Developers Will Soon Get 25 Monthly Hours of Xcode Cloud With Apple Developer Program

Apple today announced that starting in January 2024, all Apple Developer Program memberships will include 25 compute hours of Xcode Cloud at no additional cost on top of the Developer membership fee.

Xcode Cloud icon
Xcode Cloud is designed to provide cloud-based tools to developers for building apps, running automated tests, providing apps to testers, and managing user feedback. It was introduced in 2021, and made available to all developers in June 2022.

Since launch, Apple has given developers access to 25 hours of Xcode Cloud per month at no cost, but that was scheduled to end this month. Apple has now decided to continue offering the free compute hours as part of its Developer Program membership.

We're pleased to announce that as of January 2024, all Apple Developer Program memberships will include 25 compute hours per month on Xcode Cloud as a standard, with no additional cost. If you're already subscribed to Xcode Cloud for free, no additional action is required on your part. And if you haven't tried Xcode Cloud yet, now is the perfect time to start building your app for free in just a few minutes.

Apple initially planned to charge $15 per month for 25 hours, but that tier will be free. 100 compute hours is priced at $50 per month, 250 hours is priced at $100 per month, and 1,000 hours is priced at $400 per month.

Each compute hour is an hour of time used to execute a task in the cloud, such as building an app or running tests. Compute hour usage is tracked through App Store connect and the Apple Developer app.

Tag: Xcode

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Will Bring Biggest Design Overhaul Since iOS 7

Monday March 10, 2025 12:17 pm PDT by
Apple is planning for a major design overhaul of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac interfaces with the introduction of iOS 19, iPadOS 19, and macOS 16 later this year, reports Bloomberg. The update will "fundamentally change" the look of Apple's operating system, introducing a more consistent cross-platform experience. Apple plans to update the style of icons, menus, apps, windows, and system...
ios 18 4 carplay

Apple Upgrades CarPlay in Two Ways

Wednesday March 12, 2025 6:05 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone includes a smaller but meaningful improvement for Apple's in-car iPhone mirroring system CarPlay. Specifically, CarPlay now shows a third row of icons, up from two rows previously. However, this change is only visible in vehicles with a larger center display. For example, a MacRumors Forums member noticed the change in a Toyota Tundra with a...
Apple One Apps Feature 2

Apple One's Best Plan Now Includes Two More Perks For Free

Monday March 10, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Apple One allows you to subscribe to up to six Apple services for one discounted monthly price. There are three Apple One tiers: Individual, Family, and Premier. Over the last month, the highest-end ‌Apple One‌ Premier plan has gained two additional perks. Here is what Apple One Premier already included, for $37.95 per month:Apple Music Apple TV+ Apple Arcade Apple News+ Apple Fitness+...
airpods pro 2 gradient

AirPods Pro 3 Launch Now Just Months Away: Here's What We Know

Tuesday March 11, 2025 3:26 am PDT by
Despite being released over two years ago, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 continue to dominate the wireless earbud market. However, with the AirPods Pro 3 expected to launch in 2025, anyone thinking of buying Apple's premium earbuds may be wondering if the next generation is worth holding out for. Apart from their audio and noise-canceling performance, which are generally regarded as excellent for...
iOS 18

12 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.4

Monday March 10, 2025 9:28 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.4 in early April, bringing further refinements to Apple Intelligence features, a neat new capability to iPhone 15 Pro devices, new emoji, and more. While not quite as packed with new features as Apple's preceding iOS 18 point releases, iOS 18.4 still introduces enhancements that aim to make your iPhone smarter and more intuitive. Below, we've listed 12 new...
iphone 17 mockups idevicehelp

Video Shows iPhone 17 Mockups Based on 'Internal Documents'

Monday March 10, 2025 4:41 am PDT by
YouTuber iDeviceHelp on Friday posted a video that shows off mockups of Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 models that are purportedly based on "internal documents." We're sharing the video here since it was made in collaboration with leaker Majin Bu, who last month published similar iPhone 17 renders that were widely corroborated by separate leakers with links to Apple's Chinese supply chain....
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.2 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Monday March 10, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple employees are internally testing iOS 18.3.2 for iPhones, according to our website's visitor logs, which have been a reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released in the next week or two. iOS 18.3.2 will be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Don't expect any new features. iOS 18.3.2 will be an interim...
Apple Maps vs Google Maps Feature

iOS 18.4 Adds a Highly-Requested Setting to iPhones — But Not in U.S.

Wednesday March 12, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
iPhones are finally getting a much-requested setting, but availability is limited. The upcoming iOS 18.4 update introduces an option to set a default navigation app, other than Apple Maps, but unfortunately this new setting is limited to users in the EU. There, you can now set an app like Google Maps or Waze as your default navigation app on the iPhone by opening the Settings app and tapping ...
iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.3.2 With Bug Fixes

Tuesday March 11, 2025 10:33 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.3.2 and iPadOS 18.3.2, minor updates for the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that came out last September. iOS 18.3.2 and iOS 18.3.2 come a month after Apple released iOS 18.3.1 and iPadOS 18.3.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release...

Top Rated Comments

mrothroc Avatar
17 months ago
But no Xcode Copilot.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
recurringdream Avatar
17 months ago

Can someone please explain in 3 sentences a scenario where a developer uses this? Thank you!
Building an application for distribution on TestFlight or the AppStore is a tedious multi-step process. Building it in the Cloud means that a version of Xcode hosted at Apple does all of that work for you, letting you and your local Mac get on with other tasks. It can also run builds automatically, triggered by certain changes in your source code, catching potential build problems as soon as they arise.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bodhisattva Avatar
17 months ago

Makes sense to offer more benefits to Apple Developer Program members.

Especially when sideloading (which basically means free Apple Developer program) is coming soon.
Side loading will simply be a delivery method. Shouldn't replace the need to sign a build from an authenticated program member. In the early days of iOS development (and even with formerly allowed Enterprise license member) side loading was not an issue, but always still required a valid signed build. Doubt a free dev program is coming anytime soon.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
3530025 Avatar
17 months ago
Makes sense to offer more benefits to Apple Developer Program members.

Especially when sideloading (which basically means free Apple Developer program) is coming soon.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bodhisattva Avatar
17 months ago

Can someone please explain in 3 sentences a scenario where a developer uses this? Thank you!
For enterprise size applications, this actually gives you a bit more iOS specific control over CI/CD process compared to products like TeamCity. For the one-man dev shop how follows the traditional process of code, build, test, repeat this will not do much really except possibly simplifying automation of your processes a bit easier then Jenkins, CircleCI, TravisCI, etc. or the complexity of writing Fastlane scripts. From an enterprise level however it seems just a little more Apple friendly that GitLab CI/CD, or many of the others out there.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
17 months ago
While I applaud Apple for doing this, I feel like this is a way to hook people into Xcode Cloud as 25 hours is definitely not enough for most serious developers. I will personally stick with Mac mini.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)