How much does Apple take from app sales? Every fee (2026)

By Sigsten Gustavii· 27 October 2026· 9 min read

Apple takes 30% of what people pay for digital goods in an iPhone app, and 15% if you are a small developer in its Small Business Program or the subscription has run for more than a year.

That one sentence covers most apps, but the details decide what you actually keep. This guide lists every fee Apple charges App Store developers in 2026, from Apple's own pages, shows what you keep on a typical price, and explains which sales Apple does not touch at all.

The standard 30% commission

When Apple sells something digital on your behalf, a paid download, a level, a premium feature, a subscription, it keeps a commission and passes on the rest. Apple's standard rate is 30%. It applies to developers above the Small Business Program's threshold, and to the opening year of each subscriber's subscription for developers outside the program.

Guideline 3.1.1 of the App Review Guidelines is what makes the commission unavoidable for digital goods: if you want to unlock features or content inside your app, you must use Apple's in-app purchase, not your own checkout, license keys or codes.

The Small Business Program: 15%

Most new and small developers pay half the standard rate. Apple's Small Business Program charges 15% on paid apps and in-app purchases for developers who made up to 1 million USD in proceeds in the prior calendar year, across all their apps. New developers qualify too.

• You have to enroll. It is not automatic: you apply through Apple's program page once you are in the Developer Program.
• Proceeds, not revenue. Apple counts proceeds, meaning sales after its commission and certain taxes and adjustments, so the threshold is higher in gross sales.
• Associated accounts count together. If you control several developer accounts, their proceeds are added up.
• Crossing the line mid-year. If you pass 1 million USD in the current year, the standard rate applies to sales after that point, and you can requalify the following year if you drop back below.

Subscriptions: 70%, then 85%

Auto-renewing subscriptions have their own rule. According to Apple's subscriptions page, you receive 70% of the price during a subscriber's opening year and 85% once they have a year of paid service. In the Small Business Program you receive 85% from the start.

A few details matter for planning: free trials do not count toward the year, the year is counted per subscription group, and if a subscriber lapses for more than 60 days the count starts again.

What Apple does not take a cut of

Not every payment in an app goes through Apple. The App Review Guidelines draw clear lines:

• Physical goods and real-world services (guideline 3.1.3(e)): a delivery, a haircut booking, a ticket to a real event. These must use a payment method other than in-app purchase, so Apple takes nothing; your card processor charges its own fee.
• Person-to-person services in real time (guideline 3.1.3(d)): tutoring, a consultation, a fitness session between two people may use other payment methods. One-to-few and one-to-many services must use in-app purchase.
• Free apps: no sale, no commission. Apps that earn from ads keep their ad revenue.
• Links to outside purchases in the US storefront (guideline 3.1.1(a)): Apple's guidelines say apps on the United States storefront may include buttons and links to other ways to buy. Elsewhere, linking out needs an entitlement and is limited to specific regions.

Every App Store fee, in one table

There is no fee per download and no fee for App Review, TestFlight or updates. For a broader look at what the whole app costs to make and run, read how much it costs to make an iPhone app.

What you keep: worked examples

These examples ignore taxes, which vary by country, to show the commission itself.

Small differences per sale add up. For most people publishing their own app, enrolling in the Small Business Program is the single most valuable form you will fill in.

6 ways to keep more of what your app earns

1. Enroll in the Small Business Program as soon as you join the Developer Program. It halves the commission on everything you sell while you stay under the threshold.
2. Sign the Paid Apps Agreement early. Without it you cannot sell anything, and Apple cannot pay you.
3. Offer a yearly plan. Each subscriber's count toward the 85% rate is days of paid service, so a subscriber on a yearly plan reaches it at the renewal, and the subscriber pays for the whole year at once.
4. Keep subscribers. The higher rate only comes after a year of paid service, and a lapse of more than 60 days resets the count. An app people keep using is worth more on every renewal.
5. Sell real-world things outside in-app purchase. If your app books a class or sells a physical product, guideline 3.1.3(e) says to use another payment method, and Apple takes nothing.
6. Price for proceeds, not the sticker. Work out what you keep after Apple's share before you choose a price, using the examples above.

None of these are tricks; they are the rules Apple publishes. Reading them once, before you set a price, is worth more than any later optimisation.

When and how Apple pays you

Apple pays what your app earns into your bank account. According to Apple's payments overview, payments are made within 45 days of the last day of the fiscal month in which the sale happened, provided you have a Paid Apps Agreement in effect, banking details in App Store Connect, and earnings above the minimum payment threshold for each region. Money from your app always comes from Apple, never from the tool you built it with.

How to charge for an iPhone app with Borel, step by step

Borel builds real StoreKit paywalls, the native in-app purchase system, so your app can sell subscriptions or unlocks the way Apple requires. Borel takes none of what your app earns; Apple's commission is the only cut.

1. Build the app by describing it to Borel, and try it on the live iPhone in your browser.
2. Set up a paid plan from Payments in the chat's + menu: a subscription or a one-time unlock, its billing cycle and its price. Then say what it unlocks, in a message like the one below.
3. Borel builds the paywall in Swift with StoreKit, showing Apple's own price, with Restore Purchases, terms and privacy links underneath. You can see it on the live iPhone while you build.
4. Borel creates the products at Apple in your App Store Connect account when you publish, before the build goes to Apple.
5. Sign Apple's Paid Applications Agreement and add banking details in App Store Connect, and enroll in the Small Business Program.
6. Publish with Pro and the Developer Program: Borel builds, signs and uploads the app, and you submit it for review.

On the free tier, people can track up to 3 habits. Pro unlocks unlimited habits and the stats screen. Show the paywall when someone adds a fourth habit.

The in-app purchases page shows what a Borel paywall can do, and the StoreKit glossary entry explains Apple's side.

How to choose a price model

• One-off unlock: simple and honest for a tool people use occasionally.
• Subscription: suits apps that keep giving something new, like content, AI features or synced data that costs you money to run. The 85% after a year rewards apps people keep.
• Free with ads: no commission, but ads need an audience to pay.
• Free: a personal or community app may not need to earn anything; it still needs the 99 USD membership to be on the App Store.

The bottom line

Apple takes 30% of digital sales by default, 15% if you are in the Small Business Program, and 15% on subscriptions that have run for a year. Physical goods, real-world services and ad revenue are yours. If you are building an app to sell, enroll in the Small Business Program early, and if you have not built it yet, start free on Borel: describe the app and its paywall, and Borel builds the StoreKit side for you.

If you sell anything in your app, the Small Business Program is the form I would fill in before any other. Borel takes nothing from what your app earns, and I intend to keep it that way.

– Sigsten

Make your iPhone app in Borel

Describe the app you want and see its first screens before you pay anything.