The tools are free with a free developer account. If you distribute an app as open source on Github anyone can download and build the app to use for themselves

The tools are free with a free developer account. If you distribute an app as open source on Github anyone can download and build the app to use for themselves. There is also a fee waiver program for non-profits, educational institutions, and government entities. As far as programmer hobbyists, one has to buy a computer, disk drives, pay for internet access, food, coffee, etc. Most hobbies and passions have non-trivial associated costs.