Should I enroll as an individual or an organization?

It comes down to whose name you want on the App Store. Enroll as an individual or sole proprietor and your personal legal name is listed as the seller, with no company name or alias. That path is the simplest, since it needs only your Apple ID and your own details. Enroll as an organization and your company name is the seller, which looks more established to users, but Apple requires you to be a registered legal entity (no DBAs or fictitious names) and to have a D-U-N-S Number. If you are a solo maker or testing an idea, individual is usually the right call. If you are a company, or you want the business name in front of customers, choose organization and budget extra time for the verification.

What is a D-U-N-S Number and do I need one?

A D-U-N-S Number is a nine-digit identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet that Apple uses to confirm an organization is a real, registered business. You only need one if you enroll as an organization; individuals and sole proprietors do not. Requesting a D-U-N-S Number is free, and government organizations are exempt from the requirement. The catch is time: if your business does not already have a number, getting one assigned can take a while, and Apple checks your legal entity name and address against the Dun & Bradstreet record during enrollment. Look up whether you already have a D-U-N-S Number before you start, because many registered companies do without realizing it.

How long does Apple Developer Program enrollment take?

Apple's own marker is the membership confirmation email, which it says arrives within 24 hours of a successful enrollment. For individual enrollments that often holds, and you can be set up the same day. Organization enrollments add an identity verification step, where Apple confirms your legal entity and D-U-N-S details, and that can take longer in practice. Apple does not publish a specific multi-day figure, so treat any exact number you see elsewhere with caution. The honest answer is to start early, especially as an organization, and not to schedule a launch around an enrollment that has not cleared yet.

Can Newly enroll me in the Apple Developer Program or cover the fee?

No, and that part is on you by design. Apple ties the developer account to your own legal identity, individual or organization, so you create it yourself and pay the $99 a year directly to Apple. Newly cannot enroll on your behalf or waive that fee. What Newly does handle is everything after the account exists. Newly is a paid AI mobile-app builder from $25 a month, and the Agent 25 plan includes iOS and Android app store deployment, so once you are enrolled Newly builds your iOS app and submits it to the App Store for you. The developer account is the main piece you set up by hand.

Is the Apple Developer fee one-time or yearly?

It is yearly. The Apple Developer Program is $99 every year, and if you let the membership lapse your apps are removed from sale until you renew, so it is a cost to keep paying for as long as your app is live. This is a common point of confusion, because Google Play charges a one-time $25 registration fee that you pay once and never again. Apple's model is different: a recurring annual membership. Budget the $99 as an ongoing line item, not a single purchase, when you plan the cost of keeping an app on the App Store.

Do I need an Apple Developer account just to try building an app?

No. You only need the paid Apple Developer Program when you are ready to ship to the App Store. You can design and build your whole app, and run it in a simulator, well before you pay Apple anything. In Newly you describe the app, get real React Native and Expo code you own, and preview it in the simulator from $25 a month, all without an Apple account. Enroll when you actually want to publish. That keeps the $99 fee from being the first thing standing between you and a working app, and it means you can be confident the app is worth shipping before you pay.

Articles · How-ToUpdated June 2026

Apple Developer Program enrollment.
Cost, choices, and steps.

Before an iOS app reaches the App Store, you need a paid Apple account. This is Apple Developer Program enrollment in plain terms: it costs $99 a year, you choose individual or organization, and you enroll yourself. Once that is done, Newly builds your iOS app and submits it for you.

Start building today Jump to the steps

The short answer

Apple Developer Program enrollment costs $99 a year, the same for individuals and organizations. Enroll as an individual and your personal name is the seller on the App Store; enroll as an organization and your company name is, which needs a legal entity and a D-U-N-S Number. You enroll yourself, and Newly cannot waive the Apple fee.

Enrollment, at a glance.

$99 / yr

Apple Developer Program, the same price for individuals and organizations

Yearly

It renews every year; let it lapse and your apps come off sale

D-U-N-S

Organizations need a legal entity and a D-U-N-S Number; individuals do not

~24 hrs

Apple's stated marker for the membership confirmation email

What it costs

The Apple developer account cost, laid out.

The Apple Developer Program cost is one number for most people: $99 a year. The table covers the few cases where it changes, and it sets the Apple developer account cost next to Google Play so you can see the difference between a yearly membership and a one-time fee.

Membership	Price	Billing	Who it is for
Apple Developer Program (Individual)	$99 / year	Recurring	Solo makers and sole proprietors shipping to the App Store
Apple Developer Program (Organization)	$99 / year	Recurring	Companies that want a business name as the seller
Apple Developer Enterprise Program	$299 / year	Recurring	Orgs with 100+ employees, internal distribution only (not the App Store)
Google Play (for comparison)	$25 once	One-time	Publishing to the Android Play Store, paid a single time

Prices are the published Apple and Google fees as of 2026. Compare them on Apple’s membership comparison and Google’s registration page.

Individual vs organization

Individual vs organization, side by side.

The price is identical, so the individual vs organization Apple developer choice is really about whose name shows as the seller and how much you are willing to set up. Individual is the simplest; organization puts a company name in front of users but asks for a legal entity and a D-U-N-S Number.

	Individual	Organization
Seller name on the App Store	Your personal legal name	Your company name
What Apple requires	An Apple ID and your own details	A registered legal entity plus a D-U-N-S Number
DBAs and fictitious names	Not applicable; it is your name	Not allowed; must be the real legal entity
Setup effort and timing	Simplest; often same day	Identity verification can take longer
Who it is for	Solo developers and people testing an idea	Companies and anyone wanting the business name shown

Source: Apple’s program enrollment help.

What an organization needs

A legal entity and a D-U-N-S Number.

If you enroll as an organization, Apple has to confirm the company is real. That is what the D-U-N-S Number is for: a nine-digit identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet, free to request, that ties to your registered business. Government organizations are exempt; everyone else enrolling as a company needs one.

The other half is the legal entity itself. Apple will not accept a DBA or a fictitious name; the seller has to be the real registered entity, and the name and address you enter need to match the Dun & Bradstreet record. Here is the checklist for an organization enrollment.

A registered legal entity, with the exact legal name Apple can verify (no DBAs or fictitious names)
A D-U-N-S Number, the free nine-digit identifier from Dun & Bradstreet that ties to that entity
Authority to bind the organization, since Apple expects the enroller to act on its behalf
Matching details, so the legal name and address line up with the Dun & Bradstreet record

Read Apple’s detail on the D-U-N-S Number requirement. Individuals and sole proprietors can skip this whole section.

How to enroll

How to enroll in the Apple Developer Program, step by step.

The whole of Apple Developer Program enrollment is five steps, and only the first four are on you. Decide individual or organization, get your details in order, enroll on Apple’s site, pay the $99, and then hand the build to Newly.

1
Check whether you need individual or organization
Decide whose name should appear as the seller before you touch the enrollment form. Individual lists your personal legal name and needs nothing more than your Apple ID. Organization lists your company name and requires a legal entity plus a D-U-N-S Number. Picking this up front saves you from restarting the process halfway through.
2
Get your Apple ID ready (and a D-U-N-S Number if you are an organization)
Use an Apple ID with two-factor authentication turned on; this becomes the account that owns the membership. If you are enrolling as an organization, look up whether your business already has a D-U-N-S Number, and request one from Dun & Bradstreet if not. It is free, and many registered companies already have one without knowing it.
3
Start enrollment on Apple's site
Go to the Apple Developer site, sign in with your Apple ID, and begin enrollment. Choose Individual / Sole Proprietor or Organization to match the decision you made in step one. For an organization, you enter the legal entity name and details Apple will verify against Dun & Bradstreet.
4
Pay the $99 and wait for confirmation
Pay the $99 annual membership fee to complete enrollment. Apple's marker is a membership confirmation email within 24 hours. Individuals are often active the same day; organizations go through identity verification that can take longer, with no published figure from Apple. Do not book a launch date around an enrollment that has not cleared.
5
Hand the build and submission to Newly
Once your account is active, you are past the part you do by hand. Bring your app into Newly, and on the Agent 25 plan from $25 a month it builds your iOS app and submits it to the App Store for you, screenshots and metadata included. The developer account was the setup; the build and submission are handled.

Start at the source

Enrollment happens on Apple’s own site. Apple’s program enrollment guide walks through the individual and organization paths and is the definitive reference if anything in the flow looks different from what you expect.

Where Newly fits

You enroll; Newly builds and submits.

Newly is a paid AI mobile-app builder from $25 a month. It cannot enroll you in the Apple Developer Program or waive the $99, because Apple ties that account to your own legal identity. That is the honest split: the developer account is the piece you set up by hand.

Everything after the account is where Newly takes over. You describe the app, get real React Native and Expo code you own, and on the Agent 25 plan Newly builds the iOS app and submits it to the App Store, with screenshots, metadata, and a launch video generated for you. The same plan covers Android too.

Newly handles this

Building your iOS app from real React Native and Expo code you own
Submitting that build to the App Store on the Agent 25 plan
Generating App Store screenshots, metadata, and a launch video
Deploying to both iOS and Android, not one platform at a time
Previewing in a simulator before you ever pay Apple a cent

You handle this

Creating your Apple ID and choosing individual or organization
Requesting a D-U-N-S Number if you enroll as an organization
Paying the $99 a year directly to Apple, which Newly cannot waive
Clearing Apple's identity verification for an organization account

Try Newly from $25/mo See the publishing steps

FAQ

Apple Developer Program enrollment, answered.

The Apple Developer Program is $99 a year, and that price is the same whether you enroll as an individual or as an organization. The membership renews annually, so it is a recurring cost rather than a one-time fee. There is a separate, larger program, the Apple Developer Enterprise Program at $299 a year, but that one is for organizations with 100 or more employees distributing internal apps to their own staff, not for shipping to the public App Store. For almost everyone publishing a normal app, the answer is the $99 Apple Developer Program. Newly cannot waive or cover that Apple fee, since it is paid straight to Apple, so plan for the $99 as a fixed part of getting onto the App Store.

Keep reading.

Publish Your App to the App Store Submit an AI App to the App Store Google Play Closed Testing All Articles and Guides

Enroll once, then let Newly ship it.

You pay Apple the $99 and create the account. From $25 a month, Newly turns your idea into a real React Native app, builds the iOS version, and submits it to the App Store for you. The enrollment is the only part you do by hand.

Try Newly from $25/mo See pricing

Apple Developer Program enrollment.Cost, choices, and steps.