The same app listed on the EU App Store could face a commission of either 5% or 26%—the only difference being how the payment goes through the moment a user hits "buy." That's the most striking takeaway from Apple's newly announced EU business terms, set to take effect October 1. The long-contested Core Technology Fee will be replaced by a Core Technology Commission, shifting to a direct charge on in-app purchase transactions.
Apple says "most developers" using its own In-App Purchase technology will be charged a 15% commission. For developers not enrolled in the App Store Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program, or Video Partner Program, that rate rises to 26%.
If developers choose to use a third-party payment tool within the App Store, the commission is 20%; if they direct users outside the app to complete payment on an external webpage, it drops to 15%. Under either path, members of the three partner programs mentioned above get the rate reduced to 10%. For apps distributed entirely outside the App Store through other channels, Apple has set a flat rate of 5%.
In other words, for completing the exact same transaction, the gap between the lowest and highest commission rates comes out to 21 percentage points. What determines where a developer lands on that scale comes down to how they collect payment and whether they've joined one of Apple's three specific programs.
This latest adjustment is the result of an ongoing legal tug-of-war between Apple and the EU over the Digital Markets Act (DMA). According to reports, Apple recently lost its bid to shed the stricter "gatekeeper" designation under the DMA, and may also face lawsuits from individual countries, including Germany, over alleged anticompetitive conduct. Meanwhile, in the US, recent moves to loosen restrictions on sideloading and alternative payment methods have prompted Apple to seek court approval for charging a 5% to 15% commission on third-party payment transactions there as well.
