Apple Developer Account Cost: What You Actually Pay

The short answer

The Apple Developer Program costs $99 USD per year (or the local equivalent — pricing varies slightly by country due to tax). That single fee covers every platform: iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. You don't pay separately per app, per platform, or per additional team member you add under the same account.

The one exception: enterprise distribution (in-house apps for a single organization, not the public App Store) requires the separate Apple Developer Enterprise Program, which costs $299/year. Almost nobody publishing to the public App Store needs this tier.

What's actually free (no payment required)

A common misconception is that you need to pay before you can write or test any code. You don't:

• Xcode itself is free, no account required at all.
• Building and running on the Simulator requires only a free Apple ID — no paid enrollment.
• Running on your own physical device via a free-tier Apple ID works too, with a caveat: the app has to be re-signed roughly every 7 days, and you're limited in the entitlements (capabilities like push notifications, in-app purchases, or certain background modes) you can use.

What the free tier genuinely can't do: submit to TestFlight for external testers, submit to the App Store, or use the full range of capabilities and entitlements. If your goal is "does my app run," you can get surprisingly far without paying anything.

Individual vs Organization accounts

Both cost the same $99/year, but the setup process differs meaningfully:

If your App Store listing shows your own name and you're not operating as a registered company, the individual account is simpler and faster. If you want your business name on the listing — or you're planning to add team members with distinct roles later — you'll need the organization account, and that's where the DUNS number comes in.

The DUNS number requirement

A DUNS number (Data Universal Numbering System) is a unique nine-digit identifier for a business, issued by Dun & Bradstreet. Apple requires one to verify an organization account belongs to a real, legally registered entity — it's the single biggest source of delay for developers setting up a business account.

• You don't need one for an individual account. This trips people up constantly — if you're not required to register a business for your situation, skip straight to the individual account and avoid the DUNS process entirely.
• Getting a DUNS number is free through Dun & Bradstreet's lookup tool — many businesses already have one without realizing it, especially if they've registered with a bank or applied for business credit before.
• If you don't have one, requesting a new number can take 5 business days to a few weeks depending on your country and how quickly D&B can verify your business registration. Apple's own enrollment can then take several more days on top of that once you have the number.
• Plan around this timeline. If you're aiming for a specific launch date and need an organization account, start the DUNS process weeks ahead — not the week you planned to submit.

Other costs to budget for (beyond the $99)

The membership fee is necessary but rarely sufficient. Depending on your app, budget for:

• A Mac. Xcode is Mac-only; you can't build or submit an iOS app from Windows or Linux without one (a cloud Mac rental service is the workaround if you don't own one).
• Apple Search Ads, if you plan to run any — entirely optional and separate from the developer program fee.
• A support/marketing site — Apple requires a working Support URL at submission; hosting a simple page costs little but isn't zero.
• Third-party services (backend, push provider, analytics, RevenueCat or similar for subscriptions) — none of these are Apple fees, but they're real costs of shipping a real app.

The $99/year itself is genuinely the cheapest part of publishing an app for most developers — the time cost of building, testing, and preparing a submission-ready listing dwarfs it.

Once you're enrolled: what's next

Paying the fee and getting approved is the beginning of the process, not the end. From there you'll create an app record in App Store Connect, prepare your metadata and screenshots, and go through review. Our step-by-step App Store submission checklist covers everything after enrollment, in order.

Screenshots specifically are one of the last things you'll need before submitting, and one of the fastest to get right. ezscreenshots lets you drop your real app captures, pick the correct preset for every required device size, add captions, and export the whole set in minutes — no account, no export limit, entirely in the browser. Worth having ready well before your enrollment even clears, so submission isn't held up waiting on the listing.

Summary

• Apple Developer Program: $99/year, covers all platforms (iOS, macOS, watchOS, tvOS, visionOS). Enterprise distribution is a separate $299/year tier almost nobody needs.
• Free without paying: Xcode, Simulator builds, and running on your own device (7-day re-signing, limited entitlements)
• You need to pay for: TestFlight external testing, App Store submission, most push/IAP capabilities
• Individual account: faster setup, shows your personal name, no DUNS number needed
• Organization account: shows your business name, requires a DUNS number, typically 1–3 weeks to set up
• DUNS numbers are free via Dun & Bradstreet but can take days to weeks to issue if you don't already have one — start early if you need an organization account
• The $99 fee is usually the cheapest part of shipping an app — budget time and other costs (Mac, support site, backend services) accordingly