@Gargron There is also a free developer account. I want just enough of a hurdle that my parents or kids can’t be tricked into installing something nefarious.
And on the latter point, I disagree: especially past the one million user threshold, I think it’s reasonable for Apple to require payment. It may not be how you would like them to monetise their platform, but it’s how they have built their business. As a user, I like how this discourages abusive “freemium” business models.