Apple App Store fees and commission explained

Apple's App Store commission is 30% of the price paid by the customer, and 15% for developers in the App Store Small Business Program and for auto-renewable subscriptions after a subscriber's first year. There is no fixed fee, no cap and no separate processing line: one percentage is the whole charge, so a $100 purchase and a $1,000 one hand over the same share. The examples below are computed by the engine behind the Apple App Store commission calculator, and the rates come from Apple's Membership Details page, read and saved on 3 September 2026.

What Apple charges in the United States

The commission is charged on the price the customer pays. Taxes Apple collects and remits are handled separately, and its price tiers decide which prices you can set at all.

The two ways the commission halves

Both reduced rates leave the developer with 85% instead of 70%, but they are earned differently. The Small Business Program is a yearly eligibility test on your proceeds; the subscription rate is a per-subscriber clock that resets if someone cancels and comes back later.

On standard terms, the fee on $100.00 is $30.00 and you keep $70.00, an effective rate of 30%. In the Small Business Program, the fee on $100.00 is $15.00 and you keep $85.00, an effective rate of 15%.

A monthly subscription shows the year-one boundary at a realistic price:

A $9.99 renewal in year one, the fee on $9.99 is $3.00 and you keep $6.99, an effective rate of 30.03%. The same renewal after a year of paid service, the fee on $9.99 is $1.50 and you keep $8.49, an effective rate of 15.02%.

Working backwards to set a price:

To keep $100.00 you charge $142.86, and the fee is $42.86.

The EU schedule from 1 October 2026

Apple's EU business terms are storefront-wide rather than per member state, which is why this calculator treats the EU as one market. The developer agreement updated on 18 August 2026 replaces the Initial Acquisition Fee and Store Services Fee with a single commission table, effective 1 October 2026; developers may stay on their current terms until they agree to the update.

The reduced tier is the same population as the US 15% rate: Small Business, Mini Apps Partner and Video Partner Program participants, plus subscriptions after their first year.

On an EU sale through Apple In-App Purchase, the fee on $100.00 is $30.00 and you keep $70.00, an effective rate of 30%. Taking payment yourself in the reduced tier, the fee on $100.00 is $30.00 and you keep $70.00, an effective rate of 30%.

Distributing outside the App Store

An EU app distributed through an alternative app marketplace or Web Distribution cannot use Apple In-App Purchase, so no App Store commission applies to it. In its place Apple charges the Core Technology Commission, 5% of digital sales, which from 1 October 2026 replaces the old per-install Core Technology Fee.

On a sale outside the App Store, the fee on $100.00 is $30.00 and you keep $70.00, an effective rate of 30%.

That is the calculator's "Distributed outside the App Store" toggle. It swaps the commission rather than adding to it, and does nothing on the US schedule, which has no equivalent charge.

What this guide leaves out

Tax, in every form: Apple collects and remits VAT and sales tax in many storefronts, and the commission is calculated before that arithmetic. Apple's price tiers. The EU store services commission of 15% or 10% on sales following an out-of-app offer link, billed separately from the rates above. The News Partner Program, and the eligibility rules for the Video and Mini Apps Partner Programs — the reduced rows carry those rates without testing whether you qualify. And storefronts outside the United States and the EU.

Two figures are corroborated by a second Apple page: the 15% Small Business Program rate with its 1 million USD threshold, and the 85% subscription share after one year. The standard 30%, the EU table and the Core Technology Commission each rest on a single page, so this schedule is recorded at medium confidence.

When these rates last changed

The Membership Details page carries no revision date, so the US schedule is dated to the day it was read. The EU schedule is dated to 1 October 2026, the day Apple states the updated terms take effect.

This is the first verification, so the Apple App Store fee changelog holds one entry today; later changes are recorded there against the rule affected, and the rates are re-checked at least every 60 days. The methodology explains how a schedule earns high or medium confidence, the Steam Market fees guide treats another platform that takes a percentage of a digital sale, and this schedule is quoted line by line, with the verbatim source text behind every rule, in the calculator's fee table.

Frequently asked questions

Does Apple take 30% of everything?

No. The commission applies to digital goods and services sold through the App Store — paid apps, in-app purchases and subscriptions. Physical goods and services consumed outside the app are not commissionable, and Apple requires them to be sold outside In-App Purchase.

Is the Small Business Program worth applying for?

If your proceeds were under 1 million USD last calendar year, it halves the commission on every sale, and applies the reduced rate to subscriptions from the first billing cycle rather than the thirteenth month. It has to be applied for.

Why is the effective rate above 30% on cheap purchases?

Because each commission line is rounded to the cent, half-up, as Apple bills it. On a $9.99 renewal 30% is $2.997, which becomes $3.00 — an effective 30.03%.