Desktop Native Application — 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.
Code Signing Certificate - Windows (OV/EV, SmartScreen Reputation)
Encrypts traffic between your users and your servers. Without it browsers flag your site as insecure and you lose trust and search ranking.Pricing & free-tier limitsFree: $0 self-signed (SmartScreen warning, no trust) / OV: $129-250/yr, 1 cert, unlimited signatures / EV: $399-699/yr includes HSM token ($99 value), renewal yearly, $0 overage but time-stamp $0.01/sig after 10k via DigiCert
Code Signing Certificate - Apple Developer ID (macOS Outside App Store)
Encrypts traffic between your users and your servers. Without it browsers flag your site as insecure and you lose trust and search ranking.Pricing & free-tier limitsFree: $0 Apple ID (7-day ad-hoc cert, no notarization) / Paid: $99/yr - unlimited Developer ID certs (2 active), unlimited app signing, includes notary service, TestFlight for Mac, no overage
Notarization Service - Apple Notary (Gatekeeper Stapling)
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 limitsFree with $99 dev program: ~unlimited notarizations (fair use ~1000/day), 30-120 sec avg, $0 overage / Standalone Apple ID: not allowed / Third-party wrapper: Gon $0 OSS, $0 cost
Installer Hosting & CDN Distribution (MSIX, MSI, DMG, PKG, AppImage)
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 limitsFree: GitHub Releases $0 2GB/file, 500 API calls/hr / R2: 10GB storage free, 10M Class A ops free / S3: $0.023/GB storage, $0.09/GB egress, CloudFront $0.085/GB / Paid CDN: $50-500/mo base + $0.01-0.08/GB overage
Auto-Update Service / Release Server (Sparkle, Squirrel.Windows, Electron autoUpdater, MSIX App Installer)
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 limitsFree: OSS Sparkle/Squirrel/Velopack $0 self-hosted, S3 hosting costs only / Hazel self-hosted $0 / Paid hosted: Update.rocks $29/mo 10k checks/mo free then $0.50/1k checks, Electron Release Server $0 self-host
Crash Reporting & Native Symbolication (Sentry Native, Crashpad, Breakpad)
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 limitsFree: Sentry Dev $0 5k errors, 10k transactions, 1GB attachments / Bugsnag: 7.5k sessions free / Paid: Sentry Team $29/mo 50k errors $0.00036/overage, 100k replays, Business $99/mo 100k errors, symbol storage $0.023/GB
Artifact Storage & Versioned Binaries (PDB, dSYM, MSI, DMG archive)
Where you keep files users upload or you serve — images, videos, documents — and how fast they reach visitors around the world.Pricing & free-tier limitsFree: GH Artifacts 500MB storage 30-day retention free / R2 10GB free / Artifactory Cloud Free: 2GB storage 2GB transfer / Paid: S3 $0.023/GB-mo + $0.09/GB egress, JFrog Pro $37/mo 10k GiB-minutes included, overage $0.08/GB
Build CI/CD - Windows/macOS/Linux Runners (Native Build Matrix)
Automates testing and deploying your code. Saves enormous time and prevents “works on my machine” releases.Pricing & free-tier limitsFree: GH Free 2000 Linux mins, Windows 2x factor, macOS 10x factor (200 effective macOS mins) / Team $4/u/mo + overage $0.008/min Linux, $0.016/min Windows, $0.08/min macOS / Self-hosted runners $0 but infra $5-99/mo
OS Compatibility Testing VMs / Device Lab (Win 10/11, macOS 12-15, Ubuntu/Fedora)
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 limitsFree: Local VMs $0 hardware cost only / Parallels Pro $99.99/yr includes 3 macOS + 1 Win11 VM / AWS EC2 Mac: $1.083/hr $26/day + EBS $0.08/GB-mo / Azure Win11: $0.084-0.188/hr per vCPU, overage $0
Symbol Server / Debug Symbols (PDB, dSYM, Breakpad SYM, Source Indexing)
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 limitsFree: Sentry free tier 5k PDB/dSYM files ~1GB free / MS Public Symbols $0 read-only / Self-hosted S3 $0.023/GB storage, $0.09/GB transfer / Paid: Sentry Business unlimited symbols in plan, Artifactory Pro $37/mo 5GB artifact storage then $0.08/GB
Telemetry & Usage Analytics (Desktop privacy-compliant, offline-first)
Keeps you secure and compliant with regulations. Required for enterprise customers and handling sensitive data.Pricing & free-tier limitsFree: PostHog 1M events/mo free, 1M recordings, no CC / Plausible OSS $0 self-host / Paid: PostHog Scale: 1M free then $0.000248/event ($0.248/1k), Mixpanel Growth $28/mo 1M events then $0.28/1k overage
How this hobby desktop native application checklist works.
Each requirement below is something a hobby desktop native application 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.