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Apple cuts EU alternative app store fees to 5% commission
The new tiered system keeps higher commissions for Apple and its preferred payments in the EU, charging 26% for purchases via Apple’s own payment system and 20% for apps using their own processing.
Apple will charge a 5% commission for in app purchases made through alternative app stores in the European Union, a change it says is intended to resolve its disagreements with EU regulators tied to the Digital Markets Act, Yahoo Finance reports. The update comes after years of regulatory battles over the App Store model.
Under Apple’s new tiered structure, purchases made through Apple’s own payment system carry a 26% commission, apps using their own payment processing face a 20% commission, and apps that link to an external website are charged 15%. For apps distributed through third party stores or the web, Apple says the 5% commission applies as a Core Technology Commission, and some related fees may be cut in half through Apple programs.
Apple also said the changes include child safety measures, such as parental purchase restrictions, and it now says the revised fee approach resolves its dispute with the European Commission. In its latest quarter, Apple did not highlight the App Store as a top driver of services growth for the first time since 2023, according to a Morgan Stanley note cited by Yahoo Finance.
Separately, Apple is still fighting to restrict web payment links in the US as part of the ongoing Epic Games litigation, indicating the EU fee overhaul does not end its broader regulatory challenges, Yahoo Finance adds. The company’s CFO Kevan Parekh pointed to slower mobile gaming and business model changes in certain countries as factors behind recent services dynamics.