Signing certificate vs $99 Apple Developer account vs free Apple ID: which should you use?
Compare the three ways to sign iOS apps — a purchased developer certificate, your own $99/year Apple Developer Program membership, and free Apple ID signing — by cost, limits and hassle.
| Purchased certificate | Own Apple Developer account | Free Apple ID | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | A few dollars, one-off | $99 / year | Free |
| Apps at once | Unlimited | Unlimited | 3 |
| Expiry | Up to 1 year | 1 year | 7 days |
| Computer needed | No | Yes, plus Xcode/tooling | Yes, for refresh |
| Setup time | Minutes | Days (enrollment review) | Minutes |
| Revocation risk | Low (UDID-bound) | Very low | None |
Free Apple ID (AltStore, SideStore, Sideloadly)
Great to try sideloading, painful to live with: apps die every 7 days unless refreshed, you can only have 3 at a time, and refreshing usually needs a computer or a Wi-Fi companion running on one.
Your own Apple Developer Program membership
The 'proper' way — but $99/year, an enrollment process that can take days and requires a real identity, plus you still need to generate certificates and profiles with Apple's tools. Worth it if you're actually shipping apps. Overkill to run an emulator.
Purchased developer certificate
A reseller (like lemoncert) registers your UDID on an existing developer account and hands you the .p12 + .mobileprovision. You get the same unlimited, year-long signing as a paid account for a few dollars, delivered in minutes, with a warranty against revocation. Downsides: you don't control the account, and revocations, while rare, can happen.
Bottom line
Casual tester → free Apple ID. App developer → $99 program. Everyone who just wants their apps to work without weekly refreshes → a purchased certificate. Get a certificate.