TestFlight is the default answer to “how do I share a beta?” and for many apps it’s a good one. It’s free with an Apple Developer Program membership, it’s built into App Store Connect, and testers already trust it. But teams that ship builds every day, test internal apps, or hand builds to people outside the development team keep running into the same edges. This article lays those edges out using Apple’s own documentation, then shows where AppSign fits.
TestFlight in numbers
According to Apple’s TestFlight documentation[1]:
- Internal testers: up to 100 members of your App Store Connect team, with roles such as Admin, App Manager or Developer.
- External testers: up to 10,000 per app, invited by email or a public link.
- Build lifetime: a build is available for testing for up to 90 days.
- Review: the first build you add to an external group is sent to Beta App Review. Later builds may not need a full review.
- Devices: each tester can install on up to 30 devices[2].
- Accounts: testers need the TestFlight app and an Apple Account. Managed Apple Accounts in reserved domains can’t test builds.
None of these limits changed in 2025–2026. Apple redesigned the TestFlight app and improved feedback filtering, but the 100 / 10,000 / 90-day rules are the same.
Where TestFlight gets in the way
1. External testing starts with a review
Anyone outside your App Store Connect team — a client, a contractor, a pilot group at a customer — is an external tester. The first build they see waits for Beta App Review. For a one-off beta that’s fine. For a team that needs a stakeholder build this afternoon, it’s a queue you don’t control.
2. Builds expire
After 90 days a TestFlight build stops being testable. That suits a beta cycle, but not a build that people inside the company rely on for months — a field-sales tool, an internal dashboard, a pinned release that support uses to reproduce issues.
3. Corporate accounts
Companies that give employees Managed Apple Accounts discover that those accounts can’t test TestFlight builds. Testers have to use a personal Apple Account instead, which many IT policies don’t allow.
4. Internal testers need App Store Connect seats
The review-free path — internal testing — is limited to 100 people who are members of your App Store Connect team. QA contractors, designers and managers all need a seat and a role.
How AppSign works differently
AppSign is not a replacement App Store and doesn’t bypass Apple’s rules. It works under your own Apple Developer Program agreement and distributes builds using Apple’s Ad Hoc model: testers’ devices are registered to your developer account, and the build is signed for them.
- No 90-day clock. On Pro and Enterprise plans releases don’t expire; on Basic, a release is available for 14 days.
- No Beta App Review step. AppSign moderates uploads on its side and signs the build; testers don’t wait for Apple’s beta review.
- Testers don’t need App Store Connect seats. You register testers in AppSign and give them access to the app.
- Signing, storage and access in one place. Choose the iOS versions a build is signed for, keep builds in cloud storage, share them with your team or publicly.
Side by side
| TestFlight | AppSign | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Included in the $99/year Developer Program[4] | From $20/month, plus your developer membership |
| Who can test | 100 internal (team members), 10,000 external | Testers you register; device limits follow Apple’s Ad Hoc rules |
| Apple review before testing | Beta App Review for the first external build | No beta review; AppSign moderates uploads |
| Build lifetime | 90 days | 14 days (Basic), no expiry (Pro, Enterprise) |
| Tester app | TestFlight app + Apple Account | Access via AppSign |
| Best for | Public betas, large external groups | Team, client and internal builds you ship often |
So which one?
Use TestFlight when you’re running a public or large external beta ahead of an App Store release. Thousands of testers and Apple’s own install flow are exactly what it’s built for.
Use AppSign when the people testing are a known group — your QA team, a client, internal users — and you need builds that arrive without a review queue and stay available for longer than 90 days.
Many teams use both: TestFlight for the public beta, AppSign for the daily builds that come before it.