# Distribution options

Learn what you need to know to share your Stripe Apps with users.

> Publicly distributed apps have new [naming restrictions](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/distribution-options.md#app-name-restrictions).

Stripe Apps gives you two ways to distribute your apps. You can make them publicly available or share them only with your *team members* (A team member is a user with controlled access to some features of your Stripe account, like an administrator, developer, or support specialist).

## Publish your app on the Stripe App Marketplace 

The *Stripe App Marketplace* (A marketplace to browse, search, and install Stripe apps) is how you share your application with the Stripe user community.

When you publish an app on the App Marketplace, complete the steps in the [app publishing guide](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/publish-app.md), and follow the [app review requirements](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/review-requirements.md) to make sure your app meets our quality standards. Stripe reviews all apps to make sure they comply with the published requirements before listing them in the marketplace.

Stripe can only support English language listings at this time. To support additional languages, reach out to Stripe.

The publishing process consists of these steps:

1. Select the version of the app that you want to publish.
1. Create an app listing that provides prospective users with information about your app and defines how your app appears in the App Marketplace.
1. Submit the application for review.
1. Publish the app to the App Marketplace.

For more information, learn how to [publish your app](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/publish-app.md).

## Share your app with team members 

With Stripe Apps, you have the option of sharing your app only with *team members* (A team member is a user with controlled access to some features of your Stripe account, like an administrator, developer, or support specialist). For example, you might develop an app that sends sale data into your own custom accounting system. Or you might build an app that connects paid orders with your fulfillment system. For these and other situations, you can make the application only available to team members of your Stripe account.

Unlike apps on the App Marketplace, apps shared with team members don’t go through a review process.

Sharing your app with team members consists of these steps:

1. Specify that you want to share your app only with members of your Stripe account.
1. Select the version of the app that you want to [upload and make available](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/upload-install-app.md).

If you later decide you want to publish your app on the Stripe App Marketplace, you must uninstall your app in [live mode](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/upload-install-app.md#install-in-live-mode) first.

## Setting the distribution type for your app 

To set the distribution type for your app, run the following command:

```bash
stripe apps set distribution public
```

```bash
stripe apps set distribution private
```

This updates the app manifest to reflect the distribution type. The new distribution takes effect after you [upload your app](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/upload-install-app.md). The private distribution type is the default type, which you don’t need to explicitly set.

> You can continue to change the distribution type until you upload an app. After you upload an app with a public distribution, you can’t set a public distribution for another app within the same Stripe account. You can change the distribution type from private to public if there are no other public apps within the same Stripe account.

### Updated app manifest:

```json
{
  "id": "com.example.app",
  "version": "1.2.3",
  "name": "Example App",
  "icon": "./example_icon_32.png","distribution_type": "public"
}
```

## App name restrictions 

Beginning in September 2024, Stripe apps with a `public` distribution type can’t contain the words “Stripe”, “app”, “free” or “paid” in their names.

This update won’t impact your previously uploaded or published [versions](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/versions-and-releases.md). However, the [Stripe CLI](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/reference/cli.md) and Stripe Dashboard will prompt you to change your app’s name in the [manifest](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/reference/app-manifest.md) if:

- You [upload a new app version](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/upload-install-app.md) with a restricted name and `distribution_type` set to `public`.
- You select a previous app version that contains a restricted name to distribute with [external testing](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/test-app.md).
- You [submit](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/publish-app.md) to the [Stripe App Marketplace](https://marketplace.stripe.com) an app version with a restricted name.

In all these cases, you can proceed by removing the banned words from your app name in the [manifest](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/reference/app-manifest.md) and [uploading](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/upload-install-app.md) a new version.

For external testing or the App Marketplace, select that version (or any other version without the restricted name) for distribution.

## See also

- [Publish your app](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/publish-app.md)
- [Upload your app](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/upload-install-app.md)
- [Invite team members or developers to access your Stripe account](https://support.stripe.com/questions/invite-team-members-or-developers-to-access-your-stripe-account)
- [Versions and releases](https://docs.stripe.com/stripe-apps/versions-and-releases.md)