You sell a €9.99 monthly subscription inside your iPhone app. Apple keeps around €3, you pocket the rest, and you have no say in that percentage. Apple is reworking the commissions of its App Store in Europe, and the single rate gives way to several possible paths.
In the European Union, a purchase made with Apple's payment system is charged 26%, dropping to 15% for what Apple describes as the majority of developers. Using another payment provider inside the app costs 20%, sending the buyer to your own website costs 15%, and an app distributed outside the App Store pays 5% on its digital sales. These rules come from the Digital Markets Act, the European regulation that governs large platforms.
What each of those rates actually costs is another matter, once payment fees, VAT and support work are back in the calculation. That is where the headline gaps shrink, sometimes a lot.
Four rates depending on the checkout path
The grid reads in two columns. A standard rate, and a reduced rate for certain programmes.
| Checkout path | Standard rate | Reduced rate |
|---|---|---|
| In-app purchase with Apple's payment system | 26% | 15% |
| Alternative payment provider inside the app | 20% | 10% |
| Link out to your own website | 15% | 10% |
| App distributed outside the App Store (third-party store or web) | 5% | 5% |
The reduced rate covers small operations, meaning developers enrolled in Apple's Small Business Program, which is open below an annual revenue ceiling. It also covers the Mini Apps Partner Program, aimed at apps that host small third-party apps, and the Video Partner Program, reserved for video services. Subscriptions renewed after their first year drop to 15% too.
Between 15% and 26%, the gap is 11 percentage points, not 11%. On €10,000 of yearly sales, that is €1,100. Measured against what Apple takes, moving from 15% to 26% means 73% more commission.
For scale, the standard App Store commission outside the European Union is 30%, or 15% for small businesses. So the European 26% is not an increase, but a slightly lower rate that comes with alternatives.
Collecting payments yourself does not earn you the 6 points on paper
On paper, plugging in your own payment provider drops the commission from 26% to 20%. Six points gained. Except your provider gets paid too. On European cards, expect somewhere around 1.5 to 3% depending on the payment method, as the pricing published by Stripe shows.
Then there is VAT. On the App Store, Apple collects in its own name and files the tax across the 27 countries of the Union. Collect the money yourself and the buyer's local VAT becomes your problem, filings included.
Add refunds, chargebacks and emails from customers who cannot find their invoice. That work was baked into the 26%. The real comparison is not 26 against 20, but 26 against 20 plus your fees plus your hours.
The payment method you pick must stay in place for twelve months. If you switch to an external provider and support starts eating your evenings, you cannot walk it back the following month.
The Core Technology Fee gives way to a 5% commission
This is the change with the heaviest consequences. Until now, a developer who left the App Store paid the Core Technology Fee, a charge of €0.50 per first annual install beyond one million installs in the European Union.
The problem was glaring for free apps. An app downloaded 5 million times in a year owed Apple €2 million, whether it earned anything or not. The bill followed popularity, not revenue.
In its place, Apple applies a Core Technology Commission of 5% on digital transactions made in apps distributed outside the App Store. A free app that sells nothing pays nothing. An app that sells a lot pays in proportion.
Opening your own app store becomes reachable for more people
Distributing third-party apps on iOS used to require two years in Apple's developer programme and one million annual installs in the Union, or proof of solid financial backing. In practice, a closed door for an independent developer.
One of the following criteria is now enough:
- a financial stability score assessed by Dun & Bradstreet, an agency that rates how solid a company is;
- being a publicly listed company, or the subsidiary of one;
- being funded by a recognised investment fund;
- having your accounts audited by a licensed accountant;
- being a public body, an educational institution or a non-profit.
The one-million-install threshold disappears, which matters for a young project. The condition now looks at whether you can hold up financially, not at the audience you already built.
Distributing from the web, without the App Store's ongoing watch
A developer can offer an app for direct download from their own site, in the European Union only. That route escapes the permanent monitoring Apple applies to apps on the App Store.
Every app still goes through Notarization, an automated check that verifies the software runs and carries no obvious threat. Apple describes it as a baseline check, not an editorial review. Nobody judges the quality of your app, nor whether it follows content rules.
Outside the App Store, you also lose what the store did for you for free: the download page, automatic updates, search, ratings and billing. The 5% rate is low because it funds almost none of that.
What is off limits with minors
Apple sets three limits on alternative payments and outbound links. Apps in the Kids category, defined by the App Store Review Guidelines, cannot link out to any payment site.
For users under 18, using an alternative payment or following a link to an external site requires parental approval. For users under 13, the external payment link is banned outright.
If your product targets teenagers, saving 6 to 11 points runs straight into a longer buying journey. One more parental approval in the funnel means that many more people dropping out.
What this actually changes for you, even working solo
You have to pick your payment route before you write the subscription screen, not after. Calling Apple's purchase system and redirecting to your own site are not coded the same way, and the choice locks for twelve months. When you learn to build a mobile app with React Native, that decision belongs in the very first mockups.
You can try a free, widely downloaded app outside the App Store without fearing a surprise bill. Under the old €0.50 charge per install beyond one million, a viral hit cost real money while bringing in none. With 5% on transactions, your bill follows your sales. A free tool funded through the web rather than in-app purchases pays Apple nothing.
You are still living under someone else's store rules, whichever store it is. Apple has already reworked this framework several times under pressure from the European Commission, which said it would watch how the new rules are applied. The same dependency shows up elsewhere, for instance when you decide to launch a chatbot on OpenAI's GPT Store. Keep one sales channel you control, even if it is just a checkout page on your own site.
Frequently asked questions
What commission does Apple take on the App Store in Europe?
A purchase made with Apple's payment system is charged 26%, dropping to 15% for small businesses, developers in the Mini Apps and Video Partner programmes, and subscriptions renewed after their first year. An alternative payment provider inside the app costs 20% (10% for those same profiles), and linking out to an external site costs 15% (10%).
What is the Core Technology Commission?
It is a 5% commission Apple takes on digital transactions made in iOS apps distributed outside the App Store, through an alternative marketplace or as a direct download from the web. It replaces the Core Technology Fee, a flat €0.50 per first annual install beyond one million in the European Union.
Can you change payment method whenever you want?
No. The payment method chosen for an app must stay in place for twelve months. A developer can offer several routes side by side, Apple's in-app purchase and an external solution, but the chosen setup commits them for a year.
Do you need one million installs to open an alternative app marketplace on iOS?
That threshold no longer applies. Meeting one criterion out of five is enough: a financial stability score from Dun & Bradstreet, being a listed company or the subsidiary of one, funding from a recognised investment fund, an audit by a licensed accountant, or status as a public body, educational institution or non-profit.
Can apps for children use external payments?
Apps in the App Store's Kids category cannot send users to a payment website. In other apps, a user under 18 must go through parental approval to use an alternative payment, and users under 13 have no access to external payment links at all.