Publishing an app: what the App Store and Google Play cost

For a price for your own situation, request a quote.

What does it cost to put an app in the App Store and Google Play?

Putting an app in the App Store costs US$99 a year, and in Google Play US$25 once. The work around it costs more than the accounts: allow 4 to 8 hours. Take, for example, a self-employed accountant with a sole proprietorship who has a client app built and wants it in both stores. The stores themselves charge this, as Apple and Google publish it:

The amounts are on Apple’s page, in the Small Business Program and in the review of apps, and at Google on the account, the service fees and the test for new personal accounts. You see the dollar amount in euros when you register. Apple itself notes that other rates and terms apply to certain apps in, among others, the Netherlands; check Apple’s page for that.

When do you pay commission?

You pay commission only if you sell digital products or services through the store: a subscription, an extra feature or digital content bought in the app. Then the store keeps a share.

Most business apps sell nothing digital. An app for booking an appointment, placing an order, seeing an invoice or opening a client portal is free to download, and the customer pays for something outside the app. Apple even prescribes that for physical goods and services used outside the app you use another payment method, such as Apple Pay or a credit card (guideline 3.1.3(e)). For such apps there is no commission, and the full amount goes to you.

Suppose an app has a subscription of €10 a month and 200 paying users, in its first year at Apple in the Small Business Program. Turnover is then 200 × €10 × 12 = €24,000, and 15% commission on that is €3,600. Without the programme, at 30%, it is €7,200. At Google the rate depends on the kind of purchase and the installation; see Google’s service fees page.

What do you need to register?

At Apple it depends on how you do business. A sole proprietorship or freelancer registers as a person. Apple says that a sole proprietorship has to join as an individual, that you use your legal name and that your own name is shown as the seller in the App Store (Apple). A trade name or company name is not accepted. You must be of age and Apple verifies your name, email address, phone number and address; Apple does not accept a P.O. box for the enrolment itself, though it does for the trader status further on.

A limited company or other legal entity registers as an organisation. You then need a legal entity that can enter contracts with Apple, a D-U-N-S number, a public and working website with your company domain, an email address on that domain and someone with the authority to bind the organisation (Apple). Apple says a D-U-N-S number is free in most countries, and that the organisation’s name is shown as the seller in the App Store.

At Google there are two kinds of account, personal and organisation. For an organisation a D-U-N-S number is required (Google). For a personal account an ID document and a credit card in your name may be needed.

What is public on the product page?

More than many entrepreneurs think. Besides the seller’s name, Apple asks you to state a so-called trader status, under the EU’s Digital Services Act. What you fill in appears on the app’s product page in the EU countries. For an organisation the address that belongs to the D-U-N-S number is shown automatically, plus a phone number and an email address. For a person it is an address or a P.O. box, a phone number and an email address.

Apple verifies this with a document that shows your company name and address, and for a P.O. box with proof that it is yours (Apple). For an entrepreneur who does not want their home address public, this is the moment to decide which address to use: a P.O. box is possible, with proof that it is yours, and you do it beforehand and not afterwards. How that relates to your KvK registration is in What must be on a website.

What does the work of publishing an app cost?

Publishing the first version takes 4 to 8 hours of work on top of the build, and the size of the app hardly changes that. The hours divide like this:

At about €100 an hour, publishing costs €400 to €800, the same amount the app cost breakdown allows for it. Someone who has published before stays at the low end; a rejection by Apple pushes it to the high end.

Having an app built and want the publishing included? Request a quote and mention which stores the app should appear in.

Apple requires a privacy statement that is referred to in the app and in the store, with what is collected and what for (guideline 5.1.1). Make sure it exists before you submit; without it you risk rejection.

How long does it take to publish an app?

The review itself is short: Apple says at least half of submissions are reviewed within 24 hours and 90% within 48 hours. What takes time is what is around it. For an organisation that is the D-U-N-S number and the verification of your account, so apply for them earlier than you need them. At Google it is the test for a new personal account, with at least 12 testers taking part for 14 days in a row: two weeks you cannot speed up, so start well before the date you want to launch. And an app that does not meet the guidelines is sent back by Apple, so count on one round of rejection.

Whose name should the account be in?

The account should be in your name. Whoever holds the account is the one shown as seller in the store and the one who manages the app. If the account is in the builder’s name, the app appears under the builder’s name in the store, and you depend on the builder to update or move it. If it is in your company’s name or your own, you give the builder access and can withdraw it at any time. Agree on this before the build starts: the account and the domain name belong to your company, and the builder publishes from your account.

A timeline from registering to live

From registering to going live takes six steps:

1. Day 1: create the Apple account as a person, or apply for the D-U-N-S number for an organisation.
2. Day 1: create the Google account. For a personal account: pay and have your identity checked.
3. As soon as there is a test version: with a personal Google account the 14-day test with at least 12 testers begins. This sets the schedule.
4. The last week: the store listing, the images and the privacy statement.
5. Submit to Apple: usually an answer within a day or two, and a new round if there is a comment.
6. Live.

Anyone who wants to launch on a date counts back from that date: two weeks for the test at Google, a week for comments, and only then the images.

Already have a launch date? Request a quote with the date in it, and the schedule you receive counts back from there.

What does an app in the stores cost per year, afterwards?

After launch three costs continue:

The 15 to 20% is worked out in what an app costs after launch. Take a simple app that cost €2,500 to build. Over three years the accounts cost 3 × US$99 + US$25 = US$322. Maintenance is 15 to 20% of €2,500, so €375 to €500 a year, or €1,125 to €1,500 over three years. Even for a small app, maintenance is the bigger cost, not the stores.

Frequently asked questions

Having your app built and published

You can create the accounts and submit an app yourself. If the app still has to be built, we build it once for iPhone and Android, from €2,500, and publish it from your own accounts, so it appears in the stores under your company’s name. Request a quote and tell us in a few lines what the app is for. The quote sets out the hours, the schedule, the price and what you need to supply for the accounts.