App Store and Google Play fees are no longer the same number with different logos. For a small subscription app in the United States the headline rate on both stores works out at 15 percent, but it gets there by different routes, and the routes diverge as soon as the business grows past $1 million a year or sells anything other than a subscription. Google rewrote its Play service fees for the US, the UK and the European Economic Area on 30 June 2026, and the third-party summaries ranking for this question disagree with each other. Everything below is read from Apple’s and Google’s own pages on 1 October 2026.
What each store publishes, side by side
Google’s Play Console service fees page now splits the fee in two for transactions with users in Australia, the EEA, Japan, the UK and the US: a service fee, plus “5% billing fee” that applies “when a user completes a purchase of an in-app digital service or feature using Google Play Billing or for the initial purchase of a paid app or game”. Apple’s rates are spread across its Small Business Program page and its auto-renewable subscriptions page.
| US transaction | Apple App Store | Google Play |
|---|---|---|
| Small developer, auto-renewing subscription | 15% (Small Business Program) | 10% + 5% billing fee (first $1M of annual earnings) |
| Small developer, one-off in-app purchase | 15% (Small Business Program) | 10% + 5% billing fee (first $1M of annual earnings) |
| Above $1M, subscription in its first year | 30% (developer receives 70%) | 10% + 5% billing fee |
| Above $1M, subscription after one year of paid service | 15% (developer receives 85%) | 10% + 5% billing fee |
| Above $1M, other purchase, user installed after the rollout date | 30% | 20% + 5% billing fee |
| Above $1M, other purchase, user installed before the rollout date | 30% | 25% + 5% billing fee, or 20% for external web links |
Google’s 2026 change: new installs, existing installs and a billing fee
The new Play structure introduces a distinction most summaries miss. The fee depends on when the paying user first installed or first updated the app from Google Play. A “new install” is a user whose first install or first update “occurred on or after the regional rollout date”, and an “existing install” is one from before it. The rollout date is 30 June 2026 for the EEA, the UK and the US, and 30 September 2026 for Australia and Japan.
For auto-renewing subscriptions the split does not matter: the page lists 10 percent plus the 5 percent billing fee for new and existing installs alike, on the first $1 million and above it. For other purchases above $1 million it matters a great deal: 20 percent plus the billing fee for new installs, 25 percent plus the billing fee for existing ones. The page also lists lower rates for apps in the Play Games Level Up or Apps Experience programs, and says that outside the five named markets the older structure applies, “15% for the first $1M (USD) revenue earned by the developer each year”, 30 percent above it, and 15 percent for auto-renewing subscriptions.
“97% of developers distribute their apps and take advantage of all Google Play has to offer at no charge. Of those developers that are subject to a service fee, 99% are eligible for a fee of 15% or less by participating in different programs offered by Google Play.”
Apple: the Small Business Program and the year-two subscription rate
Apple’s reduced rate is a programme you join, not a default. The Small Business Program page offers a 15 percent commission to developers who made up to $1 million in proceeds in the prior calendar year, and to developers new to the App Store. You enrol as the Account Holder, accept the latest Paid Apps agreement, and list every Associated Developer Account, because their “collective proceeds” count toward the threshold. If you cross $1 million during the year, the page says “the standard commission rate will apply to future sales”. The standard rate itself is set in Schedule 2 of the Developer Program License Agreement, version 126, which entitles Apple to “a commission equal to thirty percent (30%)” on sales to end users.
For larger developers the subscription page sets out the other route to 15 percent: “During a subscriber’s first year of service, you receive 70% of the subscription price at each billing cycle, minus applicable taxes. After a subscriber accumulates one year of paid service, your net revenue increases to 85% of the subscription price.” Free trials and renewal extensions do not count toward the year, and a subscription that lapses keeps its count only if it is renewed within 60 days.
- Enrolment is manual. A new developer who never enrols pays the standard rate.
- Related companies are counted together. Splitting apps across entities does not reset the threshold if they are associated accounts.
- The year is per subscriber. Above the threshold, a business with high churn pays 30 percent on most of its revenue, because few subscribers reach year two.
- Trials do not count. A one-month free trial delays the 85 percent rate by a month for that subscriber.
A $9.99 monthly subscription, worked through
The arithmetic below applies the published percentages to a $9.99 monthly price for a US subscriber, and treats Google’s 5 percent billing fee as charged on the same price. Taxes are left out because they vary by state and the stores deduct them before your share.
| Scenario | Apple keeps | You receive from Apple | Google keeps | You receive from Google |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small developer, any month | 15%, $1.50 | $8.49 | 15% total, $1.50 | $8.49 |
| Above $1M, subscriber in first year | 30%, $3.00 | $6.99 | 15% total, $1.50 | $8.49 |
| Above $1M, subscriber past one year of paid service | 15%, $1.50 | $8.49 | 15% total, $1.50 | $8.49 |
For most early-stage apps the two stores now cost the same per subscription. The difference that should shape a forecast is above the $1 million line, and it lands on Apple in a subscriber’s first year. A subscription business forecasting past that line should model churn by store, because on iOS the share of revenue at 30 percent is set by how many subscribers fail to reach their first anniversary.
Linking out to your own checkout
Both stores now allow some form of steering to a web checkout, and both describe it narrowly. Apple’s App Review Guidelines still open section 3.1.1 with the rule that unlocking features or functionality requires in-app purchase, but 3.1.1(a) now adds that entitlements “are not required for developers to include buttons, external links, or other calls to action in their United States storefront apps”. Section 3.1.3 carries the same exception, “except for apps on the United States storefront”. What Apple charges, if anything, on a purchase completed through such a link is not stated on the guidelines page.
Google’s table puts a price on its version: for existing installs above $1 million, “20% for external web links”, or 15 percent inside its programmes. In the EEA the page says developers may direct users outside the app and may offer an alternative to Google Play’s billing system, subject to programme requirements.
- Entitlements live on your server. If a user can pay on the web and on two stores, the only source of truth for what they own is your backend, not either store’s receipt.
- Restore purchases has to work across all three. A subscriber who paid on the web and opens the iOS app expects to be recognised.
- Refunds and cancellations differ by channel. Each store handles its own; the web checkout is yours to run.
- Price by channel only deliberately. Different prices in the app and on the web are allowed in places and confusing everywhere.
Getting through review is a separate problem from pricing, and the in-app purchase rules are one of the most common first-submission blockers. The requirements that stop a first release on both stores are set out in why a first app submission gets rejected, and the build and over-the-air update pipeline we use for React Native apps is in React Native with Expo and EAS.
If you are pricing a subscription app and want the store fees, the web checkout and the entitlement service designed together before anything ships, our mobile app development team does exactly that work, and you can talk to us about it. Examples of what we have built are on the work page.
What are the App Store vs Google Play fees in 2026?
For a US developer under $1 million a year, both work out at 15 percent on a subscription: Apple’s Small Business Program rate, or Google’s 10 percent service fee plus a 5 percent billing fee. Above $1 million they diverge: Apple charges 30 percent in a subscriber’s first year and 15 percent after, while Google lists 10 percent plus the billing fee on subscriptions and 20 or 25 percent plus the billing fee on other purchases.
What is the Google Play billing fee?
A 5 percent fee Google added to its service fee structure for users in Australia, the EEA, Japan, the UK and the US. Google’s page says it applies when a user completes a purchase of an in-app digital service or feature using Google Play Billing, or for the initial purchase of a paid app or game.
How do I qualify for Apple’s 15 percent rate?
Enrol in the App Store Small Business Program as the Account Holder, accept the latest Paid Apps agreement and list all Associated Developer Accounts. You qualify if your proceeds were up to $1 million in the prior calendar year, or if you are new to the App Store. If you cross $1 million during the year, the standard rate applies to future sales.
Does Apple charge less on subscriptions after the first year?
Yes. Apple’s subscriptions page says that after a subscriber accumulates one year of paid service, your net revenue rises from 70 to 85 percent of the price. Free trials and extensions do not count toward the year, and the count survives a lapse only if the subscription is renewed within 60 days.
Can a US app link to a website to take payment?
Apple’s guidelines now say entitlements are not required for buttons, external links or other calls to action in United States storefront apps. The guidelines page does not state any commission on purchases made that way. Google lists a 20 percent rate for external web links on existing installs above $1 million.
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