How much does it cost to publish an app on the App Store?

You built an app, or you are about to, and now you want to know what Apple charges to put it on the App Store. Most pages that rank for this question are written by agencies, so they answer with $10,000 build quotes. That is not what you asked.

The short answer is $99 a year. The longer answer is that a solo developer usually pays a few small extra costs that nobody lists in one place: a Mac, a web page for the privacy policy, maybe a business entity, and Apple's cut once money starts coming in. This guide puts all of it in one budget, using Apple's own pages and what developers in r/iOSProgramming said they actually paid.

Two terms first. The Apple Developer Program is the paid membership that lets you publish on the App Store. App Store Connect is the website where you upload builds, write your listing and see sales. "Proceeds" is what Apple pays you after its commission and taxes.

What is the actual fee to publish an app on the App Store?

The Apple Developer Program costs 99 USD per membership year, or the local currency equivalent where Apple offers one, according to Apple's enrollment page. It is a yearly fee, not a per-app fee: one membership covers every app you publish.

A few details people miss:

• It renews. Apple prices it per membership year, so plan for $99 every year you want to stay in the program.
• Prices vary by region. Apple says prices "may vary by region and are listed in local currency during the enrollment process."
• Waivers exist, but not for individuals. Nonprofit organizations, accredited educational institutions and government entities can request a fee waiver. A solo developer pays the full fee.

One developer in r/iOSProgramming put the math bluntly in reply to a beginner shocked by the fee: "Publish 99 apps and it's only $1 per." The point stands. If you plan to ship more than one small app, the fee spreads thin fast.

What does the $99 Apple developer membership get you?

It gets you the right to distribute on the App Store, plus the tools and services you need to ship. Apple's "What's included" page lists:

• App Store distribution and App Store Connect
• Beta releases of iOS and the other Apple platforms, and Xcode
• Xcode Cloud with 25 compute hours a month
• CloudKit storage, push notifications, Sign in with Apple, StoreKit for in-app purchases and subscriptions
• WeatherKit with 500,000 calls a month
• Code-level support requests and enrollment support by email and phone

Developers also value something Apple does not headline. As one r/iOSProgramming reply put it, the membership lets you install "as many of my own apps" on your own devices, so for that developer "the incremental cost to have apps in the public store is zero."

Is it free to publish a free app?

After the $99 membership, yes. Apple's pricing reference says you need a Paid Apps Agreement only "if you choose a price other than free." A free app with no in-app purchases pays Apple nothing beyond the membership, and Apple takes no commission because there is no sale.

The moment you charge, either upfront or through in-app purchases and subscriptions, Apple's commission applies. Apple defines your proceeds as "the price minus Apple's commission and applicable taxes."

Should you publish as an individual or as an LLC?

For a first app, most developers say publish as an individual. It is the cheapest and fastest path, and the top reply in the r/iOSProgramming thread that ranks for this question (98 upvotes) said: "Release it under your name for the $99 year cost. You are wasting money unless you become hugely successful."

Here is what each route requires, per Apple's enrollment page:

The trade-off is privacy. As an individual, your legal name is the seller name. Some people do not want that, which is why the original poster in that thread asked about an LLC at all. Replies in the same thread put the LLC route at about $100 to form one in their state and $50 a year to renew in Georgia, while another noted Minnesota has no annual renewal. State fees vary, so check your own Secretary of State's site.

Watch out: Apple says using an alias, nickname or company name in the first or last name fields "will cause a delay in the approval of your enrollment." Use your legal name.

What other costs come with publishing an iPhone app?

The extra costs are a Mac, a privacy policy page, optional testing devices and optional marketing. None of them are Apple fees, and agency pages often skip them.

A Mac to build and submit

Xcode, the tool Apple includes for building and uploading apps, is a Mac app. If you do not own a Mac, that is your biggest real cost. Some cross-platform and no-code tools build in the cloud, but you still need the developer membership.

A privacy policy and support page

Apple's App Review page says "a link to user support with up-to-date contact information and a link to your privacy policy is required for all apps." The policy has to say what data the app collects, how, and how users can request deletion. One r/iOSProgramming reply reminded the poster: "You forgot webhosting, and domain registration for your privacy policy and support site." A free page host works; a custom domain is the usual small extra.

Testing devices

The simulator covers a lot, but reviewers test on real hardware. If you already own an iPhone, that is your test device.

Marketing, if you choose to pay for it

Publishing does not bring users by itself. Paid ads are optional and easy to waste. One indie developer who got a call from an Apple Search Ads rep shared that, in his niche, cost per acquisition was about $2 in the US against about $0.10 in Germany and Brazil, and that small budgets should target one country with exact match keywords. That is one app's numbers, not a benchmark.

Does Apple take 30% or 15% of your app revenue?

Apple's standard commission is 30%, but most small developers can pay 15%. The App Store Small Business Program offers "a reduced commission rate of 15% on paid apps and Apple In-App Purchases" to developers who made up to $1 million in proceeds in the prior calendar year, and to developers new to the App Store.

Two rules to know:

1. You have to enroll. Several replies in r/iOSProgramming say the same thing: "enroll for Apple's small developer program which reduces the charge to 15%." It is not automatic on day one.
2. The cap applies within the year too. If you pass $1 million during the current calendar year, Apple says "the standard commission rate will apply to future sales."

Apple's "What's included" page also lists 15% for qualifying subscriptions, so the full 30% mostly hits large developers outside the program.

Here is what the commission does to a sale. This is our own illustrative arithmetic, not a quote from Apple, and it ignores taxes, which Apple also deducts in many regions:

At 15%, an app needs roughly 118 sales at $0.99 to cover one year of the $99 membership (example: $99 divided by $0.84). One r/iOSProgramming commenter ran the same kind of math for the LLC route, with about $400 of setup costs at 30% and income tax, and landed near 770 sales just to break even in year one. That is why most replies told the poster to skip the extras. For real-world revenue per download, see how much apps make per download.

What does a realistic first-year budget look like?

For a solo developer who already owns a Mac and an iPhone, the realistic floor is $99 plus a few dollars for a domain. Everything else is a choice.

The table below is an example budget we put together, not a quote. The Apple and Google fees come from their official pages; the rest are categories you may or may not need.

So the answer to "how much does it cost to publish an app on the App Store" is $99 if you have the hardware, and the rest of the money question is about building and marketing, not publishing. If you are still deciding how the app will earn, our guide to how free apps make money covers the options, and the App Store Apps pack walks through pricing and paywall tests with real numbers from developers.

How long does App Store review take, and what does a rejection cost?

Apple says it typically reviews at least 50% of submissions in under 24 hours and 90% in under 48 hours. A rejection costs no money, only time.

When an app does not pass, Apple says it provides details "including any specific App Review Guidelines that your submission didn't follow," and you can reply in App Store Connect or appeal once per submission to the App Review Board.

Rejections can still stack up. An Android developer in r/iOSProgramming described about 20 rejections over three months bringing a long-running Play Store app to iOS. The replies were not sympathetic: one long-time developer said they had "never had that many rejections" since 2008, and several said Apple's notes are usually specific and that reading the guidelines before the first upload "really helps a lot."

How does App Store cost compare with Google Play?

Google Play is cheaper to join: US$25 one time, with no yearly renewal, per Google's Play Console help page. Apple is $99 every year.

Google has its own hurdle. New personal accounts "must complete specific app testing requirements" and verify access to an Android device before publishing. A commenter in the same rejection thread summed it up as needing testers for a set period before a new account's first app can go live. So Android costs less money but can take more calendar time for a first-time developer.

Mistakes to avoid when budgeting

These come straight from the threads above:

1. Paying for an LLC before you have a single sale. The highest-voted advice is to publish under your own name first and form a company later if the app earns.
2. Forgetting the privacy policy and support link. Apple requires both for every app. Set them up before you submit.
3. Not enrolling in the Small Business Program. If you sell anything, 15% versus 30% is the biggest money decision on this list.
4. Using a nickname on your Apple Account. It delays enrollment.
5. Spending on ads to look alive. Our playbook research found developers who bought cheap installs in low-cost countries and got bots and uninstalls. If you test ads, start with one country and exact match keywords.
6. Ignoring the yearly renewal. The fee is per membership year, so it belongs in every year's budget, not just launch year.

Where to go from here

1. Enroll in the Apple Developer Program as an individual with your legal name, for $99.
2. Put a privacy policy and support page online before your first submission.
3. If you will charge anything, enroll in the App Store Small Business Program for the 15% rate.
4. Read the App Review Guidelines once before uploading, then submit and expect a decision within a day or two in most cases.
5. Decide how the app earns before you spend on ads; our comparison of free trial vs no trial is a good next read.

Publishing is the cheap part. Getting downloads and turning them into revenue is where most first apps stall. The App Store Apps pack is something we make: 24 lessons in 6 modules covering idea picking, App Store search, pricing and paywalls, content and small-budget ads, and scaling, built from developer threads, with the step-by-step and checklists this article does not have room for. It is $19 one time, or all 16 Money Printer packs are $39. If you just want to ship your first app, the $99 membership and Apple's free docs are all you need.