Hajra Naz
Apple said on 18 August that it is moving every developer who distributes apps in the European Union onto a single set of business terms, replacing its per-install Core Technology Fee with a 5 percent Core Technology Commission and cutting several App Store commission rates at the same time. Developers can sign the new terms now and the changes take effect on 1 October 2026. Apple said the package follows close collaboration with the European Commission and resolves its disagreements with the regulator over business terms and alternative distribution.
The new rate card
The terms replace a structure that had layered several separate charges on top of each other. The initial acquisition fee and the store services fee are both gone. What is left, according to Apple’s announcement, is:
- App Store apps using Apple In-App Purchase: 26 percent, dropping to 15 percent for what Apple calls the vast majority of developers, including those in the App Store Small Business Program, the Mini Apps Partner Program and the Video Partner Program, and for auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year.
- App Store apps using alternative payment processing: 20 percent, or 10 percent for developers in those same programs.
- App Store apps that link out to complete a purchase: 15 percent, or 10 percent for those programs.
- Apps distributed through alternative marketplaces or the web: a 5 percent Core Technology Commission.
Developers in the EU can now also offer Apple In-App Purchase alongside alternative payment options, something Apple had not previously permitted in that market. There is a catch attached: once a developer picks a payment mix, whether that is Apple In-App Purchase, in-app alternative processing, linking out to the web, or a combination, they have to keep it for 12 months.
Why swapping a per-install fee for a commission changes the maths
The Core Technology Fee charged developers per install once they reached what Apple describes as extraordinary scale. A commission on transactions and a fee on installs behave very differently for a small team. A commission only bites when money comes in. A per-install charge lands whether or not the download ever converts, which made the old model uncomfortable for free apps, freemium products and anything that might get a sudden burst of downloads without matching revenue.
Swapping that for a flat 5 percent on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store makes the cost of going off-store predictable and ties it to revenue. That is the single change most likely to matter to an independent developer weighing up whether alternative distribution in the EU is worth the effort.
Who can now distribute outside the App Store?
Apple is also widening the eligibility criteria for running an alternative app marketplace or distributing apps from your own website in the EU. A company now qualifies if it meets any one of these: a moderate financial-stability score from Dun and Bradstreet, being publicly traded or owned by a publicly traded company, having taken venture funding from an established investment firm, having completed a financial audit by a licensed accountant, or being a government entity, educational institution or nonprofit.
That is a broader net than before, though it still rules out a lot of one-person operations. Every alternatively distributed app must also still pass Notarization, Apple’s baseline review for basic functionality and serious threats. Apple justified keeping that requirement by pointing out that web distribution has no marketplace operator standing behind it, so a bad actor can run for a long time before anyone notices.
New conditions around younger users
Alternative payments come with child safety rules attached. Apps in the Kids category on the App Store cannot include links out to websites to complete transactions. For users under 18, any App Store app using alternative payment processing or linking out must include a parental gate before a purchase. For users under 13, apps cannot link out to websites for transactions at all. Apple said these protections scale according to national rules in EU member states that require parental consent for children over 13.
What to watch between now and 1 October
These terms apply only to apps distributed in the EU. Developers everywhere else remain on Apple’s standard terms, so a studio in Karachi or Dubai shipping worldwide will be running two different commission structures from October depending on where the customer is. Whether regulators in other markets treat this settlement as a template is the thing worth tracking, because Apple has now demonstrated a version of the App Store it is willing to operate under sustained regulatory pressure.
For anyone who actually ships an app into the EU, the near-term job is smaller and more concrete. The 12-month lock-in on payment options means the choice made before 1 October is one you live with for a year, so it is worth modelling the three routes against real revenue rather than defaulting to whatever is already wired up.
Sources: Apple Newsroom, Apple Developer support: Changes for apps in the European Union.
