Apple Simplifies App Store Fees in Europe
Apple announced on August 18, 2026 a new, simpler fee structure for apps in the European Union. The company is replacing a per-install charge — a fee Apple collected every time someone downloaded an app for the first time each year — with a flat 5% commission on digital goods sold through apps distributed outside the App Store or on the web in the EU (TechCrunch).
The new terms set Apple's fee for purchases made inside apps at 26% for EU apps, down from the 30% charged under its traditional terms. Most developers will still qualify for a discounted 15% rate through existing programs: the App Store Small Business Program, the Mini Apps Partner Program, the Video Partner Program, and for auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year. Apps that use payment processors other than Apple's own will pay a 20% commission, dropping to 10% for developers enrolled in those special programs (TechCrunch).
Developers will be locked into their chosen payment method, whether Apple's in-app purchases, external payments, or a combination, for 12 months under the new terms. Links to outside payment options remain barred from apps in the Kids category, and users under 18 will need parental approval before completing purchases outside the App Store (TechCrunch).
The fee changes come after the European Commission fined Apple 500 million euros in 2025 for failing to comply with the Digital Markets Act, with regulators threatening further penalties (TechCrunch). The DMA is an EU law that requires Apple to allow app downloads from sources other than the App Store, third-party app marketplaces, and alternative payment systems, regardless of whether they meet Apple's own standards (Apple Newsroom).
Apple also loosened the requirements for running an alternative app marketplace in the EU. Previously, developers had to show either significant financial backing or at least two years in Apple's Developer Program plus an app with more than one million first annual installs in the EU during the previous calendar year. Under the revised rules, those thresholds no longer apply. Apple added alternative ways to show financial backing, including being a public company, passing a financial audit, or having qualifying venture capital funding (TechCrunch).
The prior fee structure, in place since Apple's initial January 2024 EU compliance announcement, piled multiple charges on apps distributed outside the App Store. As recently as February 2026, Apple charged a 15% store services commission on web sales for apps distributed via alternative app stores, alongside a 5% payment processing fee for Apple in-app purchases and a 5% Core Technology Fee (TechCrunch). The original Core Technology Fee, introduced in January 2024, charged €0.50 for each first annual install of iOS and iPadOS apps beyond one million per year (Apple Newsroom). Developers operating alternative app marketplaces in the EU were also subject to the Core Technology Fee on every first annual install of their marketplace app (Apple Developer), and the Communication and Promotion of Offers terms set additional marketplace fees at 17% and 27%, with a €0.50 per-install charge on apps distributed through those marketplaces (Apple Developer).
The important shift here is from a per-install model to a commission tied to actual sales. The old Core Technology Fee charged a fixed amount every time someone installed an app, even if that person never spent money. That was especially risky for free-to-play apps and ad-supported apps, which can have huge numbers of downloads but earn little per user. Replacing it with a flat 5% on digital goods means Apple only gets paid when a sale happens, which makes costs more predictable for developers and removes the risk that adding more users could actually increase their costs.
One detail worth noting is the 12-month lock-in on payment method. A developer who decides to switch to an outside payment processor has to commit to that choice for a full year. If they find that fewer people complete purchases when sent to an outside payment screen instead of Apple's built-in system, they cannot easily switch back mid-cycle. The lock-in also makes it harder to test different payment approaches against each other.
The loosened marketplace requirements open the door to a wider range of alternative app store operators. Removing the one-million-install and two-year-tenure requirements means smaller companies with credible financial backing, now provable through audits or VC funding rather than sheer size, can enter the marketplace space. Whether that leads to real competition for the App Store depends on whether users will discover and trust these new stores, and Apple's policy changes do not address either of those questions.
Apple has been moving toward similar fee structures elsewhere. In December 2025, the company announced a 5% commission on digital goods for iOS apps distributed outside the App Store in Japan (Apple Newsroom). In June 2026, Apple extended alternative marketplace and payment options to Brazil, while warning that the changes opened new avenues for malware, fraud, and privacy risks (Apple Newsroom). That same month, Apple reported that the global App Store ecosystem facilitated over $1.4 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2025 (Apple Newsroom).
Taken together, the EU, Japan, and Brazil changes suggest Apple is settling on a model where it charges a lower, flat percentage on sales made outside its own App Store, while keeping higher fees on purchases processed within its ecosystem. The net effect for any given developer depends on how they distribute their app, how they earn money, and how big they are. But the overall direction is toward simpler fees tied to actual sales rather than to download counts.
