App Store Fees and In-App Payment Rules in the EU

Which sales the stores take a cut of

Commission levels and small-business rates

The standard rate on both stores is 30 percent of the price paid for in-app digital purchases. Both offer a reduced rate of 15 percent: Apple through its Small Business Program for developers earning under about one million US dollars a year across their apps, and Google on the first million of annual revenue. Subscriptions drop to 15 percent on Apple after a subscriber's first year. The stores also handle VAT and payout in each country, which is part of what the commission buys. For a Swedish startup, the reduced rate is the realistic case for years, so model your pricing on 15 percent and treat 30 percent as the ceiling.

Physical goods and services

This is the exception that matters most to Swedish businesses building apps. A restaurant taking orders, a gym selling memberships used on site, a car workshop taking bookings or a webshop selling clothes is selling something consumed outside the app, and the stores require you to use your own payment provider for it. That means integrating Swish, Klarna, Stripe or your existing checkout in the app, and it means no commission. The rule cuts both ways: you may not use the store's in-app purchase for these sales, and you may not sell digital features through your own provider. Mixed apps, such as a fitness app with on-site classes and online video, need both paths, clearly separated.

• Use Swish, Klarna, Stripe or your web checkout for anything used outside the app.
• Use the store's in-app purchase for anything unlocked inside the app.
• Never route a digital feature through your own provider to avoid commission; the app will be rejected.
• Document which path each product uses before development starts.

EU rule changes on alternative payments

The Digital Markets Act obliges the stores to allow developers in the EU to steer users to purchases outside the app and, on iOS, to distribute through alternative marketplaces. In practice the stores introduced new business terms for the EU with their own fee structures, and both the terms and the fee levels have been revised repeatedly since 2024 following European Commission decisions. For a first product this means two things. Alternative routes exist and may lower costs for apps with large digital revenue, but they carry complexity and are not free. And for a small app, the standard in-app purchase at the reduced rate is often still the simplest choice. Check the current EU terms on both developer portals at the time you set prices, not from a blog post, including this one.

Pricing your app's offers

Set prices so that the margin holds after commission, VAT and payment costs. For digital subscriptions, price tiers the store supports in kronor, remember that the store price includes VAT for consumers, and calculate what reaches you after the store's cut. For physical goods and services, your own provider's fee is far lower than store commission, so keep those sales on your own path. Many apps do well with a hybrid: the app is free, real-world services are paid through Swish or Klarna, and one optional digital premium feature sits behind an in-app purchase. Payment paths are one of the decisions we fix early in a cross-platform MVP app build, because they shape the architecture; the price is on our pricing page.

When you do not need this: if your app is a free companion to a service you bill elsewhere, such as a customer portal or a field-service tool for your own staff, commission never applies and you can ignore in-app purchase entirely. If your only product is a digital subscription and revenue is small, accept the reduced store rate and move on. Unsure which side of the line your product falls on? Book a short call and describe what the customer actually buys.

Frequently asked questions