Apple has officially started offering membership fee waivers for the Apple Developer Program for select types of organizations based in the United States. Nonprofits, accredited educational institutions, and U.S. government entities that plan to distribute only free apps on the App Store can now apply to have the standard $99 per year membership fee waived.
Here's what Apple has to say about eligibility requirements:
You can request to have the 99 USD annual membership fee waived if you're a nonprofit organization, accredited educational institution, or government entity based in the United States that will distribute only free apps on the App Store. Apple will review your request and contact you to let you know whether your request is approved.
This is what you'll need to do to apply for your fee waiver with Apple.
How to enroll your organization in the Apple Developer Program for free
The first step in applying for your waiver fee is to create an Apple ID. This can be done on multiple devices, or even at the Apple ID website.
After creating your ID, you'll need to submit your enrollment with Apple, after which you'll be able to ask for a fee waiver. You'll need a few pieces of information about your organization in order to enroll and get your fee waiver.
- EIN/tax ID - This is a unique nine-digit number that your organization gets from the IRS for identification for tax purposes.
- D-U-N-S Number - Issued by commercial data a services firm Dun & Bradstreet, these unique nine-digit numbers are widely used for identification in the business world. If your organization doesn't have one, you can request one for free in most places.
- Legal Entity Status - Your organization needs to be a legal entity that can enter into contracts with Apple. Fictitious businesses, DBAs, trade names, or branches aren't eligible for a fee waiver.
- Legal Binding Authority - If you're enrolling your organization, you need to have the legal authority within that organization to sign binding contracts on its behalf.
Apple will then review your membership fee waiver request. Your waiver will be void and you'll need to pay the annual $99 membership fee if you begin distributing paid apps on the App Store.
Existing members of the Apple Developer Program that work for an eligible organization can enroll their organization and have their fee waived as well using their existing Apple ID, as long as they meet the above requirements.
Questions?
If you have any questions about getting an Apple Developer Program membership fee waived for your organization, tell us in the comments.
