Apple Slashes EU App Store Fees, Replaces Per-Download Levy With 5% Commission

Apple just rewrote the rules for its App Store in Europe. Again.

On August 18, the company updated its Developer Program License Agreement. The shift, set for October 1, brings a single set of business terms for every app distributed in the European Union. It scraps the much-criticized Core Technology Fee. In its place comes a simpler 5% Core Technology Commission on digital transactions for apps outside the App Store.

The move follows months of talks with European Commission officials. It aims to settle disagreements over how Apple complies with the Digital Markets Act. But not everyone buys the narrative of resolution. Epic Games wasted no time labeling the changes “junk fees.”

From Per-Install Pain to Percentage-Based Simplicity

Developers have complained loudly since Apple first rolled out DMA compliance measures in 2024. The original Core Technology Fee hit apps with €0.50 for each install after the first million in a year. Updates counted too. That structure, critics said, made alternative app stores economically unviable.

Now the math changes. Apps sold through the App Store that use Apple’s in-app purchase system face a 26% commission. Switch to alternative payments inside the App Store and the rate drops to 20%. Link users out to buy on the web? Fifteen percent. Smaller developers in the small business program see those figures fall further, sometimes to 10% or 15% depending on the path. Subscriptions after the first year get discounts as well.

Apple’s own developer support page spells out the details. The update eliminates both the Initial Acquisition Fee and the Store Services Fee that complicated earlier versions. For apps downloaded from alternative marketplaces or directly from the web, the new 5% commission applies only when digital goods or services are sold. No more surprise bills tied to download volume. And, yes, developers can now offer both Apple in-app payments and outside options in the same app. They must stick with their choice for 12 months.

But. The changes come with strings. Child safety rules tighten. Apps aimed at kids cannot link to external transactions. Under-13s stay blocked entirely. Even for teens under 18, parents must approve alternative payment methods. Apple has long argued these protections matter. The DMA forced open doors anyway.

The Reuters report from the day of the announcement captured the split reactions perfectly. “Apple will introduce a single set of terms for developers operating in the EU that are similar to the commission-based terms it offers in markets such as Japan and Brazil,” the company stated. Those markets already run with commissions reaching 30% in some cases.

The European Commission welcomed the update. Officials said they would monitor implementation closely. Their statement offered cautious approval after earlier criticism of Apple’s first attempts at compliance. Last year regulators hit Apple with a fine and complained that the per-install fee discouraged developers from trying rival stores. This revision appears designed to address that exact point.

Tim Sweeney didn’t hold back. The Epic Games CEO posted on X that while the shift from per-download to revenue-based was an improvement, Apple still violates the DMA by taxing competing stores. “EU citizens deserve better and Epic will fight on,” he wrote. His company’s official account called the fees an attempt to herd users back into Apple’s higher-commission system. “The law makes it clear that Apple must allow developers to offer link outs to the web for purchases ‘free of charge’ and has to allow ‘effective use’ of competing stores,” Epic argued.

Numbers tell part of the story. Before these DMA changes, Apple took 30% on most in-app purchases of digital goods. That dropped in stages. The latest structure lands between 10% and 26% for the vast majority of developers, according to Apple’s materials. For the biggest players distributing outside the App Store, the flat 5% replaces a fee that could scale dramatically with user growth.

Yet complexity lingers beneath the surface. Developers must track which users came from where. Reporting requirements remain. Alternative app marketplaces still depend on Apple’s core technology in meaningful ways. And the company continues to face legal pressure both in Europe and the United States over its App Store practices. Apple lost its final appeal against the DMA designation earlier this year. The App Store and iOS remain squarely inside the gatekeeper rules.

Industry watchers point to the pattern. Apple has adjusted in Japan, in Brazil, now in the EU. Each time the core model bends but does not break. Commissions stay. Control over discovery and payments stays. The question regulators keep asking is whether these adjustments deliver the contestable markets the DMA promised.

Small developers may cheer the lower rates and simpler terms. Many already pay reduced commissions under existing programs. Larger ones with millions of users gain predictability. No more worrying that a successful update cycle triggers massive per-install bills. The 5% commission only kicks in on actual sales.

Security and privacy advocates raise familiar concerns. Apple has warned repeatedly that sideloading and alternative stores introduce risks. Its newsroom post from last year highlighted more malware potential and weaker payment protections. The new terms do not roll back those openings. They simply change how Apple gets paid for the infrastructure it still provides.

So where does this leave the market? Effective October 1, the EU gets a more streamlined fee schedule than the layered model of the past two years. Initial acquisition fees, store services fees, and the per-install Core Technology Fee all disappear. One commission structure covers everything. But the total cost to developers for reaching iPhone users still exceeds what pure web distribution would require. And Epic, among others, shows no sign of dropping its campaign.

Apple’s collaboration with the Commission produced this outcome. Whether it satisfies the law’s intent will play out in coming months of monitoring and potential further challenges. For now, the iPhone maker has traded a controversial per-download tax for a straightforward percentage. The industry will spend the next year measuring exactly how many developers actually move to alternative stores under the new math.

One thing is clear. The era of 30% across the board on digital transactions in Europe is over. The question is whether the replacement structure finally creates room for meaningful competition or simply repackages Apple’s cut in language acceptable to Brussels.