App Store Fees Explained: What Apple and Google’s 30% Cut Means for Your Pricing

Apple and Google take roughly 30 percent of the revenue from in-app subscriptions and digital purchases, dropping to 15 percent for smaller developers, and that cut changes how you should price your app from the start. The standard commission is 30 percent, but the 15 percent rate applies to your first 1 million dollars per year under each platform’s small-business program, and on Google Play auto-renewing subscriptions have been charged at 15 percent regardless of revenue, with Google moving subscription fees lower still in 2026. According to Apple’s June 2026 newsroom data, the Apple App Store ecosystem facilitated 1.4 trillion dollars in developer billings and sales, so these percentages move real money. This guide shows you how to plan pricing and margins around the platform cut.

Key Takeaways

• The standard commission is about 30 percent on in-app subscriptions and digital purchases for both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
• You pay 15 percent on your first 1 million dollars per year through Apple’s and Google’s small-business programs; on Google Play, subscriptions have been 15 percent regardless of revenue (and are moving lower in 2026), and on Apple the rate drops to 15 percent after a subscriber’s first year.
• Physical goods and real-world services are exempt: ride-hailing, food delivery, and retail purchases pay no platform commission.
• You cannot point users to cheaper web pricing from inside your app under standard United States terms, so plan around the cut rather than trying to dodge it.
• Price with the commission baked in from day one, or your margins will not survive contact with the app stores.

What Apple and Google Actually Charge

The headline number everyone quotes is 30 percent, and for many developers that is the right number to plan around. But the real picture is more favorable for new and small businesses, and it pays to know exactly where you fall.

Per Apple’s App Store Small Business Program, developers who earned up to 1 million dollars in proceeds in the prior calendar year, and developers new to the Apple App Store, qualify for a reduced 15 percent commission on paid apps and in-app purchases. Cross 1 million dollars in the current year and the standard 30 percent applies to sales above that point. For subscriptions specifically, Apple drops the rate to 15 percent after a subscriber completes one year of paid service.

Google’s structure is similar but with one important twist. According to Google Play’s service fee documentation, developers pay 15 percent on the first 1 million dollars of revenue each year and 30 percent above that, but all auto-renewing subscription transactions have been charged at 15 percent regardless of how much the developer earns, and Google began lowering subscription fees further in 2026. That makes subscription apps meaningfully cheaper to run on Android than the 30 percent headline suggests. Confirm your own current rate on Google’s official page before you finalize pricing, since these terms are actively changing.

What Counts as a Digital Purchase

The commission applies to digital goods and services consumed inside the app: subscriptions, premium feature unlocks, in-game currency, digital content, and the like. If the value is delivered digitally within the app, the platform expects its cut.

What Is Exempt

Physical goods and real-world services are not subject to the commission. When a user buys a sweater, books a hotel room, hails a ride, or orders a meal for delivery, that transaction runs on your own payment processor and the platforms take nothing. This is why Uber, DoorDash, and retail apps keep their full transaction revenue while a meditation app pays the cut on its subscription. It is also why getting the transaction model right early matters: when we built Bidr, a live auction and bidding marketplace, the real-world nature of the transactions shaped how payments were routed from the start.

Fee Scenarios at a Glance

The table below shows how much you keep on 100,000 dollars of revenue under common situations. The numbers assume the platform commission only and exclude payment-processing nuances, but they make the planning math clear.

Scenario	Commission rate	Platform takes	You keep (per $100k)
Digital purchase, standard rate (over $1M/year)	30%	$30,000	$70,000
Digital purchase, small-business program (under $1M/year)	15%	$15,000	$85,000
Subscription on Google Play (any revenue level)	15%	$15,000	$85,000
Subscription on Apple, after subscriber’s first year	15%	$15,000	$85,000
Subscription on Apple, subscriber’s first year, over $1M/year	30%	$30,000	$70,000
Physical goods or real-world services	0%	$0	$100,000

The spread between keeping 70,000 dollars and 85,000 dollars on the same revenue is enormous at scale. Knowing which row you land on is the difference between a healthy margin and a thin one.

How to Plan Pricing and Margins Around the Cut

The mistake founders make is pricing as if the platform cut did not exist, then panicking when their first payout is 15 to 30 percent lighter than the sticker price. Treat the commission as a fixed cost of doing business and design your pricing around it from the beginning.

Price Backward From What You Need to Keep

Start with the net revenue you need per user, then gross it up for the commission. If you need to keep 7 dollars from a subscription and you are on the 30 percent tier, you must charge 10 dollars, because 30 percent of 10 dollars is 3 dollars. Setting the price first and discovering the net later is how margins evaporate.

Use Annual Plans to Your Advantage

Because Apple drops subscription commissions to 15 percent after a subscriber’s first year, retention directly improves your margin over time. Longer subscriber lifetimes are not just good for revenue; they literally cut your platform cost in half on Apple. Annual plans and strong retention tactics pay off twice.

Consider Whether Your Value Is Physical or Digital

If your business delivers physical goods or real-world services, you may owe no commission at all, which is a structural margin advantage worth designing into your model. Marketplaces, delivery, and commerce apps should make sure their transaction flows are built correctly so they fall on the exempt side of the line. This is the kind of architecture decision a strong partner helps you get right early; you can see how that planning works in our proven process.

You Cannot Just Send Users to Your Website

A tempting workaround is to charge less on your website and quietly point app users there to dodge the commission. Under standard United States Apple App Store and Google Play Store terms, you cannot do this. Apps generally may not direct users to cheaper external purchasing options from inside the app, and attempting to do so risks rejection or removal. The rules around external links are evolving through ongoing litigation and regional regulation, but for planning purposes you should assume the in-app commission applies and price accordingly. Building your pricing on a loophole that may close is a fragile foundation; building it on the real economics is durable.

How a Development Partner Helps

Getting monetization right is as much an engineering and strategy problem as a pricing one. The purchase flow has to be implemented correctly to pass review, the right transactions have to route through the right systems, and the model has to be built to scale. Chop Dawg has launched more than 500 products in 17-plus years and routinely architects subscription and in-app purchase systems that satisfy both Apple and Google. When building Mangia Rewards, a premium dining membership app, the team implemented monthly and annual subscriptions through Apple Pay and Google Pay alongside a secure backend, exactly the kind of compliant, margin-aware monetization that keeps a subscription business viable. That work comes from one in-house team: Chop Dawg is United States-headquartered and United States-led, with an American team owning leadership, product and project management, and senior engineering, design, and quality assurance, plus an in-house Brazilian design team and in-house development, quality assurance, and project-management teams in Pakistan and India. No one is a subcontractor or middleman, so you can run a fully-American team for government or regulated work, or pick a cost-effective United States-plus-offshore blend at the same quality and timelines. In both cases, you reach the real senior team directly rather than a lone salesperson fronting faceless developers. Organizations that have trusted Chop Dawg include the NFL, Hilton, and Siemens. The right stack and the right structure protect your economics from day one.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much do Apple and Google take from in-app purchases?

The standard commission is about 30 percent on in-app subscriptions and digital purchases. However, both platforms offer a 15 percent rate on your first 1 million dollars per year through their small-business programs, and Google Play has charged 15 percent on all auto-renewing subscriptions regardless of revenue, with subscription fees moving lower in 2026. Apple also drops subscriptions to 15 percent after a subscriber’s first year. Verify your current rate on each platform’s official page before pricing.

What is the Apple App Store Small Business Program?

It is Apple’s program that reduces the commission from 30 percent to 15 percent for developers who earned up to 1 million dollars in proceeds in the prior calendar year, as well as developers new to the Apple App Store. If your proceeds exceed 1 million dollars in the current year, the standard 30 percent rate applies to sales above that threshold. Google Play offers a comparable 15 percent tier on the first 1 million dollars.

Do I pay a commission on physical goods sold in my app?

No. Physical goods and real-world services are exempt from Apple and Google’s commissions. Ride-hailing, food delivery, hotel bookings, and retail purchases run on your own payment processor, and the platforms take nothing. The commission applies only to digital goods and services consumed inside the app, such as subscriptions and feature unlocks.

Can I tell users to buy cheaper on my website to avoid the fee?

Under standard United States terms, no. Apps generally cannot direct users to cheaper external purchasing options from inside the app, and trying to do so can get your app rejected or removed. The rules are evolving through litigation and regional regulation, but for planning you should assume the in-app commission applies and price your product around it.

How should the 30 percent cut affect my pricing?

Price backward from the net revenue you need to keep, then gross it up for the commission. If you need 7 dollars net at the 30 percent rate, charge 10 dollars. Treat the platform cut as a fixed cost from the start rather than a surprise, and lean on annual plans and retention, since Apple subscriptions drop to 15 percent after a subscriber’s first year.

Are subscriptions cheaper than one-time purchases on the app stores?

Often, yes. On Google Play, auto-renewing subscriptions have been charged at 15 percent regardless of your revenue and are moving lower in 2026, while other digital purchases can hit 30 percent above 1 million dollars. On Apple, subscriptions drop to 15 percent after a subscriber’s first year. For many apps, a well-retained subscription model is more commission-efficient than one-time digital sales.

Build a Monetization Model That Survives Both App Stores

The platform cut is a fact of life, but it does not have to wreck your margins when you plan for it from the start. If you want help pricing your app, structuring subscriptions, and building a purchase flow that passes review and protects your economics, we are here for it. Book your free 45-minute consultation and we will map out a monetization strategy tailored to your product, whether or not you decide to build with us.