How to export a Godot Project to iOS without a Mac for free

Date: July 22, 2024

Modified: July 1, 2026

Author: mak448a

Ever wanted to export a Godot app or project to an iPhone IPA without owning a Mac or renting a Mac in the cloud? This guide is for you!

Please give my repository a star on GitHub if this helps!

Requirements

GitHub CLI (2.63.2 tested, other versions untested.)
Git (2.50.1 tested)
Python (3.12+)
Godot Engine

Installation and Configuration

First, download Python, Git, and GitHub CLI. Make sure to check the box that says “Add to PATH” when installing Python if you’re on Windows. Run this command if you want to install Python, Git, and GitHub CLI on Windows: winget install Git.Git GitHub.cli Python.Python.3.13, then log into GitHub with gh auth login.
Inside your project, go to Project>Export...>Add..>iOS and set team and bundle identification. Since this project builds an unsigned IPA, you can put anything for the team.
Press Export Project and save it to a new folder.
Open a Terminal/Command Prompt and download build-ios with the following command.
```
git clone https://github.com/mak448a/build-ios --depth=1
```
Change the current directory to build-ios with
```
cd build-ios
```
Install dependencies with the commands below. Choose the one for your operating system.

Windows (Run in command prompt)

python -m venv venv
venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Linux

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

Visit https://www.dropbox.com/developers/apps to get your Dropbox token for use with the tool. You can name your app whatever you want, as long as it’s unique.
Create the file .env and add TOKEN=YOURKEYHERE (replace the token with your token) to it.
Run the Python script!
```
python main.py
```
(Optional) If you want to skip writing in the questions every time you want to build, add the answers to the .env file. Make sure to check example.env for how to do this!
When you launch the CLI with python main.py, it’ll prompt you to choose whether you want to build or edit an IPA. For the first time, choose build IPA.

Usage

When you launch the CLI with python main.py, it’ll prompt you to choose whether you want to build or edit an IPA. For the first time, choose build IPA.

If you want to save your answers, you can edit .env with your DropBox token, GitHub username, repository name, and output file.

When the program asks you for a path, you can drag in a file into the terminal window.

Options

Build IPA:

Follow the prompts. After it builds, you can download your IPA file from GitHub.

Edit IPA:

When exporting your Godot Project, choose “Export PCK/ZIP” and save it as yourproject.pck. Put it in the folder where you saved the IPA file. The IPA file will be changed to include the new changes in the .pck file.

But what’s the difference?

Build IPA is for the first time you run the CLI. It makes a fresh build of your project.
Edit IPA is for afterwards. You can export with the PCK only, and it’ll replace some of the files in the IPA. If you didn’t change any settings in project.godot, it should work perfectly! If you did though, rebuild the IPA.

Troubleshooting

AuthError(‘expired_access_token’, None)

Your token is probably expired. Get a new OAuth token from Dropbox.

If you still have problems, check the other troubleshooting thread or open an issue in this repository! While you’re waiting, try following the original instructions.

Invalid files

Did you add double quotes around the file path?

Edit IPA not working

Did you place your pck file in the same directory as your ipa file?

Notes and credits

Edit IPA function inspired by this article by RandomMomentania
Started work on this project ~11/2024.
Inspired by u/_atreat and u/Host127001 who suggested building with GitHub Actions.