The situation on Windows got remarkably better and cheaper recently-ish with the addition of Azure code signing. Instead of hundreds or thousands for a cert it’s $10/month, if you meet the requirements (I think the business must have existed for some number of years first, and some other things).

If you go this route I highly recommend this article, because navigating through Azure to actually set it up is like getting through a maze. https://melatonin.dev/blog/code-signing-on-windows-with-azur...

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lwkl 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

That's not easier and cheaper than before. That's how it's always been only now you can buy the cert through Azure.

For an individual the Apple code signing process is a lot easier and more accessible since I couldn't buy a code signing certificate for Windows without being registered as a business.

	▲	dceddia 10 hours ago \| parent [-]
		> That's how it's always been only now you can buy the cert through Azure. Where can you get an EV cert for $120/year? Last time I checked, all the places were more expensive and then you also had to deal with a hardware token. Lest we talk past each other: it's true that it used to be sufficient to buy a non-EV cert for around the same money, where it didn't require a hardware token, and that was good enough... but they changed the rules in 2023.

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jonathanlydall a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Thanks for the link, I see only available to basically US, Canada and EU though.

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feznyng 10 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As you said, you need to have a proper legal entity for about 2 years before this becomes an option.

My low-stakes conspiracy theory is that MS is deliberately making this process awful to encourage submission of apps to the Microsoft Store since you only have to pay a one-time $100 fee there for code-signing. The downside is of course that you can only distribute via the MS store.

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Razengan a day ago | parent | prev [-]

> it’s $10/month

So $120 a year but no it's only Apple with a "tAx"

	▲	TimeBearingDown a day ago \| parent [-]
		Millions of Windows power users are accustomed to bypassing SmartScreen. A macOS app distributed without a trusted signature will reach a far smaller audience, even of the proportionately smaller macOS user base, and that's largely due to deliberate design decisions by Apple in recent releases.