Reduced platform commission for new and small publishers

Both Apple and Google allow small publishers (i.e., making less than $1M per calendar year) to benefit from a reduced 15% fee instead of the standard 30% if they meet specific criteria.

Apple and Google have a similar fees structure, but with critical differences at the date of this article. On the App Store, the standard commission is 30% except for auto-renewing subscriptions after the first year (15%) and specific categories/countries where special fees apply. On the Play Store, standard in-app purchases’ commission is also 30% except for all auto-renewing subscriptions (15%) and some special categories (10%)–e.g., the Play Media Experience Program.

Platform policies are constantly evolving. Please always refer to the official AppStore and PlayStore policies to have the most updated information, or contact us and we will be happy to share the most recent news on the subject.

Apple App Store Small Business Program

Apple provides an easy-to-enroll Small Business Program that enables small publishers–i.e., making less than $1M in proceeds per calendar year–to benefit from a reduced 15% AppStore commission on in-app purchases (including auto-renewable subscriptions) and paid apps.

Publishers have to meet the following condition to qualify:

Have earned no more than $1M in total proceeds within the previous calendar year, and no more than $1M during the current year.

If you are new to the App Store, this is good news, because this includes new publishers!

Apple clarifies that:

• If a participating developer surpasses the $1M threshold in the current calendar year, the standard commission rate will apply to future sales.
• If a developer’s proceeds fall below the $1M threshold in a future calendar year, they can re-qualify for the 15% commission the year after.

Enrolling in the program is simple and has to be done by an Account Holder in the Apple Developer Program:

• Step 1: Go to App Store Connect. You must review and accept the latest Paid Apps agreement (Schedule 2 to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement)
• Step 2: List all of your Associated Developer Accounts–if applicable.

Google 15% service fee tier

Google charges a reduced 15% on the first $1M of earnings each year to the publishers enrolled in the program.

According to Google, more than 99% of publishers are eligible to benefit from the reduced service fee on the Play Store. However, please note that Google decided to reduce fees to 15% for all automatically renewable subscriptions.

To enroll in the special service fee, the owner of the payment profile must:

• Open the Play Console and go to the Associated developer accounts page
• Follow these instructions to create and set up an Account Group
• On the Associated developer accounts page, find the banner on the page with the heading, “When you’ve finished setting up your account group, enroll for the 15% service fee.” Click Review and enroll.
• Read and accept the Terms of Service