Apple swaps a per-install EU fee for a 5% cut, and the math on leaving the App Store changes
The Core Technology Fee's 50 cents per install becomes a 5 percent Core Technology Commission on October 1, and link-out commission drops to 15 percent.
The Product Desk
What happened
- Apple on Tuesday announced a simplified commission structure for apps in the European Union in an effort to resolve its disagreements with the European Commission over its business terms.
- Under the new model Apple replaces its per-install Core Technology Fee with a flat 5% commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store, either through alternative app marketplaces or the web.
- Apple will no longer charge the initial acquisition fee, the store services fee, or the Core Technology Fee, which was a 0.50 euro per download fee that applied to apps for each annual install over 1 million.
- The initial acquisition fee and store services fee are being removed for apps distributed outside of the App Store.
- Developers can sign the new terms starting today, and the changes go into effect on October 1.
Why it matters
Apple announced on Tuesday a revised EU commission structure that it says resolves its disagreements with the European Commission over business terms and alternative distribution [1][7]. The per-install Core Technology Fee is gone, replaced by a flat 5 percent Core Technology Commission on digital transactions in apps distributed through alternative marketplaces or the web [2], which turns the main fixed cost of leaving the App Store into a variable one.
The old fee was 50 euro cents per download for every annual install above one million, and Apple is also dropping the initial acquisition fee and the store services fee [3][4]. The arithmetic is simple: 50 cents per install equals 5 percent of transactions at 10 euros of digital revenue per install [23]. Below that figure the new terms cost less, above it they cost more. The sharper change is for apps that monetise thinly or not at all through digital goods. Under the fee, an app crossing a million installs owed money whether or not it sold anything; under the commission, no digital transactions means nothing to commission [24]. That was the case that killed alternative distribution for free apps with real install volume, and it has stopped being a reason not to model it.
Inside the App Store the ladder is now 26 percent for Apple in-app purchase, 20 percent for in-app alternative payments and 15 percent for link-outs, falling to 15, 10 and 10 percent for developers in the Small Business, Mini Apps Partner and Video Partner programs, and for auto-renewing subscriptions after the first year [5][12][13]. Apple sets the 26 percent rate against 30 percent under its traditional terms, a four point cut [6][22]. The number that matters for a distribution decision is the gap between a link-out at 15 percent and distribution outside the store at 5 percent: ten points, or five points for a developer already in one of the programs [25].
The costs that are not on the rate card have moved less. Every app in an alternative channel still goes through Notarization [16]. Payment options must be chosen and held for twelve months before changing, though Apple will now allow its own in-app purchase to sit alongside alternative payments, which it previously did not [14][15]. Link-outs are barred from Kids category apps and for users under 13, and any App Store app using alternative payments or link-outs needs a parental gate for users under 18 [19]. Web distribution remains EU-only [20], and Apple says it lacks the ongoing oversight a marketplace operator provides, which can let bad actors run for a long time before anyone notices [21].
For teams considering running a marketplace, the door is wider. Apple previously required a one million euro standby letter of credit from an A-rated financial institution, or two years in the Developer Program plus an app with more than a million first annual installs in the EU in the prior year [8][9]. The new bar is a moderate Dun and Bradstreet financial stability score, public company status or ownership, venture funding from an established firm, a completed audit by a licensed accountant, or status as a government entity, educational institution or nonprofit [11].
The backdrop is enforcement, not goodwill: the Commission fined Apple 500 million euros last year over DMA noncompliance, and critics called the structure that followed an example of "malicious compliance" [17]. Apple lost its bid to exclude the App Store and iOS from the DMA last month [18].
Developers can sign the new terms now, and they take effect on October 1 [10]. Two things to watch: whether the Commission states publicly that this closes the matter, and whether the relaxed eligibility rules produce marketplace operators who were previously priced out of applying.
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- [1]
Apple on Tuesday announced a simplified commission structure for apps in the European Union in an effort to resolve its disagreements with the European Commission over its business terms.
- [2]
Under the new model Apple replaces its per-install Core Technology Fee with a flat 5% commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store, either through alternative app marketplaces or the web.
- [3]
Apple will no longer charge the initial acquisition fee, the store services fee, or the Core Technology Fee, which was a 0.50 euro per download fee that applied to apps for each annual install over 1 million.
- [4]
The initial acquisition fee and store services fee are being removed for apps distributed outside of the App Store.
- [5]
For App Store apps using Apple In-App Purchase the commission will be 26 percent, and 15 percent for developers in the App Store Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program or Video Partner Program, and for auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year.
- [6]
The new terms set Apple's in-app purchase fee at 26%, compared with 30% under its traditional terms.
- [7]
Apple says the changes were made after "close collaboration" with the European Commission and that the updates resolve Apple's disagreements with the Commission over business terms and alternative distribution.
- [8]
Apple used to require developers operating an alternative app marketplace to have a one million euro standby letter of credit from an A-rated financial institution.
- [9]
Apple previously required marketplace operators either to prove significant financial backing or to show two years in Apple's Developer Program plus an app with more than 1 million first annual installs in the EU in the previous calendar year; the requirement to be a large iOS developer has been scrapped.
- [10]
Developers can sign the new terms starting today, and the changes go into effect on October 1.
- [11]
Expanded qualification terms for operating an alternative marketplace or distributing via the web: meet a moderate financial-stability bar as scored by Dun & Bradstreet; be publicly traded or owned by a publicly traded company; have received venture funding from an established investment firm; have completed a financial audit by a licensed accountant; or be a government entity, educational institution or nonprofit.
- [12]
For App Store apps using alternative payment processing the commission will be 20 percent, reduced to 10 percent for developers in the Small Business, Mini Apps Partner or Video Partner programs.
- [13]
For App Store apps that link out of the app to complete purchases the commission will be 15 percent, reduced to 10 percent for developers in the named programs.
- [14]
Developers can offer Apple in-app purchase options alongside alternative payment options in the EU, which Apple did not allow before, subject to presentation requirements.
- [15]
Developers distributing apps in the EU must select their payment options and maintain those options for 12 months before making changes.
- [16]
Apple will continue to require all apps distributed via alternative channels, including the web and alternative marketplaces, to go through its Notarization process.
- [17]
Regulators fined Apple 500 million euros last year for noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act, after which Apple presented a more complex fee structure that critics called an example of "malicious compliance".
- [18]
Apple lost its bid to exclude the App Store and iOS from the DMA last month.
- [19]
Apps in the Kids category will not include links to websites to complete transactions; App Store apps cannot link out to websites for transactions for users under 13; and all App Store apps using alternative payment processing or link-outs must include a parental gate for users under 18.
- [20]
Web distribution is only available in the EU, Apple says.
- [21]
Apple notes that web distribution lacks the ongoing oversight provided by a marketplace operator, potentially allowing bad actors to operate for a long time, harming users, before anyone catches it.
- [22]
The 26 percent in-app purchase rate is 4 percentage points below the 30 percent traditional rate.
- [23]
A fee of 0.50 euros per install is equivalent to a 5 percent commission at 10 euros of digital transaction revenue per install; below that revenue per install the commission costs less than the old fee, above it the commission costs more.
- [24]
Under the Core Technology Fee an app above one million annual installs owed 0.50 euros per install regardless of whether it sold digital goods; under the Core Technology Commission an app with no digital transactions owes no commission.
- [25]
The difference between the 15 percent App Store link-out commission and the 5 percent Core Technology Commission on apps distributed outside the App Store is 10 percentage points, narrowing to 5 percentage points for developers on the reduced 10 percent link-out rate.
Sources
6 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- 9to5mac.comApple overhauls App Store fees in the EU with new unified terms
2 articles · August 20, 2026
- apple.comApple announces changes for apps in the European Union - Apple (CA)
1 article · August 20, 2026
- macrumors.comApple Overhauls EU App Store Fees to Settle Digital Markets Act Dispute
2 articles · August 19, 2026
- techcrunch.comApple overhauls its EU App Store fees, loosens rules for alternative app stores
1 article · August 18, 2026
- thenextweb.comApple overhauls EU App Store fees to settle its DMA dispute
1 article · August 18, 2026
- theverge.comApple squashes EU beef with new App Store rules
1 article · August 18, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- App Store Commissions
- Digital platform regulation
- Alternative app marketplaces