Company details and a D-U-N-S number
Both stores check the company's legal details, and Apple asks for a D-U-N-S number, which is free and takes up to five business days.
Cleared by the LLC
Built for · App developers
A US LLC for app developers on the App Store and Google Play
Apple and Google pay developers almost anywhere. Developers form a US company when the payout bank, the processor for web subscriptions, or a publishing partner needs a US company on the other end.
01 · Why a US company
What it does for app developers.
Both stores accept a US LLC as the developer, list it as the seller, and pay proceeds to its bank account.
Read the full explanation
Both stores accept a US LLC as the developer, list it as the seller, and pay proceeds to its bank account. Developers who add web checkout for subscriptions run into Stripe's country list, and a US company is on it. A US company is also what a publisher, a co-development partner or a buyer expects to sign with.
Putting the developer account in the company's name separates the apps from any one person, so selling the apps later means selling the company.
- 01
Store proceeds in dollars
Apple and Google pay the company's US account, with the company named as seller.
March payout+5,210.00 USD - 02
Subscriptions on Stripe
Subscriptions sold outside the stores need a processor, and a US company is on Stripe's list.
ProcessorStripe · US - 03
A company to sign with
Publishers, co-developers and buyers expect to sign with a company.
SellerAster Labs LLC - 04
The apps belong to the company
Selling the apps later means selling the company, not moving accounts between people.
Company · YouSeparate accounts
02 · What stands in the way
Three things in the way, and one way through.
A bank account in the company's name
Payouts go to a bank account in the company's name, and a name that doesn't match is a common reason for a held payout.
Cleared by the LLC
A processor that serves the company's country
Subscriptions sold outside the stores need a processor that serves the country the company is in.
Cleared by the LLC
A US LLC, with its EIN and a US bank account.
One set of documents that Apple, Google, the bank and your web processor all accept.
Start a company03 · Your options
Three ways to publish apps from abroad.
Both stores take developers almost anywhere. What changes is whose name the store shows, where the money lands, and what you can sell outside the store.
| You, as an individual | Your company at home | A US LLCWhat we set up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seller name on the store | A cost or a limit: Your own name | Works in your favour: Your company's name | Works in your favour: The LLC's legal name |
| What enrolling asks | Works in your favour: Your ID | Neutral: A D-U-N-S number, a website, a domain email | Neutral: A D-U-N-S number, a website, a domain email |
| Store payouts | Neutral: Your bank at home | Neutral: The company's bank at home | Works in your favour: A US account in dollars |
| Web subscriptions on Stripe | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | A cost or a limit: Depends on your country | Works in your favour: Apply as a US business |
| Selling the apps later | Neutral: Each app transferred | Works in your favour: Sell the company | Works in your favour: Sell the LLC |
| Yearly US filing | Works in your favour: None | Works in your favour: None | A cost or a limit: Form 5472, and Wyoming's report |
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitApple's $99 a year, and its 15% rate for developers under $1 million in proceeds, are the same in every column.
You, as an individual
- Seller name on the store
- Your own name
- What enrolling asks
- Your ID
- Store payouts
- Your bank at home
- Web subscriptions on Stripe
- Depends on your country
- Selling the apps later
- Each app transferred
- Yearly US filing
- None
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
Your company at home
- Seller name on the store
- Your company's name
- What enrolling asks
- A D-U-N-S number, a website, a domain email
- Store payouts
- The company's bank at home
- Web subscriptions on Stripe
- Depends on your country
- Selling the apps later
- Sell the company
- Yearly US filing
- None
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
Neutral:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A US LLCWhat we set up
- Seller name on the store
- The LLC's legal name
- What enrolling asks
- A D-U-N-S number, a website, a domain email
- Store payouts
- A US account in dollars
- Web subscriptions on Stripe
- Apply as a US business
- Selling the apps later
- Sell the LLC
- Yearly US filing
- Form 5472, and Wyoming's report
Works in your favour:
Neutral:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
Works in your favour:
A cost or a limit:
Works in your favourNeutralA cost or a limitApple's $99 a year, and its 15% rate for developers under $1 million in proceeds, are the same in every column.
04 · Step by step
From company to first app under the LLC, in seven steps.
The EIN and the D-U-N-S number are the waits. Apple and Google check that every detail matches.
Step 1: Form the Wyoming LLC
We file the articles online. Wyoming approves an online filing the same day it is filed.
Same dayWe do itStep 2: Get the EIN
Without a Social Security Number the IRS issues it by fax, which is the slowest step. The expedited EIN, $199, has us file the day the company exists and chase it.
The longest waitWe do itStep 3: Get a D-U-N-S number
Free from Dun & Bradstreet, with the LLC's legal name and address exactly as the articles show them. Apple says allow up to five business days, then two more for it to see the number.
About a weekYou, with Dun & BradstreetStep 4: Put up a website and a domain email
Apple wants a public, working site on a domain that belongs to the company, and a work email on that domain. A social profile or a parked page isn't accepted.
A dayYouStep 5: Enrol as an organisation
Apple's Developer Program is $99 a year and takes the LLC's legal name only, never a trade name. Google Play's organisation account asks for the same D-U-N-S number and verified contact details.
Days, for reviewYou, with Apple and GoogleStep 6: Set up banking and the tax interview
Payouts go to a bank account in the LLC's name. In each store's tax interview, a single-member LLC owned from abroad gives a W-8BEN from you as the owner, and claims your country's treaty rate where there is one.
An hourYouStep 7: Apply for the 15% rate, and diary the filings
Apple's Small Business Program takes 15% instead of the standard rate while proceeds stay under $1 million, but you have to enrol. Form 5472 is due each 15 April, and Wyoming's annual report on the first day of the month the LLC was formed in.
Every yearOn your calendar
05 · The honest part
What to know before you order.
Which tax form do the stores ask for?
The tax interview
Both stores collect tax forms. A single-member LLC owned by someone abroad is looked through to the owner, so the right form is a W-8, and the store applies a treaty rate where your country has one with the United States.
Read more
How your income is classed is settled in each store's interview.
Does the LLC owe US income tax?
Foreign-source income
An app built and run from outside the United States by a company with no US office or staff has no US trade or business, which is why most foreign-owned developer LLCs owe no US income tax.
Read more
A foreign-owned single-member LLC files Form 5472 with a pro forma Form 1120 every year, even a year with no income. It reports what moved between you and the company, and missing it carries a $25,000 penalty.
Sources: Apple Developer, D-U-N-S Number; Apple Developer, enrolment; Apple, App Store Small Business Program; Play Console Help, organisation account details; IRS, Instructions for Form W-8BEN; IRS, tax treaty tables; Stripe, pricing.
06 · What it costs
What the first year costs, line by line.
Ours from our price list, Apple's and Stripe's from their own pages. Nothing here is a bundle.
| Cost | Amount | When | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch, with Wyoming's fee | $351.40 | First year | $249 to us and $102.40 to Wyoming, at cost. The LLC, the EIN and the registered agent. Every plan includes a domain for your first year, and business email on your domain, free for 3 months. |
| Expedited EINOptional | $199 | Once | Gets the D-U-N-S request, and enrolment, started sooner. |
| D-U-N-S number | Free | Once | From Dun & Bradstreet. Paying to expedite it doesn't shorten Apple's wait. |
| Apple Developer Program | $99 a year | Yearly | Google Play's organisation account has its own one-time fee. |
| Store commission | 15% | Each sale | Apple's Small Business Program rate, under $1 million in proceeds a year. |
| Stripe, for web subscriptionsOptional | 2.9% + 30¢ | Each sale | A US card, sold on your own site. |
| From the second year | $309 | Every year | $249 for Launch and Wyoming's $60 minimum. Form 5472 is an accountant's fee on top. |
Whether an app in the US storefront can link to your own checkout, and at what commission, has been before the courts since 2025. Check Apple's current guidelines before you build on it.
The plan that fits
Launch, usually.
Apple's D-U-N-S check can run while the EIN is on its way.
Launch
Fits app developersFor your first company, when it needs to exist and nothing more yet.
What it covers
- Your Wyoming LLC, filed, with the state fee at cost
- The EIN, without a Social Security Number
- Form 5472 and the annual report on your calendar
What Apple and Google check when they enrol a company.
07 · Questions
Questions from app developers.
If yours is not here, email us at hello@baseacross.com before you order.
No. Apple enrols the legal entity and doesn't accept DBAs or trade names, so the seller name is the LLC's legal name. Your app can be called anything.
Yes, for an organisation account, along with the organisation's website and verified contact email and phone. A personal account doesn't need one, but shows your own name.
On your own site, yes: with a US LLC you can sell them through Stripe. Linking to that checkout from inside an app in the US storefront has been in the courts since 2025, so check Apple's current App Review Guidelines before you build on it.
The stores pay to a bank account in the company's name. A US account is the simplest, and founders in most countries can apply to Mercury for one remotely. Mercury decides each application.
Apple asks for one when it enrols an organisation. It's free, takes up to five business days, and Apple can need two more days to see it.
A Wyoming LLC on Launch is $351.40 for the first year: $249 for Launch and $102.40 to Wyoming, at cost. After that it is $309 a year, $249 to us and $60 to Wyoming.
Ready when you are
Answer the questions. We do the filing.
It takes about four minutes. You see the whole order, Wyoming fee included, before anything is charged.
Step 1 of 10 · About four minutesNothing charged yet
You're startingLLC · WY
Start a companyLaunch · $351.40 · Wyoming fee included