Apple takes 15% instead of 30% under the App Store Small Business Program, up to $1m in proceeds. Eligibility, enrolment, GBP examples, Google Play.
The short answer
Apple takes 15% instead of 30% of your App Store sales if you join the App Store Small Business Program, and you qualify while you and any associated developer accounts have earned no more than $1 million in proceeds in the previous calendar year and the current one. Google Play's UK fee for the first $1 million of annual earnings is 10% plus a 5% billing fee, so 15% in total for in-app sales made through Google Play Billing.
| Store and sale type | Standard | Reduced | Condition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple: paid apps and in-app purchases | 30% | 15% | App Store Small Business Program: up to $1m in proceeds |
| Apple: auto-renewable subscriptions | 30% in year one, 15% after a subscriber's first year of paid service | 15% from day one | Small Business Program members get 85% at every billing cycle |
| Google Play: in-app purchases, UK users, new installs | 20% + 5% billing fee after the first $1m | 10% + 5% billing fee | First $1m of annual earnings |
| Google Play: subscriptions, UK users | 10% + 5% billing fee | 10% + 5% billing fee | Recurring transactions |
Sources: Apple, Small Business Program, Apple, membership details, Apple, subscriptions, Google Play Console Help. Last checked 13 October 2026.
This is a companion to our guide to the $99 Apple Developer fee: the membership fee is the smallest cost of launching an app, and the commission is the largest one that never stops. Apple's rates apply to digital goods and services only. Apple says it collects a commission only if you sell a digital good or service through your app, so a taxi, grocery or physical-goods app pays nothing on those orders.
Who qualifies for the 15% rate
Apple's wording is specific, and the details decide whether you stay in the programme.
- Existing developers qualify if they made up to $1 million in proceeds in the prior calendar year across all their apps. Apple's page adds that you must also have earned no more than $1 million during the current year.
- New developers to the App Store can qualify too.
- Proceeds are not sales. Apple defines proceeds as sales net of Apple's commission and certain taxes and adjustments. Because commission is already taken off, the $1 million line is reached at a higher level of customer spend: at the 15% rate, about $1.18 million of sales (1,000,000 divided by 0.85, our arithmetic).
- Associated Developer Accounts count together. If you own or control another Apple Developer Program account, or one owns or controls yours, the combined proceeds must stay under $1 million. Apple says you have an associated account if you hold more than 50% of the ownership or shares of another account, another member holds more than 50% of yours, or either side has ultimate decision-making authority over the other.
For a UK group with several companies each holding a developer account, the last point matters most. A parent and its subsidiaries are one pool for the threshold, not several separate $1 million allowances.
Apple converts to US dollars. If your bank account is not in dollars, Apple tells you to use a publicly available exchange rate for the end of each fiscal month in Apple's fiscal calendar, then adjust for taxes and adjustments shown in App Store Connect.
How to enrol
Enrolment is not automatic. Apple lists three requirements:
- You are the Account Holder in the Apple Developer Program.
- You have accepted the latest Paid Apps agreement (Schedule 2 to the Apple Developer Program License Agreement) in App Store Connect.
- If applicable, you list all of your Associated Developer Accounts. For each one Apple asks for the name, Team ID, Account Holder email address and a description of how you are related.
Timing: Apple adjusts your proceeds 15 days after the end of the fiscal calendar month in which your enrolment is approved. Apple's own example: enrolment approved on 10 February 2022 means the adjusted rate applies from 14 March 2022. Sales before that date are charged at the standard rate, so enrol before your first paid sales rather than after.
Only the Account Holder can do this, which is a practical reason to register the developer account in your company's name from the start. If an agency holds the account, you are in their programme position, not yours.
What happens above $1 million, and getting back in
If a participating developer passes $1 million in the current calendar year, the standard commission applies to future sales. If proceeds fall below $1 million in a later calendar year, the developer can re-qualify for 15% the year after.
App transfers can move you across the line. Apple says that when an app is transferred, the proceeds for that calendar year are associated with all accounts that initiate or accept the transfer, and that eligibility is based on total proceeds from all associated accounts and transferred apps. Selling or moving an app mid-year can therefore change both sides' position.
Subscriptions: 15% after year one, or from day one
Auto-renewable subscriptions have their own rule. For each subscriber, Apple pays you 70% of the subscription price for the first year of paid service (a 30% commission) and 85% after the subscriber has accumulated one year of paid service (15%). Free trials and renewal extensions do not count towards the year, and the year is tracked per subscription group. Apple states that Small Business Program members receive 85% at each billing cycle regardless of whether the subscription has passed one year.
So the programme matters most to a subscription app in its first twelve months, before most subscribers have reached the 15% threshold on their own.
Worked examples in GBP
Assumption for every figure below: £1 = $1.30. This is an illustrative rate chosen for round numbers, not a forecast or a quoted market rate; use your own rate and Apple's rules for the real calculation. Figures are customer spend excluding VAT, and ignore fiscal-month timing and other adjustments.
At that rate the $1 million proceeds threshold is about £769,000.
| Scenario | Standard rate | Small Business Program | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid app and in-app purchases: £120,000 of sales in a year | Apple takes £36,000 (you keep £84,000) | Apple takes £18,000 (you keep £102,000) | £18,000 a year |
| Subscription app: £10,000 billed a month, all from first-year subscribers | £3,000 a month (£36,000 a year) | £1,500 a month (£18,000 a year) | £1,500 a month |
| Same app once every subscriber is past year one | £1,500 a month | £1,500 a month | None |
| Crossing the threshold: £1,000,000 of sales in a year | £300,000 at a flat 30% | About £164,000 (15% on the first c.£905,000 of sales, 30% on the remaining c.£95,000) | About £136,000 saved, blended rate 16.4% |
Working: £905,000 of sales at 15% leaves about £769,000 of proceeds, which is $1 million at £1 = $1.30. Real accounts will differ because Apple measures proceeds by fiscal month and adjusts for taxes.
The takeaway for a startup: the programme roughly halves Apple's cut during the period when you can least afford to lose margin. Our launch-cost guide uses a £10,000-a-month subscription example at the same 15 to 30% range for the same reason.
We design and build iOS and Android apps for UK businesses and start-ups, from prototype to the App Store. First release in 6–8 weeks; developers from £49/hour.
Google Play for comparison
Google restructured its fees for the UK, EEA and US on 30 June 2026. The page that applies to UK users now sets the service fee by whether the user's first install or update came before or after that date ("existing" or "new" installs), plus a 5% billing fee when a purchase uses Google Play Billing. For the first $1 million of annual earnings the service fee is 10%, and for recurring (subscription) transactions it is 10%, each plus the 5% billing fee. Above the first $1 million the standard service fee is 20% on new installs and 25% on existing installs for non-recurring in-app purchases.
| UK users, Google Play Billing | Service fee | Billing fee | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| In-app purchase, first $1m of annual earnings | 10% | 5% | 15% |
| In-app purchase, above $1m, new installs | 20% | 5% | 25% |
| In-app purchase, above $1m, existing installs | 25% | 5% | 30% |
| Subscriptions | 10% | 5% | 15% |
Sources: Understanding Google Play's lower service fees and Service fees, Play Console Help. Last checked 13 October 2026.
On the same £120,000 of UK in-app sales within the first $1 million, Google Play's total of 15% costs £18,000, the same as Apple's Small Business rate and half of Apple's standard rate. Google also lists lower rates for developers who join its Apps Experience or Games Level Up programmes. The older "15% on the first $1 million, 30% above" structure still appears on Google's page, but for markets that have not yet moved to the new fees, not the UK. For the wider store comparison, see App Store vs Google Play.
EU and UK: what has changed
EU. Apple says its Developer Program License Agreement, updated on 18 August 2026, introduced unified business terms for apps distributed in the EU, effective 1 October 2026. For EU storefronts, Apple lists 26% on sales processed by Apple In-App Purchase, or 15% for Small Business Program participants and for subscriptions after their first year; where a developer uses alternative payment processing in the app, 20%, or 10% for the same two groups. Apps distributed outside the App Store in the EU pay a 5% Core Technology Commission. These rates apply to apps distributed in the EU, not to your UK sales.
UK. The Competition and Markets Authority designated Apple as having strategic market status for its mobile platform in October 2025. On its case page the CMA lists final Apple commitments published on 1 April 2026 (covering app review, ranking, use of data and interoperability), and a proposed steering conduct requirement put to consultation on 30 June 2026, with responses published on 14 August 2026. We found nothing on Apple's pages or the CMA's page that changes the UK commission rates of 30% and 15%. Apple's membership page lists Brazil, the European Union, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia and South Korea as places with different commission rates; the UK is not on that list.
Treat the UK regulatory position as moving: the steering proposals concern how developers can point users to payments outside the app, not the Small Business rate itself.
What founders get wrong
- Not enrolling. The 15% rate does not apply automatically. Without enrolment you pay 30%.
- Enrolling late. The new rate starts 15 days after the end of the fiscal month of approval.
- Forgetting associated accounts. The programme exists for small businesses, and Apple asks you to list every account you own or control.
- Counting sales instead of proceeds. The $1 million test is on proceeds after commission, taxes and adjustments.
- Publishing from someone else's account. The Account Holder enrols, and transferred apps carry their proceeds with them.
Launching a paid or subscription app?
We set up your App Store accounts in your company's name and release the app for you.
App Store and Google Play setup, submission and release are part of our mobile app development work, and of our MVP builds (from £10,000, typically 6 to 8 weeks). You own the developer accounts and the app from day one, which is what lets you enrol in the Small Business Program yourself.
App Store Small Business Program: frequently asked questions
Is the Apple commission 15% or 30%?
Apple's standard commission on digital goods and services sold through the App Store is 30%. It is 15% if you are enrolled in the App Store Small Business Program. Auto-renewable subscriptions drop from 30% to 15% after a subscriber's first year of paid service, and Small Business Program members receive 85% of the subscription price at every billing cycle.
What is the App Store Small Business Program threshold?
You and your associated developer accounts must have earned no more than $1 million in proceeds in the prior calendar year and no more than $1 million in the current year. Proceeds are sales net of Apple's commission and certain taxes and adjustments.
Do I have to apply for the 15% rate?
Yes. The Account Holder enrols, accepts the latest Paid Apps agreement in App Store Connect and lists any associated developer accounts. The adjusted rate starts 15 days after the end of the fiscal month in which Apple approves the enrolment.
What happens if I earn more than $1 million?
The standard commission applies to future sales for the rest of that calendar year. If your proceeds fall below $1 million in a later calendar year, you can re-qualify for 15% the year after.
Is Google Play's commission also 15%?
For UK users, Google Play charges a 10% service fee on the first $1 million of annual earnings plus a 5% billing fee when you use Google Play Billing, so 15% in total. Subscriptions are 10% plus the 5% billing fee. Above $1 million the standard in-app rates are higher.
Does the Small Business Program apply to my UK sales and to my group companies?
It applies to App Store sales generally, and you must include every account you own or control. If your group companies each hold developer accounts, their proceeds are added together for the $1 million test.
Can Magora set up my App Store account and enrol me?
We set up your Apple and Google developer accounts in your company's name and publish the app as part of the build. The Account Holder, who must be someone with legal authority at your company, accepts Apple's agreements, including the Small Business Program enrolment.
Rates and rules last checked 13 October 2026 against developer.apple.com and Google Play Console Help. Both companies change terms, so check the linked pages before you rely on a figure. This is general information, not tax or legal advice.
Alex Galaktionov
A seasoned technology expert and agile advocate, Alexey brings over a decade of transformative expertise in the IT sector guiding startups through effective fundraising strategies, tech innovation and development methodologies for groundbreaking products.
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