6

I want to develop apps for Apple devices but I can't get them there as I do not have a credit card. So, can I use an iTunes gift card to sign up for the developer program or, do I really need to use credit card?

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
2

No, you can't use a gift card. You might want to try a prepaid credit card. You can get them at most places that sell gift cards.

Improve this answer
0
4

No - or at least, I couldn't.

I tried this today (2021-12-15) and the payment details page said "Apple Store Gift Cards are not eligible with some items in your order".

There was no other items in my order, other than the Apple Developer Program renewal.

And I use the same Apple ID for ADP as I used for the gift card. So for me, I could not pay for my membership with a gift card.

I'm in Australia - I guess it's possible that it might be different in other places.

EDIT - I logged a question with Apple Developer Program Support and they said "I understand your situation where you would like to pay for the program in partial gift card balance. However, we currently do not accept other payment methods other than credit card".

So I think that's pretty definitive.

Improve this answer
1

Renewals may be less strict than the initial payment before you have filled out all the banking forms, tax forms, legal agreements, etc…

I always use iTunes gift cards to pay for the developer fees. Usually manage to get them with some rebate (20% often) which makes the developer account 20% cheaper.

The long version: Your developer account is connected to an AppleID, and the developer fees are charged to the iTunes account for your AppleID. If you added a giftcard or giftcards to your iTunes account, the money is taken out of your account. If you have a credit or debit card connected to your account, it is taken off that credit card. Just like any app purchases or music / video / book purchases.

Improve this answer
4
  • Lies.I bought a $100 gift card and now I can't pay with it.
    – Sassan
    Nov 27, 2016 at 11:31
  • I think this is true, but there's a lot of hoops to get an Apple Gift card to work, because most developers probably use a different account than their real life. This means that all the hoops you have to go thru to activate the account without a credit card, etc, get in the way. Not something you'd want to try on the 11th hour (I did, and decided that I didn't want to log into Apple ID on my mac, or create a new local user just to login to do something in App store, etc.
    – benc
    May 12, 2021 at 3:15
  • As per my answer below, I could not use an Apple gift card even though my dev account uses the same Apple ID as my main account where the gift card is.
    – Brendan White
    Dec 15, 2021 at 12:00
  • I couldn't renew my developer account with a gift card today, and it uses the same email as the gift card.
    – CpnCrunch
    Mar 7, 2022 at 15:41
-1

here's one who got through developers procedure with a visa gift card. [EDIT - note this is a VISA gift card, not an Apple one.] https://discussions.apple.com/message/17063878#17063878

Improve this answer
2
  • Cool. If Visa cards are accepted on the App Store, I don't see why a visa gift card wouldn't work. Different than an iTunes gift card, but cool option.
    – bmike ♦
    Nov 18, 2015 at 17:26
  • 1
    Unfortunately that link no longer works, which is a shame, as I'd love to be able to see what it said.
    – Brendan White
    Dec 15, 2021 at 11:21

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .