What is the difference between a company vs. individual account for the Windows Store?
When you register to develop apps for the Windows Store, you have the option to register for a company or an individual account. What are the major differences between them?
- Cost. An individual account costs $49/year and a company account costs $99/year.
- Verification. Company accounts require a little more verification, to ensure that you're authorized to create an account on the company's behalf.
- Desktop applications. Only company accounts can submit desktop applications to the Windows Store; individual accounts cannot.
- Different capabilities. There are 3 capabilities that can be used only by applications submitted from a company account. (For more information on capabilities, see App capability declarations). They are:
- enterpriseAuthentication. Uses your Windows credentials for access to a corporate intranet.
- sharedUserCertificates. Allows the use of software and hardware certificates or a smart card to identify users in the app.
- documentsLibrary. Allows access to a user's documents library, including the capability to add, change, or delete files.
- Processing for taxes. Individuals will reflect earnings based on their Social Security number (in the US), and company accounts will use the VAT identification number or EIN.
- Email address. The developer email address must be a company domain, not generic (live, gmail, etc.) for registration as a company.
For more information, see Registering for a Windows Store developer account.