Apple Replaces Its EU Install Fee With a 5% Transaction Commission

Apple’s August 18, 2026 announcement states that the EU’s per-install Core Technology Fee will be replaced by a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store, with the revised terms taking effect on October 1, 2026.

The change does not make alternative distribution or alternative payment fee-free. Distribution determines the first branch: covered transactions in apps obtained through an alternative marketplace or Web Distribution enter the 5% route, while an App Store app using alternative payment processing generally enters the 20% route. A Reuters account of the revised terms records the reduced 10% alternative-payment rate for eligible program participants and the removal of the Initial Acquisition Fee and Store Services Fee.

The new EU fee matrix

Apple’s detailed EU fee schedule sets rates of 26% or a reduced 15% for Apple In-App Purchase, 20% or a reduced 10% for alternative processing inside an App Store app, 15% or a reduced 10% for qualifying purchases reached through an actionable link, and 5% for covered transactions involving alternative marketplaces or Web Distribution. The same schedule limits the linked-offer commission to sales made within seven days of a link tap and requires developers to maintain their selected App Store payment options for 12 months.

• App Store with Apple In-App Purchase — 26% standard, 15% reduced. The lower rate covers qualifying participants in the App Store Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program or Video Partner Program, as well as eligible auto-renewable subscriptions after their first year.
• App Store with alternative in-app processing — 20% standard, 10% reduced. The developer uses another processor but still owes Apple the applicable App Store commission. The developer also assumes responsibility for functions such as payment support, refunds and the collection and remittance of applicable taxes.
• App Store app with an actionable link — 15% standard, 10% reduced. This Store Services Commission applies when a customer follows the link to an outside offer and completes a covered purchase within the seven-day attribution window.
• Alternative marketplace or Web Distribution — 5%. The Core Technology Commission covers qualifying sales of paid apps and digital goods or services, including one-time purchases and auto-renewing subscriptions.

The 5% commission therefore replaces the installation-based charge only for the outside-store distribution route. It does not replace every Apple commission in the EU, and it does not turn a marketplace download, direct web distribution or an App Store alternative-payment flow into a zero-fee path.

Which commission path applies after October 1

Start with where the customer obtained the app, then identify how the transaction was completed. Payment processing alone does not determine whether the 5% outside-store rate applies.

1. If the app came from the App Store and Apple processed the purchase, apply the Apple In-App Purchase rate.
2. If the app came from the App Store and another provider processed payment inside it, apply the alternative-processing rate.
3. If an App Store app sent the customer to an outside offer through an actionable link, apply the linked-offer rate when the covered purchase falls inside the attribution window.
4. If the app came from an alternative app marketplace or an authorized developer website, evaluate the transaction under the Core Technology Commission.

A business can use more than one route across its EU operations. An App Store app may also present Apple In-App Purchase alongside alternative options, but the selected combination is maintained at the developer level for the specified commitment period rather than changed transaction by transaction.

The marketplace distinction also matters. Sales of digital goods or services within an alternative marketplace can fall within the Core Technology Commission, as can charges required to download a marketplace or access its app catalogue. Apple separately provides a limited waiver for qualifying small marketplace operators, so that exception should not be treated as a general exemption for every app distributed through a small marketplace.

What the published rates mean on €100,000 of sales

Consider conditional examples in which each route produces €100,000 of commissionable customer spending before any applicable tax adjustment. At the standard Apple In-App Purchase rate, the commission is €26,000; at the corresponding reduced program rate, it is €15,000.

Alternative processing inside an App Store app produces an Apple commission of €20,000 at the standard rate or €10,000 at the reduced rate. Those amounts exclude charges levied by the separate payment processor and the developer’s own costs for tax administration, refunds, billing support and subscription management.

If the same amount consists of covered purchases completed after customers follow actionable links from an App Store app, the commission is €15,000, or €10,000 when the reduced rate applies. The calculation assumes that every included sale falls within the applicable attribution window.

For covered digital transactions in an app distributed through an alternative marketplace or Web Distribution, the commission is €5,000. Install volume no longer creates the former per-install fee under the revised terms, but the amount owed to Apple rises with commissionable transaction value.

The transition is scheduled for October 1

The revised rates have been published but are not yet in force as of August 24, 2026. Apple Developer Program members can review and accept the updated agreement; an account that accepts it becomes subject to the unified EU terms on October 1, 2026, or on its later acceptance date.

A contemporaneous TechCrunch analysis corroborates the four principal commission paths, the replacement of the per-install charge and the expanded eligibility options for operating an alternative marketplace or using Web Distribution.

The settled dividing line for the scheduled transition is distribution: the 5% Core Technology Commission belongs to covered transactions tied to apps distributed outside the App Store. Alternative payment inside an App Store app generally starts at 20%, with lower program rates and separate rules for linked offers. Implementation after October 1 will show how developers divide sales among those routes and how EU authorities assess the unified terms in practice.

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