No developer account

Build an iOS app without an Apple developer account

You don't need Apple's $99 Developer Program to build an iOS app and run it on your own iPhone. With Borel you build the app in your browser, try it free in the iOS Simulator, and install it with Borel Companion and a free Apple ID. You join the paid program only to publish on the App Store or sell in-app purchases.

Updated

9:41
Idea Pipeline, a video idea tracker Borel built, on its Ideas tab
9:41
A recipe app Borel built, with recipes grouped by meal
9:41
A budget app Borel built, showing what is left to spend this month
9:41
A workout log Borel built, with this week's totals

Apps built by Borel, in the iOS Simulator.

How it works

Build it and run it, free

  • 1

    Describe the app

    Borel writes it in Swift and builds it with Xcode on its own Mac. No Mac, no Xcode and no account with Apple yet.

  • 2

    Try it in the simulator

    The iOS Simulator runs your app live in your browser, free for everyone. Tap, scroll and type as on a phone.

  • 3

    Install it with a free Apple ID

    Borel Companion signs the app with the Apple ID you already have and puts it on your iPhone.

A free Apple ID

What can you do with a free Apple ID?

More than most people expect. A free Apple ID lets you run apps you made on your own iPhone. Apple calls it a Personal Team: each app is signed for 7 days at a time, and a device keeps up to 3 of your apps at once. Borel Companion signs your apps again before the 7 days are up, while it runs on your computer, so they stay on your home screen.

What Borel builds into an app works there: the camera and document scanning, photos, location and Apple Maps, Face ID, reminders the phone schedules, haptics, steps and motion, the microphone and speech to text, contacts and calendar, charts, and data saved on the phone. So does Borel AI, with no key, and so do accounts, a cloud database and file storage from Borel's cloud.

The paid program

When do you need the Apple Developer Program?

When the app is for everyone else. Apple's Developer Program costs $99 a year, paid to Apple, and it's what takes an app to the App Store and lets it sell things there.

What a free Apple ID and the Apple Developer Program each let you do with an app built in Borel
You want toFree Apple IDDeveloper Program
Build the app in BorelYesYes
Try it in the iOS SimulatorYes, freeYes, free
Run it on your own iPhoneYes, with Borel CompanionYes
Show a paywall for in-app purchasesYes, in the simulator and on your iPhoneYes
Sell in-app purchasesComes with the programYes, on the App Store
Publish on the App StoreComes with the programYes, with Borel's Publish on Pro
CostFree$99 a year, paid to Apple

When you're ready

How does publishing work once you join?

Borel's Publish flow takes a Pro plan, from $20 a month, alongside the program. You connect your Apple account inside the flow, Stamp checks the app for what Apple turns apps down for, and Borel's Mac builds, signs and uploads the release to App Store Connect under your own account. You see and confirm every step yourself.

Nothing is rebuilt from scratch. The app you've been using on your own iPhone is the same project you send to the App Store, so you can build and use it for as long as you like before you pay Apple anything.

No Mac

Do you need a Mac or Xcode?

No. Xcode only runs on a Mac, so Borel runs it for you: every version of your app is compiled with Xcode on Borel's own Mac, then opened in the iOS Simulator to check it starts. When Xcode reports an error, Borel's AI fixes it and builds again.

You work in a browser on any computer, and the only thing you install is Borel Companion, on Windows or Mac. More on that in Xcode for Windows, and Apple's own table of what each account includes is in the guide free Apple ID vs the Apple Developer Program.

Choose Borel if…

  • You want to build and use an iOS app before paying Apple anything.
  • You don't have a Mac, or don't want to set up Xcode.
  • You'd like the iOS Simulator in your browser, free.
  • You may publish later, and want the same project to take you there.
  • You'd rather describe the app than write Swift yourself.

Frequently asked questions

Yes. Build it in Borel and install it on your own iPhone with Borel Companion and a free Apple ID. The paid Apple Developer Program is for publishing.

$99 a year, paid to Apple. Nonprofits, accredited educational institutions and government entities can ask Apple for a fee waiver.

Running your own apps on your own iPhone: up to 3 at a time, each signed for 7 days, which Borel Companion renews for you while it runs.

You can see your paywall and its screens in the simulator and on your iPhone. Real purchases go through the App Store, which takes the Developer Program.

No. Sign up, build for free with 5 free credits a day, up to 30 a month, and add Apple's program only when you publish.

Yes, with a Pro plan and Apple's Developer Program. Borel builds, signs and uploads the app from its own Mac, so you never need one.

No. Borel compiles your app with Xcode on its own Mac. You use a browser, and Borel Companion on Windows or Mac.

Yes. Download the SwiftUI project at any time, with an XcodeGen project.yml that opens in Xcode on a Mac.

Start your iOS app for free

Build it, try it and put it on your iPhone. Pay Apple only when you publish.