Apple Developer account. What you get, what it costs and how to enroll

Free Apple Account vs paid membership

People use "developer account" for two different things. One is the ordinary Apple Account you sign in to Xcode with. It lets you build an app and run it on your own iPhone, within tight limits. Xcode gives you a personal team with up to 3 devices and 10 App IDs, up to 3 apps per device, and an install profile that lasts 7 days. After 7 days the profile expires and the app has to be installed from Xcode again.

The other is a membership in the Apple Developer Program. As of October 16, 2026, it unlocks App Store Connect, Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles, TestFlight with up to 10,000 external testers, and distribution in 175 App Store regions. There is also the Apple Developer Enterprise Program at 299 USD a year, which covers in-house apps for employees and doesn't lead to the App Store.

Where to find your membership

• Website. developer.apple.com › Account › Membership details. This shows your expiration date, the Renew Membership button, the Auto-renew switch and who the Account Holder is.
• Apple Developer app. The Account tab, with the expiration date if you paid in the app.
• Test devices. Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles › Devices, next to your signing certificates and profiles.
• People. App Store Connect › Users and Access. On an individual membership, invited users see only your content in App Store Connect and don't join your program team.

Apple's prices and limits

Item	Apple's terms
Membership	99 USD per year, shown in local currency during enrollment
Enterprise	299 USD per year, in-house apps only
Fee waiver	nonprofits, accredited educational institutions and government entities that sell no apps or in-app purchases
Test devices	up to 100 per product family per membership year (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV, Apple Vision Pro, iPod touch)
Free personal team	3 devices, 10 App IDs, 3 apps per device, profiles last 7 days
Xcode Cloud	25 compute hours per month included
App Store commission	30%, or 15% in the Small Business Program and for subscriptions after the first year
Where you can enroll	more than 220 countries and regions, with some unavailable due to sanctions or other restrictions

Per Apple's enrollment page, devices help, membership comparison and what's included, checked October 16, 2026.

Disabling a device doesn't give the slot back. Apple offers to reset the count to 100 at the start of a new membership year, the first time you sign in to Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles.

Individual or organization

An individual sells under their legal name, and that name appears as the seller on the App Store. Apple treats sole proprietors and single-person businesses as individuals, so they enroll the same way. To show a company name as the seller, you need an organization that is a legal entity.

• D-U-N-S Number. Nine digits from Dun & Bradstreet. It's free, takes up to 5 business days to issue and up to 2 more business days to reach Apple (Apple's D-U-N-S page, October 16, 2026). Government organizations can skip it, and individuals don't need one.
• Legal entity. Apple doesn't accept DBAs, fictitious business names, trade names or branches.
• Signing authority. The person enrolling is the owner, an executive, a senior project lead or an employee granted legal authority to sign agreements.
• Website and email. A working public website on the company's domain and a work email on the same domain. A social media page or a registrar's parking page won't do.

How to join the Apple Developer Program step by step

1. Turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple Account and make sure your real name, address and phone number are in it.
2. If you're enrolling an organization, look up its D-U-N-S Number with Apple's lookup tool or request a new one.
3. Open the Apple Developer app on iPhone, iPad or Mac, or the enrollment page on developer.apple.com, and start your enrollment.
4. Enter your legal name or the full legal entity name, with no aliases or abbreviations.
5. Individuals accept the agreement and pay right away. Organizations wait for an email from Apple Developer Support after verification and pay then.
6. Wait for the membership confirmation. If it hasn't arrived 24 hours after purchase, contact Support with your Enrollment ID.

You don't have to pay on day one. Code, simulator checks and the App Store page can all be done first, as covered in how much it costs to make an iPhone app.

Payment, renewal and what happens if it lapses

In the Apple Developer app, membership is an auto-renewable subscription paid with a payment method on your Apple Account. Apple Account balance from gift cards isn't accepted, except for developers in India. You can cancel in Settings up to one day before the renewal date, and the current year's fee isn't refunded. On the website an individual pays with their own card, one that can be charged in USD. Website auto-renewal works in 30 countries and regions on Apple's list, and everyone else renews manually, from 30 days before expiration or any time after it.

Once a membership expires, your apps are no longer available for download, you can't send new versions, and Certificates, Identifiers & Profiles is locked. People who already installed the app can keep using it. After you renew, free apps come back within 24 hours, and paid apps return once you accept the Paid Applications Agreement in App Store Connect. You don't need to submit them again.

Common mistakes

• An alias or brand instead of your name. Apple checks your legal name, and an alias delays approval.
• Someone else's card on an individual enrollment. Apple will ask for a copy of a government-issued photo ID, and the enrollment is delayed.
• A trade name instead of the legal entity. Organizations enroll under their full legal name, or verification won't go through.
• Paying long before launch. The fee buys a membership year, while code, screen checks and the App Store page can all be done before you pay.
• Missing the renewal. Paid apps come back only after you accept the agreement again, and test devices are wiped after 180 days.

Appto works with your own Apple membership. It fills in App Store Connect, asks for your yes before each write, and then sends the version to Apple from your account or shows you what to click. The Apple membership is paid separately, and Appto doesn't sell it. More on the App Store Connect page.