Your Branded Mobile App is published to Google Play from your own Google Play Console developer account. This guide covers creating that account from start to finish. Registration is a one-time 25 USD fee paid directly to Google.
A Google account to own the developer account. Use a business account, not a personal one — whoever owns this account owns your app. Turn on 2-Step Verification before you begin.
A credit or debit card for the 25 USD fee. Google accepts MasterCard, Visa, American Express, Discover (US only), and Visa Electron (outside the US). Prepaid cards are not accepted.
For an organization account: your D-U-N-S number, legal business name, address, phone number, and a working website. Start the D-U-N-S first — see How to Set Up Your D-U-N-S Number for Your Branded App. It is free but can take up to 30 days.
For a personal account: a valid government ID and a credit card, both in your legal name, plus a physical Android device running Android 10 or later.
You must be at least 18 years old.
If you are signed in to several Google accounts, use a private or incognito window so you are certain which account you are registering.
Decide this before you start. It is the most consequential choice in the whole process, and on Google it is very hard to undo.
Personal — your personal name is behind the account, and accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test before they can publish: 12 testers opted in continuously for at least 14 days, followed by an application for production access. This alone can add weeks to your launch.
Organization — your business name appears as the developer, and the closed-testing requirement does not apply. Requires a D-U-N-S number.
We strongly recommend organization for any business. It is also mandatory if your app relates to financial services, health, VPN services, or government.
Changing your mind later is difficult. Google does not support converting an organization account to a personal one at all. Going the other way — personal to organization — is possible, but it means creating a new payments profile of the correct type, verifying it, and linking it. The account type is stored on the Google payments profile and cannot be edited in place.
Sign in to the Google account that will own the developer account, or create one.
Click Get started.
Note: Google adjusts this signup flow from time to time, so the exact order of the screens below may vary slightly. The information asked for stays the same.
Read the summary of what you will need and click Continue.
Accept the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement.
This is the name shown publicly on Google Play as the app's developer. It does not have to match your legal name.
Use your brand or business name — this is what your members will see. Avoid names like "My Business Developer Account", which look unprofessional on your store listing.
Click Next.
Click Create or select payments profile. If you already have a Google payments profile you can reuse it, as long as it is the right type.
This is the critical screen. The payments profile is where your account type — organization or individual — actually lives, along with your country, legal name, address, and D-U-N-S number. None of those can be edited later on an existing profile. Choose organization here if you are registering a business.
Enter your legal name and address exactly as they appear in your Dun & Bradstreet record. Google requires these to match, and a mismatch is the number one cause of failed verification.
Pay the 25 USD registration fee and click Next.
The fee is non-refundable if you enter invalid information, so double-check everything on this screen before submitting.
Enter a developer email address. This is shown publicly on your Google Play developer profile, so use a business address such as [email protected] rather than a personal one.
Click Verify email address and enter the six-digit code Google emails you.
Enter and verify your phone number. Use the international format, for example +14155551234.
Tick the box consenting to Google displaying this information on your public developer profile, then click Next.
Organization accounts will also be asked for separate contact details — the name, email, and phone Google uses to reach you privately — as well as your organization's website.
Every new account must be verified before it can publish. Google will ask you to upload two documents and confirm your details. This has its own guide — see How to Verify Your Google Developer Account for the full walkthrough, the accepted document types, and how to fix the errors that come up.
If you registered a personal account, two extra requirements apply before you can publish publicly.
Device verification. From the Play Console home page, open the device verification task, click View details, scan the QR code with a physical Android device running Android 10 or later, sign in to the Play Console app as the account owner, and tap Verify. It takes under a minute. The device must be a real, non-rooted phone or tablet — emulators are not accepted.
Closed testing. You need 12 testers opted in continuously for at least 14 days. The 14 days must be consecutive — testers who opt out and back in reset the clock. Once you meet it, the Apply for production button appears on your dashboard. Friends, family, colleagues, and members of your community all count.
Separately from your Play Console account, Google is rolling out Android developer verification, which requires developers and app package names to be registered before apps can be installed on certified Android devices. Enforcement begins on 30 September 2026 in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand, with wider rollout expected in 2027.
For most Play Console developers this is automatic — once your Play Console identity verification is complete, Google registers eligible Play apps for you. Still, check the Home page of your Play Console for any outstanding registration task.
I paid the fee but no account appeared.
Wait 48 hours — it usually resolves on its own. After that, use Google's developer registration support form to report it.
My registration payment was declined.
Update your payments profile with a different payment method or billing address. Remember that prepaid cards are not accepted.
I chose the wrong account type.
Personal to organization: you will need to create a new payments profile of the correct type, verify it, and link it to your Play Console account. Organization to personal: Google does not support this, and the only route is a brand-new account, a second 25 USD fee, and an app transfer. Contact us before doing anything — we can advise on the least disruptive path.
I do not have a D-U-N-S number yet.
You cannot create an organization account without one. Start the application now — it is free and can take up to 30 days. See How to Set Up Your D-U-N-S Number for Your Branded App.
I do not own an Android device and I registered a personal account.
Google requires a real Android device for personal-account device verification and does not document an alternative. Borrowing a device works — one device can verify more than one developer account. This requirement is another reason to register as an organization.
Your Google account is now created. Two things remain before your app can be published, each with its own guide:
How to Verify Your Google Developer Account — complete Google's identity verification.
How to Give GroupApp Access to Your Google Play Console and Google Cloud — invite our team so we can create your app and start building.
Questions at any point? Message us at [email protected].
