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Transfer and paperwork

How to sell an app without selling your company

By Samet Teke · · 4 min read

Short answer

Yes, you can sell an app without selling your company. Most app sales are asset sales: the buyer buys the app itself (its code, its App Store listing and the assets it needs), and the app moves to the buyer’s developer account through Apple’s official App Store transfer. Your company, your developer account, your other apps, your bank account and the money the app earned before the sale stay yours. Selling the company itself is a different, rarer kind of deal.

Based on Apple’s and Google’s help pages, checked September 2026; if anything conflicts, Apple or Google wins. This isn’t legal or tax advice.

Thinking of selling? Send me the store link and rough numbers; I usually reply within a few hours, with no fees for you. Send me your app

What does selling just the app mean?

It means an asset sale: the buyer pays for the app and the things it needs to run, listed one by one in the purchase agreement, and nothing else. On the App Store the app moves with Apple’s app transfer, which works per app: your Account Holder starts it, the buyer’s Account Holder accepts, and the app keeps its listing, ratings, reviews, users and bundle ID (Apple’s overview of app transfer). On Google Play the equivalent is an app transfer between developer accounts.

What exactly goes on the list is covered in what is sold in an app sale.

When is a company sold instead?

When the buyer wants the legal entity, not only the app. In a company sale (a share sale), the buyer takes over the company with everything in it: all its apps, its bank account, its contracts, and its history, including anything that went wrong in the past. That means much deeper checks on both sides, and usually lawyers and accountants from the start.

It tends to come up when the company holds nothing but the app, or when something the app depends on can’t be moved to another owner. For one app inside a company that does other things, an asset sale is the simpler route, and it’s how I buy.

What stays with you?

  • Your company, its bank account, its other business and its obligations, including tax on what the app earned before the sale.
  • Your developer account. Apple’s transfer moves one app; your account and any other apps in it stay where they are. Selling the account itself is a bad idea, see why not to sell your developer account.
  • Revenue from sales before the transfer. Apple says the buyer only receives payment and sales information for transactions after the transfer (Apple’s overview of app transfer), so what the app sold before it is yours.
  • Your past sales data, but not App Analytics. You keep payment and sales information for transactions before the transfer, and lose access to the app’s App Analytics data. Download the reports you want to keep before you start.
  • Anything you didn’t list: other apps, shared code libraries, a company website. If it isn’t in the purchase agreement, it isn’t sold.

What moves to the buyer?

The app and what it needs to keep running without you:

  • The App Store listing, through Apple’s transfer, with its ratings, reviews and users. Subscribers keep their subscriptions (see selling a subscription app).
  • The source code, design files and documentation.
  • The app’s domain, website, support email and social accounts, if it has its own.
  • The app’s name and brand assets.
  • App-specific services, such as a backend project or a RevenueCat project, handed over or recreated in the buyer’s accounts.

What happens to ad accounts and other services?

Most accounts stay with you, and the buyer sets up their own. Two common ones:

  • AdMob: an account can’t change owner. The buyer adds the app to their own AdMob account and ships an update with new ad unit IDs; you keep your account and its past earnings. Details in selling an ad-supported app.
  • Apple Ads, Meta and Google ads: campaigns stay in your ad accounts. You export your keyword and bid history; the buyer advertises from their own accounts after the transfer. See selling an app that grows with paid ads.

Shared services are the one thing to plan early. If several of your apps use one backend, one analytics project or one API key, agree how the sold app is separated from the rest before closing.

Does it matter if the app is in a personal or company account?

Not for the transfer: Apple’s app transfer works for individual and organization developer accounts alike, as long as both meet the criteria. What matters is that the names line up: the developer account that owns the app, the purchase agreement, the escrow profile and the bank account that receives the money. If the app is in your personal account but the money should go to your company, or the other way round, sort it out with an accountant before you sign. More in selling as an individual or a company.

What about tax?

The money from an asset sale belongs to whoever sold the app, you or your company, and is taxed there under your local rules. How it’s taxed can differ from a company sale, which is one more reason to ask an accountant before you sign, not after. Nothing here is tax advice.

How do I buy apps?

As asset sales. I buy the app itself: its source code, its App Store listing and every asset it needs, from individuals or companies, in any country where escrow and the app transfer work. Your company stays yours, and so do your other apps. Payment goes through a reputable escrow service before you start Apple’s transfer, and the whole sale takes about 14 days from first message to a closed deal, everything included, with no fees for you.

Several apps in one account and want to sell only one? That works too. Send me your app; I usually reply within a few hours.

Frequently asked questions

Can I sell one app and keep the others in my developer account?

Yes. Apple’s app transfer works per app, so only the app you sell moves to the buyer’s account. Your other apps stay where they are.

Do I have to close my company after selling the app?

No. In an asset sale the company isn’t part of the deal. It keeps running, with whatever else it does, and it receives the payment if it’s the seller.

Is an asset sale the same as an app purchase agreement?

Usually, yes. An app purchase agreement is typically an asset purchase agreement: it lists what the buyer gets, the price, how the transfer happens and what each side promises.

Who gets the App Store payments after the sale?

Apple says the buyer only receives payment and sales information for transactions after the transfer, so sales before it stay yours. You keep access to your sales data for transactions before the transfer.

Can I sell an app from a personal developer account?

Yes. Individual developer accounts can transfer apps too, as long as both accounts meet Apple’s transfer criteria. The names on the account, the agreement, escrow and the bank account just need to line up.

Keep reading

Transfer and paperwork · 5 min read What goes into an app purchase agreement? A seller’s checklist What an app purchase agreement usually covers: what’s sold, price and escrow, transfer steps, handover support, warranties, non-compete and earn-outs. Transfer and paperwork · 5 min read How do I transfer an app to another App Store developer account? A seller’s checklist How to transfer an app to another developer account in App Store Connect: Apple’s criteria, the steps, what carries over, what breaks, and timing. App types · 5 min read How to sell your app as a non-US founder: escrow, getting paid, transfers and tax forms Selling your app from outside the US: which countries escrow supports, how the money reaches your bank, what Apple and Google require, and the tax forms.