Microsoft’s decision to eliminate developer onboarding fees for the Microsoft Store, announced during its Build 2025 conference, is poised to reshape the competitive landscape for app distribution on Windows.

Effective from June 2025, individual developers will be able to publish apps without paying the prior $19 registration fee—a move the company frames as part of its ongoing effort to make the Store more appealing to a broader spectrum of developers, especially independents and hobbyists (TechCrunch, NewsBytes).

This step comes as Microsoft aggressively courts developers amidst persistent criticism of Apple’s App Store and competitive fee structures across the industry. According to NewsBytes, Apple continues to charge an annual $99 fee for developer accounts, while Google levies a one-time $25 charge for Google Play access. By contrast, Microsoft’s removal of up-front publishing costs puts its Store in a uniquely accessible position for individuals, even as corporate account fees remain in place.

At Build 2025, Microsoft also clarified the economics for developers using its commerce platform. While onboarding is now free, developers who choose to process payments through Microsoft will still see a 12% cut for games and a 15% fee for apps, rates that have not changed. However, developers can sidestep these fees in non-gaming categories by implementing their own commerce engines, retaining all app revenue—a notable divergence from Apple’s more restrictive policies. As TechCrunch reported, this approach is explicitly aimed at incentivizing innovation and broadening the Store’s catalog by reducing friction for new entrants.

Industry insiders view the move as both a strategic and a symbolic play. The Microsoft Store has historically lagged behind rivals in attracting a critical mass of applications, especially from smaller developers. According to Paul Thurrott’s analysis, Microsoft is not only axing onboarding fees but also introducing significant technical enhancements: Win32 app support is being expanded, enabling self-updating directly through the Store for the first time. This solves a longstanding headache for developers and users alike, who previously had to rely on manual update systems for MSI or EXE-based apps.

Further, Microsoft is introducing a non-interactive progress bar for Win32 installations and clear update information—both high-priority requests from the developer community. As Thurrott notes, these changes are designed to standardize and simplify the user experience, bringing parity with more mature app stores while driving developer engagement.

The Store’s recent catalog expansion, now including AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity, along with the popular productivity app Fantastical and the soon-to-arrive Notion, underscores Microsoft’s ambitions to become a destination for both mainstream and cutting-edge software. The company claims over 250 million monthly active Store users, a substantial audience for developers previously deterred by entry costs or technical obstacles.

The timing of Microsoft’s announcement is widely interpreted as a tactical response to Apple’s mounting legal and regulatory challenges over App Store practices, as highlighted by NewsBytes. By making onboarding free and continuing to ease restrictions, Microsoft aims to position the Microsoft Store as a more open, developer-friendly environment—an implicit rebuke of competitors’ walled-garden approaches.

While it remains to be seen whether these changes will translate into a wave of new, high-quality apps, the consensus among industry observers is that Microsoft is now sharply focused on cultivating its developer ecosystem. The next year will offer an acid test for whether lower barriers, combined with technical improvements, can finally propel the Microsoft Store into parity with its rivals in both content and community engagement.