Native IOS Development — hobby stack.
For each requirement below, pick the option that fits your build — recommended first, then free and cheaper alternatives — or skip what your project doesn't need. Tap the info icon next to any requirement to see why it matters.
Apple Developer Program + Certificates/Provisioning Profiles
Enterprise single sign-on and user provisioning. Usually required to sell to larger organizations.Pricing & free-tier limitsApple Developer $99/yr per org; includes certificates, identifiers, provisioning, App Store Connect API, TestFlight. Free personal team: 7-day provisioning, max 3 sideloaded apps, no TestFlight distribution. Enterprise Program discontinued; Custom Apps via ABM included in $99.
macOS Build Farm / Mac Hosting for iOS Builds
Where your code actually runs and serves requests. Picking the right host affects speed, scaling, and how much ops work you do.Pricing & free-tier limitsXcode Cloud: 25 compute hrs/mo FREE included with $99/yr, then $0.02/min ($1.20/hr). GitHub macOS: Free 2000 Linux mins, macOS x10 multiplier = $0.08/min ($4.80/hr) pay-as-you-go. MacStadium: $150/mo Mini M2 (4c), $250/mo M2 Pro 32GB, $390/mo Mac Studio. AWS EC2 Mac: $1.083/hr dedicated host ($790/mo min 24h reservation) + $0.10/GB EBS.
CI/CD for iOS (Orchestration, Fastlane Integration)
Automates testing and deploying your code. Saves enormous time and prevents “works on my machine” releases.Pricing & free-tier limitsXcode Cloud 25 hrs free then $0.02/min. GitHub Actions macOS $0.08/min. Codemagic Free 500 mins/mo Apple Silicon, then $0.095/min Intel / $0.045/min Apple Silicon credit ($27.50 per 500 min pack). Bitrise: Free 200 credits, Hobby $36/mo 2500 credits, Teams $200/mo 15k credits, Enterprise $2500/mo+.
Code Signing & Notarization (Match, Apple Notary Service)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsApple Notary Service $0 included with $99/yr, ~2-5 min notarization. Fastlane Match $0 open-source (requires private Git repo ~$0). Doppler: Free 50 secrets, Developer $8/user/mo, Team $20/user/mo. Appcircle Signing $0 self-host + certificate management free.
TestFlight Beta Distribution
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsTestFlight $0 included with $99/yr: 100 internal testers, 10k external testers, 90-day expiry, 100 builds/day limit. No overage fees. Firebase App Distribution FREE unlimited testers for IPA. App Center Distribute FREE up to 1st year (Microsoft deprecating, now $0 migration).
App Store Connect API & Deployment Automation
Automates testing and deploying your code. Saves enormous time and prevents “works on my machine” releases.Pricing & free-tier limitsApp Store Connect API $0 included (500 req/min rate limit). Fastlane $0. Runway: $250/mo per app (release train), Business $600/mo unlimited apps + approvals. Appcircle Publish $50/mo per app.
Device Farm for iOS Testing (Real Devices)
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsSimulators $0. Firebase Test Lab: Free 30 tests/day virtual devices, 15/day physical, then $1/hr virtual, $5/hr physical iOS. AWS Device Farm: Free 1000 device-mins first run, then $0.17/min real iOS ($10.20/hr), $0.08/min remote access. BrowserStack: $129/mo Live 1 parallel, $199/mo Team 5 parallel, $399/mo Team Pro unlimited.
Crash Reporting & dSYM Symbolication
A piece of your stack you may or may not need, depending on scope. Pick the option that fits — or skip it if your project doesn’t require this capability yet.Pricing & free-tier limitsCrashlytics $0 unlimited crashes, dSYM upload free via upload-symbols. App Store automatic symbolication free. Sentry: Free 5k errors + 10k transactions/mo, Team $26/mo 50k errors, Business $99/mo 500k. Embrace $200/mo 25k MAU. Datadog Crash $0.11 per 1k sessions.
Artifact Storage for IPA / XCArchive / dSYM
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsApp Store Connect storage $0 for 90 days (builds). GitHub Packages Free 500MB storage + 1GB transfer. Cloudflare R2 Free 10GB storage + 10M Class A ops, then $0.015/GB/mo storage, $0 egress. S3: $0.023/GB/mo storage, $0.09/GB egress, $0.005 per 1k PUT. Backblaze B2: $0.006/GB/mo storage + $0.01/GB download.
Push Notification Service (APNs Provider)
Reaches users on their phone via SMS or push. Useful for verification codes and re-engagement; watch the per-message cost.Pricing & free-tier limitsApple APNs $0 included (no per-push fee, requires $99/yr). FCM $0 free. OneSignal: Free up to 10k subscribed devices, unlimited pushes, 1 email segment. Growth $9/mo + $1.50 per 1k subs over 1k. Professional $99/mo. Airship: Starter $99/mo 10k audience. Braze $499/mo base.
Analytics - Mobile Product Analytics
Understands your users and supports them. Drives product decisions and retention.Pricing & free-tier limitsFirebase Analytics $0 unlimited events, BigQuery export free up to 10GB/mo. PostHog Free 1M events/mo, then $0.000248/event (~$248 per 1M). Amplitude Starter Free 50k MTUs, Growth $995/mo 100k MTU. Mixpanel Free 1M events, Growth $28k/yr.
How this hobby native ios development checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a hobby native ios development build typically needs. Pick one of the four researched options — recommended, free, cheaper or paid — add your own with "Other", or skip the requirement if your project doesn't need it. Nothing is mandatory; the plan on the right tracks what you've decided so nothing gets forgotten.
Your picks are saved in this browser automatically, so you can come back anytime. Options are researched per build level and refreshed as vendors change their plans — always verify details on the provider's page before committing.