gives one price for the Apple Developer Program whichever way you enroll; what changes is the verification, covered in the individual vs organization section below. All of these prices are per year: the membership runs for one year from activation and renews for another year when you pay, under section 11.1 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement.

No. Apple's program enrollment help answers the question directly: there is no developer program specifically for students. Learning does not need the membership. With an Apple Account a student can use Swift Playground, Xcode, software downloads, documentation, sample code, the forums and Feedback Assistant, and test apps on their own devices. Paying starts to matter only when the student wants to distribute an app.

The free route for schools is the fee waiver. Accredited educational institutions can enroll in the Apple Developer Program with a fee waiver, and Apple says the point is to help students build apps with TestFlight, Xcode Cloud, GameKit, CloudKit, MapKit and the other member tools. The waiver belongs to the institution, not to the student, and the school must not sell digital goods or services through its apps. A student who wants an app under their own name still pays for an individual membership.

The Swift Student Challenge is a competition, not a membership. It is free to enter, and Apple's 2026 announcement opened submissions from February 6 to February 28. The eligibility page asks entrants to be registered as Apple developers, which the free account covers, and to be enrolled in an accredited academic institution, a STEM organization's curriculum or an Apple Developer Academy, or to have recently graduated. People employed full time as developers cannot enter. Apple's May 2026 Newsroom story counted 350 winning submissions from 37 countries and regions and 50 Distinguished Winners invited to WWDC at Apple Park.

Be careful with claims that winners get a free year of membership. Apple's Challenge pages, as we read them on October 24, 2026, describe the Distinguished Winner trip and list no other prizes, so check the official terms for the year you enter before counting on one. If you are under the age of majority in your region, Apple's enrollment page says a parent or guardian can enroll with their own Apple Account and share it with you.

If you want an app on the App Store, the question answers itself, because there is no other route. The membership is the price of entry to App Store Connect, TestFlight and App Store distribution, and Apple's comparison table gives none of those to free accounts. The useful question is when to pay, not whether.

Pay later if you are still learning. A free account builds, runs and debugs apps on your own iPhone, within the 7 day limits in the table above, and gets the beta tools. Waiting costs nothing, because the project lives in Xcode, not in the membership.

Pay earlier than you think if you are close to launch, for two reasons. TestFlight needs the membership, and real testers find problems you will not. And enrollment is not instant for organizations: a DUNS Number can take up to 5 business days to arrive and up to 2 more to reach Apple, before Apple's own verification starts. Our app launch checklist puts enrollment eight weeks before launch for that reason.

A worked example with a made up person: Alex builds a habit tracker on weekends. For the first three months Alex uses the free account and reinstalls the app on one iPhone every week, when the profile expires. When the app is ready for friends to try, Alex pays the 99 USD, sends a TestFlight link to twelve people and spends the next month fixing what they report. Spread over the year, the fee works out to 8.25 USD a month (derived: 99 ÷ 12).

It is not worth paying for an app you never plan to share beyond your own devices. A company that only wants internal apps for its employees still usually needs this membership, not a different one: Apple points most such companies to custom apps distributed through Apple Business, which run on the standard program. The Enterprise Program, covered below, is for the rare cases that route cannot handle.

The seller name is the part people regret most. Enroll as an individual and your legal first and last name appear as the seller of every app you publish, in every country. Apple's enrollment page says so directly, and its account update help adds that changing the name on your Apple Account later does not change the seller name. There is no way to enroll as an individual and show a brand instead: Apple's answer is that the organization must be a legal entity and must enroll as one.

A sole proprietorship does not count as an organization. Apple asks sole proprietors and single person businesses to enroll as individuals, and its DUNS help explains the error many of them hit. The message "Your organization is not listed as a legal entity" means Dun & Bradstreet lists the business with a different legal status, such as a sole proprietorship, or has not verified its status. Apple names corporations, limited partnerships and limited liability companies as examples of the legal entities it accepts.

Choose the public name before you publish. An organization can set a developer name that differs from its legal name, such as a registered trade name, only when it adds its first app in App Store Connect, and it cannot edit that name afterwards. Changing the organization's legal name later goes through Apple, updates the vendor name on all your apps and resets the identifierForVendor value for existing users on their next app update. Apple warns that a mobile measurement partner may then count those users as new installs, and that the change cannot be undone.

Privacy is the other half of the decision. In the European Union, traders must show an address, phone number and email on their product pages under the Digital Services Act. For organizations the address comes from the DUNS record. Individuals who are traders enter one themselves, and Apple accepts a P.O. Box for that display address, per its trader requirements help. The P.O. Box rule applies to the product page only; the membership itself still needs a street address.

A DUNS Number is a nine digit identifier that Dun & Bradstreet assigns to business entities by location. Apple uses it to check that your organization exists, that it is a legal entity and where it is based. Companies and educational institutions must give a DUNS Number registered to their legal entity, government organizations may skip it, and individuals never need one, per Apple's DUNS help.

It costs nothing in most places. Apple says D&B may already have assigned your organization a free number, and if not, you can submit your details for a free one. Google gives the same warning from its side: getting a DUNS Number through Dun & Bradstreet is free, and its account type help tells developers to beware of third party services that charge high fees for the registration.

The lookup asks for the legal entity name, headquarters address, mailing address and your work contact details. Use the legal name exactly as it is registered, not your brand. A D&B representative may contact you to confirm details such as the business type or number of employees, so keep the registration documents at hand.

Timing is the part to plan for. Apple says to allow up to 5 business days for D&B to issue the number, notes that expediting the request does not shorten that wait, and suggests emailing D&B if more than two weeks pass. After you receive the number, allow up to 2 business days for Apple to receive it. Later updates to your D&B profile also take up to two business days to reach Apple. If D&B shows the wrong legal status for your business, Apple asks you to email D&B with your complete business registration documents.

One D&B record serves both stores. Google Play also requires a DUNS Number for organization accounts, so the same number works when you set up a Play Console account for the Android version.

The Apple Developer app is free and handles enrollment, identity checks and renewal on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Apple's guide to enrolling in the app lists what you need before you start: an iPhone or iPad with Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, or a Mac that Apple describes as having the T2 Security Chip and Apple silicon; an Apple Account with two factor authentication and an up to date name, address, phone number and trusted devices; the latest version of the app; and iCloud signed in on the device.

Use one device from start to finish. Apple says you must use the same device for the entire enrollment, and organizations come back to that device to finish after approval. The Apple Account you enroll with can differ from the one signed in to the device's settings, which helps when the company card sits on a different Apple Account.

The identity check asks for a photo of a government issued photo ID. Apple accepts passports in most regions, and some regions also take a driver's license. Apple says it uses the image only to verify identity and prevent fraud, may share it with a third party verification provider that must delete it once it is no longer needed, and does not keep the image itself. If you would rather not provide a photo of your ID and no law requires it, you can ask Apple for another verification method.

Identity checks come back later too. Apple's identity verification help says verification is required for Account Holders based in China mainland and for developers in certain regions who accept a transfer of the Account Holder role, and the app is where that check happens. Apple has reasons to be strict: its May 2026 release says it rejected more than 138,000 developer enrollments and terminated 193,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns in 2025.

Joining the program lets you publish free apps under the Apple Developer Program License Agreement. Selling anything, a paid app or an in app purchase, needs a second contract, the Paid Apps Agreement, which only the Account Holder can sign in the Business section of App Store Connect, per Apple's agreements help. Accepting it cannot be undone. When Apple releases a new version, you cannot create new apps or in app purchases until you accept it.

Tax forms come after the agreement. Apple's tax information help says every developer must complete a US tax form. Developers based in the United States fill in Form W 9 with a Social Security Number or ITIN for an individual, or an EIN for a business. Everyone else answers a short set of questions that points to the right W 8 form, usually W 8BEN or W 8BEN E. Some countries add their own requirements, such as Australia's GST registration and Canada's GST or HST number. Once submitted, most tax details cannot be edited in App Store Connect, so corrections go through Apple.

Banking comes last. You can add a bank account only after signing the Paid Apps Agreement, and Apple processes it only once the required tax forms are in, per the banking help. The account must belong to the individual or legal entity enrolled in the program, and the details must match the bank's records exactly or payments may be rejected. If an Admin or Finance user adds the account, the Account Holder must approve it before it is used.

Payments follow a fixed rhythm. Apple's payments overview says proceeds are paid within 45 days of the last day of the fiscal month in which the sale was completed, once you pass the minimum payment threshold in each country or region where you sell. Apple's bank combines the month's proceeds into a single payment to your account, and your own bank may charge fees on the incoming transfer.

Two compliance steps apply even if every app is free. Every developer declares a trader status under the EU Digital Services Act, and since February 17, 2025, apps without a trader status are removed from the App Store in the EU until one is provided, as Apple's upcoming requirements page records. The same page says the updated age rating questions had to be answered for each app by January 31, 2026, to avoid interruptions when submitting updates. Our App Store age ratings guide explains those questions.

Every membership has exactly one Account Holder, the person who enrolled. Apple's roles help gives that person jobs no one else can do: renew the membership, accept legal agreements on behalf of the organization, add the first Admins and approve banking changes. When Apple updates the license agreement, the Account Holder must accept it by the date shown in the account to keep full access to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, App Store Connect and the App Store Connect API.

Below the Account Holder, Apple's roles are Admin, App Manager, Developer, Finance, Marketing, Sales and Customer Support, managed in App Store Connect under Users and Access. An organization has one team with one set of roles across the developer website and App Store Connect. A person can hold several roles and can belong to several teams with the same Apple Account, which suits contractors who work for more than one company.

Team size depends on how you enrolled. An individual member can give up to 50 additional people access to their content in App Store Connect, but those people are not part of the program team and get no other membership resources. An organization can add an unlimited number of members, all with access to App Store Connect and the other membership resources, per Apple's accounts and roles overview.

For a small studio the usual setup is short. The founder holds the Account Holder role, a second trusted person gets Admin so that nothing stalls when the founder is away, developers get Developer, and whoever handles money gets Finance, one of the roles Apple allows to enter tax and banking details. Keep the Account Holder's Apple Account on an email address the company controls, because the role belongs to that person and moving it later takes a formal transfer.

An app can move between developer accounts without leaving the store. Apple's app transfer overview says the app can stay available for download during the transfer, keeps its ratings and reviews afterwards, and existing users keep receiving updates. The Account Holder of the sending team starts the transfer and the Account Holder of the receiving team accepts it. This is the route when you sell an app, or when you started as an individual and later formed a company with its own membership.

Not every app qualifies. The transfer criteria require that both accounts have accepted their latest agreements and are not in a pending or changing state, that the app has at least one version released on the App Store, that it is not on pre order anywhere, and that no version is waiting for review, in review or pending release. In app purchase product IDs must not clash with products in the receiving account, and Apple Arcade apps cannot be transferred. TestFlight testing must be switched off and Xcode Cloud data removed first. Sign in with Apple, push notification keys, Apple Pay merchant IDs and Wallet passes each need extra steps on one side or both.

The Account Holder role moves differently. For an organization, the current Account Holder chooses an eligible team member with legal authority in the account's membership details and agrees to a transferor agreement. The new person accepts on the website, after verifying their identity in the Apple Developer app where their region supports it, per Apple's transfer guide. For an individual membership, Apple grants a transfer in two situations only: a minor reaching the age of majority who takes over from a guardian, or an Account Holder who has died. Both go through Apple Developer Support.

If the membership was bought in the Apple Developer app, the subscription does not move with the role. The previous Account Holder cancels the Apple Developer Program subscription in their Apple Account settings, and the new Account Holder renews from the app, which is possible from 30 days before the expiration date. Apple warns that if the old subscription is not cancelled, it keeps charging while the membership does not renew.

Membership runs for one year from the date it was first activated and renews for another year when you pay, under section 11.1 of the license agreement. There is no separate renewal fee: each year is charged the same annual membership fee, 99 USD or the local price. How the renewal works depends on where you enrolled, as Apple's renewal help explains.

Enrolled on the website: you can turn on Auto Renew in the Membership details section of your account, in the regions where Apple offers it, and the default card on your Apple Account is charged the annual fee on your expiration date. Or renew by hand: the Renew Membership button appears 30 days before expiry and stays available after it. Renewing early does not cost you days, because the new year starts when the current one ends.

Enrolled in the Apple Developer app: the membership is an auto renewing subscription charged to the default payment method on your Apple Account. The license agreement's attachment on app subscriptions says charges happen no more than 24 hours before the renewal date. You manage it like any other subscription on the device.

For organizations, only the Account Holder can renew or change automatic renewal, and team members can find the Account Holder's contact details in the membership section of the account, which helps when a reminder lands in the wrong inbox. Thirty days before expiry you can also download your registered test device list, and at the start of each new membership year you can remove old devices to get back to 100 per device type.

Cancelling means stopping the next renewal. If you enrolled in the app, cancel the Apple Developer Program subscription in your Apple Account's subscription settings; Apple's app enrollment guide says you can do this up to one day before the renewal date. You keep membership benefits until the expiration date shown in the app's Account tab, and you can subscribe again for up to one year after that date. If you enrolled on the website, turn off Auto Renew in Membership details, or simply do not renew.

Refunds are the short part. Section 8 of the Apple Developer Program License Agreement says the program fee is nonrefundable. The app enrollment guide repeats it: membership fees paid for the year in which you cancel are nonrefundable. The fee waiver page adds that an organization approved for a waiver cannot get back fees it already paid.

The same agreement has narrow exceptions, and both concern add ons rather than the membership. If you cancel a subscription for extra Xcode Cloud compute hours and opt out of Xcode Cloud immediately, the Account Holder can ask Apple Support for a refund. Upgrading an Xcode Cloud or WeatherKit subscription refunds the time left in the month on the old plan. Apple keeps the right to calculate or deny such refunds based on usage.

If you were charged and the membership never activated, that is a support case rather than a refund request. Apple's enrollment help asks you to get in touch when no confirmation arrives within 24 hours of the purchase, with your Enrollment ID, so that Apple can find the order.

Your apps leave the store, but they keep working on devices that already have them. Apple's renewal help is specific: when an Apple Developer Program membership expires, your apps are no longer available for download, and you cannot submit new apps or updates or use Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles. Apps already installed keep working, and you keep access to certain App Store Connect features and the free developer resources.

Coming back is easier than starting over. Renew after expiry and the membership activates when you finish the renewal. Free apps become available again within 24 hours, and paid apps return once you sign in to App Store Connect and accept the Paid Apps Agreement again. You do not need to resubmit the apps.

Two things decay while you are away. Registered test devices are removed automatically 180 days after expiry unless you renew. And for as long as the app is unavailable, nobody new can download it, so every link, post or ad that points to the store page sends people to an app they cannot get. If you plan a break, check which campaigns and links point to the app before the expiration date.

The Enterprise Program is stricter. When it expires, in house apps can no longer be downloaded, and copies already installed keep running for 90 days after the expiration date, as long as their certificates and provisioning profiles stay valid for that long.

The Apple Developer Enterprise Program costs 299 USD per membership year, or the local price, and it does one job: distributing proprietary apps privately to an organization's own employees through internal systems or a mobile device management solution. It cannot publish to the App Store. Apple's comparison table gives Enterprise members no App Store Connect, no TestFlight and no Xcode Cloud.

The bar is high. Per Apple's Enterprise Program page, the organization must have 100 or more employees, be a legal entity, use the program only for in house apps for internal use, have systems that keep the apps and the membership credentials to employees, and pass Apple's verification interview and continuous evaluation. It needs a DUNS Number and a public website, the application runs on the web only, and the applicant must use an Apple Account that is not already tied to an Apple Developer Program membership. The organization is verified again at every renewal, and Apple can reject an application at its sole discretion.

Most companies are sent back to the standard program. Apple's page says the Apple Developer Program is the right option for most organizations that want internal apps, because it supports custom apps through Apple Business, Ad Hoc distribution, redemption codes and TestFlight. A contract developer building an in house app for one client can enroll as an individual and choose Custom App Distribution in App Store Connect, so that the client's employees download it privately from Apple Business Manager, per the program enrollment help. That option depends on volume purchasing being offered in the client's region.

The membership does not lower Apple's commission by itself; the App Store Small Business Program does, and only members can join. It sets a reduced commission of 15% on paid apps and in app purchases for developers who earned up to 1 million USD in proceeds in the prior calendar year, and for developers new to the App Store. To enroll you must be the Account Holder, accept the latest Paid Apps Agreement and list any associated developer accounts you own or control, or that own or control yours.

Apply as soon as you sign the Paid Apps Agreement if you plan to sell. Apple adjusts proceeds starting fifteen days after the end of the fiscal month in which it approves your enrollment, so a late application means early sales at the standard rate. One newer benefit is easy to miss: members with fewer than two million first time App Store downloads can use Apple Foundation Models on Private Cloud Compute with no cloud API cost, once Apple assigns the entitlement.

The full commission picture, including subscriptions after their first year and the EU terms, sits on our App Store statistics page. This page leaves it there on purpose, because the membership fee and the commission are separate costs with separate rules.

After enrollment, most of your time with Apple happens in App Store Connect. Apple's workflow overview lists what it covers: submitting and managing apps, TestFlight, legal agreements, tax and banking, trends and financial reports, App Analytics and replies to user reviews, with an iPhone and iPad version for checking in on the go and an API for automating the work.

Three habits save trouble later. Accept new agreements quickly, because an unaccepted Paid Apps Agreement blocks new apps and in app purchases and an unaccepted license update limits access to App Store Connect. Keep the product page current with each release, using our App Store optimization guide and the App Store character counter for the text fields. And answer reviews, which our guide on how to get App Store reviews covers in detail.

Each release also needs a short public note on what changed. The app release notes generator drafts the What's New text, and a preview video is worth adding once the app has a feature that is easier to show than describe. Apple reworks App Store Connect every year at WWDC, so the session below is a good tour of the current tools.

The membership gets your app onto the App Store. It does not tell anyone the app is there. Apple's tools stop at the edge of the store: App Store Connect manages the listing, and none of the membership benefits covers promotion on social media.

Spreadcast covers that part after launch. Paste your App Store link once at the start page and Spreadcast checks your listing every day. When a new version ships, it designs a post about the update with your real app screenshots in an iPhone frame and your brand colors and fonts, and writes a caption for each network. It also posts when the app reaches a rating milestone. Those are the two moments it watches. It publishes to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook, Threads, Pinterest, Bluesky, Mastodon, Telegram and Discord, plus YouTube for video posts, on full autopilot or with one tap approval.

It watches the App Store only, not Google Play, and it starts working once your first version is live. The free plan makes 3 posts for you to download, with a small Spreadcast mark and no publishing. Pro is $29 a month for 1 app and 10 social accounts with publishing, and Studio is $79 a month for 5 apps and 50 accounts, as listed on the pricing page. For a wider plan beyond update posts, see our guide to iOS app marketing.