Contents6
A subscription app has to collect payments every month, and the question comes up quickly: go through Apple’s and Google’s in-app purchase, or through a payment provider such as Stripe? It is not only about commission. The stores’ rules often decide for you, depending on what you sell, to whom, and in which country. They also changed in Europe on 1 October 2026.
In short
What you sell decides first: digital content or a feature unlocked in the app falls in principle under in-app purchase; a service consumed outside the app is paid for outside it.
In the EU, since 1 October 2026, Apple allows alternative payment or a link to the web, with a lower commission than in-app purchase.
Software sold to businesses for their employees can be paid for outside the stores and used in the app.
Stripe takes less, but leaves the rest to you: invoices, failed payments, cancellation, support.
What you sell decides first
Apple’s App Review Guidelines are the strictest text, and most choices follow from them.
In-app purchase is required in principle
A subscription that unlocks features or content in the app
Premium access, a full version, a virtual currency
A sale to individuals, single users or families
Payment happens outside the stores
A physical good or a service consumed outside the app (an in-person class, a delivery, an on-site job)
Software sold directly to organisations for their employees
A reader subscription (press, books, music, video) bought elsewhere, with its own rules
Guideline 3.1.1 of Apple’s guidelines requires in-app purchase to unlock features in the app, subscriptions included. Guideline 3.1.3(e) says the opposite for goods and services consumed outside the app: they must be paid for by other means, such as a credit card or Apple Pay. And guideline 3.1.3(c) lets companies that sell directly to organisations, for their employees or students, give access in the app to what was bought elsewhere.
Key takeaway
The common case of B2B businesses
If your app is the tool of a service you sell to businesses (business software, a portal, a tracking tool), the subscription is often signed and paid for outside the stores, and the app is where it is used. The in-app purchase question mostly arises for apps sold to consumers.
What the stores take in Europe
On 18 August 2026, Apple announced new terms for apps distributed in the European Union, in force since 1 October 2026. They replace the previous fees with commissions that depend on the payment channel.
commission on in-app purchase at the standard rate, 15% for small developers and for subscriptions after their first year
when the app uses another payment provider, 10% at the reduced rate
when the app links out to the web to pay, 10% at the reduced rate
The deeper change lies elsewhere: in the European Union, an app can now offer Apple’s in-app purchase alongside another payment method, which was not previously permitted, according to the same announcement. On the United States App Store, Apple’s guidelines no longer prohibit buttons and links to other purchasing methods. In other countries, outside the EU’s specific terms, they remain prohibited in the app.
At Google, Google Play’s service fee page lists, for the European Economic Area, 10% on auto-renewing subscriptions, plus a 5% billing fee when payment goes through Google Play billing. In the European Economic Area, Google also allows alternative billing inside the app and offers promoted outside the app, subject to its programme requirements.
What Stripe costs, and what it leaves to you
On Stripe’s pricing for Ireland, viewed in October 2026, a standard European Economic Area card costs 1.5% plus €0.25 per payment, and Stripe Billing, the subscription tool, takes 0.7% of billing volume on its pay-as-you-go plan. On a subscription of a few euros, the fixed €0.25 weighs heavily; on a business subscription, it becomes negligible.
The comparison does not stop at the percentage. When you collect payments yourself, you take over what the store was doing:
- invoices and their compliance, country by country;
- failed payments: expired card, retry, suspended access;
- cancellation, which must stay simple, and refunds;
- support for people who no longer remember where they paid.
That work is costed at scoping, like the other lines of what makes the price of an app vary.
One subscription, several entry points
Many apps sell through several channels: the website, the App Store, Google Play. Apple allows it: guideline 3.1.3(b) lets a user access in the app a subscription bought on your website, provided the subscription is also offered as an in-app purchase in the app. An installable web app, for its part, is not subject to these rules: it collects payments like any website.
Whatever the channel, one principle does not change: the server knows whether a user is subscribed, never the screen. A subscription status read on the phone can be bypassed; a 2025 vulnerability even allowed changing payment status in AI-generated apps, as told in our article on account and data security.
From the field
Challenge Us collects nothing, and that is a stage choice
Challenge Us, a group-challenge app we built, has not yet set its business model: it runs in the browser and collects no payments. That choice will come after the store release, currently in preparation, because the business model will set the payment channel, not the other way round.
How to decide
- Qualify what you sell.
Digital content, a service consumed elsewhere, or software sold to organisations.
- Locate your customers.
European Union, United States, rest of the world: rules and commissions change.
- Calculate on a real subscription.
Store commission against Stripe fees, plus the billing and support work you take over.
- Choose the main channel.
Then check that the others follow each store’s rules.
The account that publishes the app is also the one that receives store payouts: better that it is in your name, as we explain in publishing an app under your own developer account. And a subscription model can be tested before it is coded, on a clickable prototype or a first web version. Our app development service sets the payment channel at scoping, with what it costs for your volume.
Frequently asked questions
Can we use Stripe in an iPhone app?
Yes for a physical good or a service consumed outside the app, and it is even mandatory: Apple forbids in-app purchase in that case. To unlock digital content, in-app purchase remains the rule, except in the European Union, where another provider has been allowed since 1 October 2026 for a 20% commission, and in the United States, where the app can link out to a web purchase.
What commission does Apple take on a subscription?
In the European Union, since 1 October 2026, 26% at the standard rate for in-app purchase, and 15% for most developers, including small developers, as well as for subscriptions after their first year. Outside the European Union, the terms are different: check Apple’s pages for the countries where you sell before settling on a price.
Does a B2B app have to use in-app purchase?
Not if you sell directly to organisations for their employees: Apple then allows using in the app what was bought elsewhere. Sales to individuals, single users or families, remain subject to in-app purchase for digital content, so the line between the two must be clear in your offer.
Can we sell a subscription on our website and use it in the app?
Yes. Apple allows it if the subscription is also offered as an in-app purchase in the app, and an installable web app has no such constraint since it does not go through the stores. In every case, the server must check that the user is subscribed, not the phone.
Sources
- Apple, App Review Guidelines (new tab)developer.apple.com
- Play Console Help, service fees (new tab)support.google.com
- Stripe, pricing (new tab)stripe.com
Jim · founder of Brain Plus AI
Also in web and mobile apps
Choose and price6 min
How much an app costs: what makes the price vary
A price range says nothing about your project: what makes an app quote vary is a handful of specific decisions, plus a monthly running cost to be priced separately. Here they are.
Practical guide7 min
Publishing an app under your own developer account
The developer account that publishes an app holds its listing, reviews, users and revenue. Opened in your company’s name, it keeps you independent from your provider, as long as you start early.
Choose and price6 min
PWA or native app: which to choose for your business?
An installable web app (PWA) goes onto the home screen without going through the App Store or Google Play, and is enough in many cases, not all. Here is how to decide, and why we start with it.