Apple Swaps Its EU Per-Install Fee for a Flat 5% Cut

Apple will replace the Core Technology Fee it charges European Union developers with a flat 5 percent Core Technology Commission on digital transactions made outside the App Store, starting Oct. 1, 2026, the company said in an Aug. 18, 2026, newsroom post.

The old fee charged developers €0.50 for every first annual install beyond 1 million in a 12-month period, regardless of whether that install produced any revenue, according to Apple's own Core Technology Fee documentation. A reinstall, an app update that started a new 12-month window, or a download through a rival marketplace could all trigger the charge. The new commission applies only to transactions, and only on apps distributed outside the App Store.

What the new rates are

Apple is also collapsing several separate EU charges into four commission tiers. In-app purchase commissions land at 26 percent standard, dropping to 15 percent for Small Business Program members, participants in Apple's Mini Apps and Video Partner programs, and auto-renewing subscriptions past their first year. Alternative payment processing costs 20 percent standard and 10 percent for the same eligible groups. Linking out to a website to complete a purchase costs 15 percent standard and 10 percent reduced.

Transaction type	Standard rate	Reduced rate
In-app purchase	26%	15%
Alternative payment processing	20%	10%
Linking out to the web	15%	10%
Core Technology Commission (outside App Store)	5%	n/a

Apple is also eliminating two separate charges outright: the Initial Acquisition Fee and the Store Services Fee, which previously applied on top of the Core Technology Fee in some cases. For the first time under the EU terms, developers can offer Apple's own In-App Purchase system alongside a competing payment processor in the same app, rather than picking one.

The child-safety strings attached

The new terms add conditions aimed at younger users. Apps in the Kids category cannot link out to external websites for purchases under any circumstance. Users under 18 need a parental gate before using an alternative payment option, and users under 13 cannot access web-based transaction links at all, according to Apple's developer news post on the changes.

What Brussels said

The European Commission, which has investigated Apple's App Store terms under the Digital Markets Act, told Reuters it welcomed the changes and would monitor how Apple implements them, Mobile Marketing Reads reported. Apple's announcement did not address whether the new terms resolve the Commission's earlier objections to the old fee structure, which it had argued discouraged developers from using alternative distribution at all.

Apple's changes follow the company's decision to sunset Rosetta support for Intel-only Mac apps in macOS 27, another case of Apple retiring a long-standing developer accommodation on a fixed date, and they land in the same month that iOS 27's code showed Siri built to delegate requests to outside models. Developers can sign the new EU terms immediately in App Store Connect, but the rates do not take effect until Oct. 1, and Apple has not said whether it plans to extend the same commission structure outside the European Union.