14 DAY TRIAL // Apple announced on Wednesday that it's making its regular $99 USD/year Apple Developer Program memberships free to some eligible entities in the United States.
If you're a non-profit organization, a government entity, or an accredited educational institution in the United States and you want to develop applications for Apple's iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS ecosystem that you'll distribute for free, chances are you can now apply for a free Apple Developer Program membership, which usually costs $99 USD per year.
"We’re pleased to announce that Apple Developer Program membership is now available at no cost for eligible organizations," says Apple. "Nonprofit organizations, accredited educational institutions, and government entities based in the United States that will distribute only free apps on the App Store can request to have their annual membership fee waived."
Here's how to apply for a free Apple Developer Program membership
In the detailed support article entitled "Apple Developer Program Membership Fee Waivers," Apple explains that you can request to have the $99 USD annual membership fee waived if you are a non-profit organization, accredited educational institution, or government entity based in the United States, and that you will distribute only free apps on the iOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS App Store.
This is great news for numerous non-profit organizations out there that only want to do good and promote their (usually free) services to the world. Well, not the world, because the fee waiver is currently only limited to entities in the US, but we do hope to see it expanded to other countries around the globe in the near future. Apple says that it will review each request and contact the respective entities if they are approved for free membership or not.
Of course, this also applies to existing non-profit organization, accredited educational institution, or government entities in the United States that already have a paid Apple Developer Program membership. All they have to do is to request Apple to lift the annual fee. On the other hand, newcomers must first submit their enrollment into the Apple Developer Program before applying for a fee waiver.