How Much Will App Store's External Payment Cut Cost? Apple's Proposal: 5% to 15%, Basically Just Half Off

The numbers in Apple's latest court filing are calculated cleanly: apps that previously paid 30% for App Store in-app purchases will now pay 15% for external payments; Small Business Program developers who previously paid 15% will pay 5% for external payments. News Partner Program, Video Partner Program, Mini Apps Partner Program, and subscription renewals are all unified at 10%. On the surface, it looks like an across-the-board price cut, but a closer comparison reveals this is essentially just cutting the original App Store in-app purchase commission rates exactly in half.

This lawsuit has been going on for six years, dating back to when Epic Games first sued in 2020. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled in 2021 that Apple had to let developers include links to external payment options, freeing them from being locked into the App Store's 30% billing system. But Apple continued charging 12% to 27% fees on these external transactions, which Epic argued was just collecting money under a different name—leading to another contempt of court complaint.

Last year, the judge found Apple in contempt of court and issued a direct order barring Apple from charging any fees on external payments at all—effectively slashing the commission to zero. The appeals court upheld the contempt finding but overturned the "no fees whatsoever" ruling, sending the matter back to square one: what constitutes a fair commission rate is now up to the judge to decide again. Apple's proposed 5% to 15% is its own answer to that question.

Meanwhile, Google's lawsuit with Epic is still ongoing too. On June 30 this year, Google opened up external billing on the Play Store and standardized the commission at 10%, regardless of which payment system consumers use. Starting in July, Android also began allowing third-party app store installations. But Epic told the court that Google had made the process for installing competing app stores unnecessarily complicated. After reviewing the installation steps, the judge has already ordered Google to remove these "anti-competitive friction points."

The two companies are taking completely different paths: Google is being required to open the door even wider, while Apple is trying to prove the door it's already opened is wide enough. The final commission rate is still pending the judge's ruling.