Examples of the disclosure remotely activate a secure device for application development. A request is received at a device entitlement component for a developer kit from a secure device in a user mode via a network. A determination is made as to whether the secure device is in at least one allowed development group. In response to determining that the secure device is in the at least one allowed development group, a certificate is generated defining a permissions level associated with the developer identifier for the secure device. The certificate is transmitted to the secure device, including a key that interacts with a security processor of the secure device to convert hardware capabilities of the secure device to provide a developer mode at the secure device.