Apple’s EU checkout fees: when cheaper pays less

A smaller fee. A surprisingly small cushion.

You keep more from each payment, but fewer people finish paying. Which checkout wins? For a small iOS subscription app, the answer can turn on a fraction of a percentage point.

Apple announced revised EU business terms on 18 August 2026, with key changes effective 1 October 2026. RevenueCat’s 1 October analysis puts the fee-versus-conversion trade-off back on the table.

For an eligible App Store Small Business Program participant, Apple lists 15% for Apple In-App Purchase and 10% for alternative payment processing inside the app. Provider charges come on top of the alternative route. Those are the reduced rates used below, not the standard-rate schedule. Check Apple’s EU payment terms for your app.

What does a €0.20 advantage buy you?

Here is a hypothetical model, not a benchmark or provider quote. Assume an EU iOS subscription app enrolled in the Small Business Program. Both routes use the same €10 commission and processor fee base. Taxes are excluded solely to isolate fees; your actual tax and fee bases must follow the applicable agreements.

Apple IAP leaves €10 × (1 − 15%) = €8.50. In-app alternative processing leaves €10 × (1 − 10% − 3%) = €8.70. The 3% processor charge is invented for this example. There is no fixed transaction charge, discount, refund, renewal or service cost in this simplified model.

If IAP converts 10% of eligible offer viewers, the alternative needs 10% × €8.50 ÷ €8.70 = about 9.77% to match the money retained. A drop of roughly 0.23 percentage points, or 2.30% relative, consumes the entire fee advantage.

Picture two modeled groups of 1,000 eligible viewers, each observed for seven full days after seeing an offer, with at most one first payment per person. At 10% conversion, IAP produces 100 payments and €850 after the modeled fees. At 9.5%, the alternative produces 95 payments and €826.50. The cheaper transaction earns less across the group.

This models two possible outcomes. Before attempting a live experiment, there is a longer operating commitment to consider.

This choice lasts longer than a test.

Apple requires your chosen payment option or combination to remain across all EU storefronts for 12 months. When alternatives appear alongside IAP, IAP must appear simultaneously and at least as prominently. Alternative flows need the entitlement, eligibility checks and required disclosure. You take on billing, tax and refund responsibilities; monthly transaction reporting is due within 15 days after month-end. Apple’s requirements also cover age restrictions and presentation.

That changes the order of work. Model a pessimistic conversion outcome first. Price the provider’s fixed charges and your support workload. Prove the purchase flow in a technical spike before committing. A lower advertised commission is a poor reason to create a year of maintenance for a two-person team.

Follow the person past the payment button.

As of this review, RevenueCat’s documentation labels its in-app web checkout a private beta and the external-purchase configuration options experimental. Confirm access and current SDK requirements before planning around it. We have reviewed the documents, not tested an integration.

Our suggested acceptance test: complete a purchase, unlock access, return to the app after an interruption, then check renewal, cancellation and refund behavior. Include an existing subscriber so switching paths cannot silently create duplicate subscriptions. Check the experience for users who are ineligible for the alternative flow.

Once your chosen options are compliant and live, evaluate permitted presentation changes using proceeds per eligible offer viewer. Include people who never tap checkout. Keep the plan, price, countries, acquisition mix and observation window comparable. Separately follow later renewals, refunds and support costs; a seven-day first-payment result cannot establish lifetime value.

A worthwhile switch leaves enough extra contribution to pay for its operation. Start with the break-even conversion calculation, then connect it to your paywall funnel and the cohort’s longer-term value.