Individual and company accounts sit on the same fee tier
The standard Apple Developer Program charges individuals and organizations the same annual fee, which Apple has long published as 99 USD per year. The amount actually charged depends on region, currency and tax, so treat Apple's page at checkout time as the source of truth. What separates the two account types is verification: an organization needs a legal entity and a D-U-N-S number, while an individual is verified as a person. The Apple Developer Enterprise Program is a different product with a higher fee and stricter eligibility, aimed at internal distribution inside large organizations, not ordinary App Store publishing. Nonprofits, educational institutions and government entities can apply for a fee waiver, subject to Apple's review. Regular commercial entities do not qualify.
The account price and Apple's fee are separate costs
A seller's quote covers the account service itself. Apple's annual fee is a platform charge paid to Apple. Before ordering, ask whether the quote already covers the current year or the next renewal, or whether the buyer pays at renewal. Anything not stated in writing should be treated as extra and confirmed with the seller.
Check the renewal date before comparing prices
Membership runs in annual terms, and the expiry date appears in the Membership details in the developer account. A freshly registered account typically has close to a full year left, while an aged account may be about to renew. The same quote means very different real cost when expiry is one month away versus eleven. Asking for the expiry date and the auto-renew status comes before any price comparison.
Who pays depends on which payment method renewal is charged to
Renewal is charged to the payment method attached to the account. If it stays with the previous holder after handover, the next auto-renewal hits their card, which invites disputes and can fail if they withdraw payment. The buyer should confirm that the payment method is under their control after handover and agree on who verifies that the renewal charge succeeded. For company accounts, the fee normally sits in the company's costs, so invoice name, payer and contracting entity should line up for bookkeeping. This is about legitimate entity and payment ownership, not about working around verification or association checks.
What really differs between individual and company accounts
On an individual account, the contracting party is a person, the fee belongs to that person, and the App Store shows their name as the seller. On a company account, the contracting party is the company, the fee is the company's, and the store shows the company name. Fees, invoices and later responsibility are tied to that entity, and switching entities is not a matter of changing a card. If your app must appear under a company name or tie into company billing and compliance, choose a company account. For a personal tool or testing, an individual account is lighter in both cost and process.
Pre-order checklist and when to stop
If membership lapses, live apps can be removed from the store and new versions cannot be submitted. Grace periods and recovery rules follow Apple's rules at that time. This matters most for aged accounts that carry apps, since expiry directly affects downloads. Confirm account type, expiry date, auto-renew status, current payment method, whether the fee is inside the quote, and who handles renewal after handover. If the seller cannot give the expiry date or will not state who bears the fee, the cost is unpredictable, so pause and verify first.