- Published on
Unpopular Opinion: Apple Should be Allowed to Take Commission on App Purchases
- Authors
- Name
- edstef
- @epmeddie
Introduction
This week saw many headlines regarding a US judge ruling that Apple has violated a court order from 2021. This original ruling would require Apple to allow developers to link to external payment methods for in-app purchases (IAP). Until this point, IAP’s on iOS would be processed through the App Store and subjected to a 30% ‘Apple tax’. Apple reluctantly obliged and allowed the alternative payment options but still forced a 27% fee on this revenue, which defeated the purpose of why developers wanted external payment processing in the first place.
The April 2025 ruling that is now capturing media buzz states that Apple is not allowed to collect fees from external payment methods or impose restrictions, like burying alternative payment options where nobody can see them.
Opinion
As a small app developer, I obviously welcome these changes since I get to keep more of my app revenue, but I also wasn’t complaining before. Apple’s App Store offers a premium user base that yields higher IAP spend, as well as a higher CPM for ads. Despite the large ‘Apple Tax’ many developers still see higher returns from their iOS apps as opposed to their Android counterparts.
I think Apple should be allowed to charge a premium to access this user base, and why does Epic Games or some judge get to determine the value of that. Not only this, but as a developer it seems like if you want your app distributed anywhere that isn’t your own website, there is a fee usually in the ballpark of 30%.
Platform Fees
I did some quick queries for how much commission popular distribution channels charge apps / games:
| Platform | Commission |
|---|---|
| App Store | 30% |
| Play Store | 30% |
| Roblox | 30% |
| Steam | 30% |
| Epic Games | 12% |
Seems like the going rate is right around 30%, even Epic games themselves charge a cut of revenue. The Epic Games store is vying for market share against established and long standing incumbents thus offers a lower rate and honestly seems like they are trying to use legal avenues to help increase this market share under the guise of advocating for small developers.
Scrolling my twitter I found this from the Epic Games CEO, Tim Sweeney:
It would be nice if they practiced what they preached, and seems like they are... for now. Another article I found stated that Epic Games’ fee-less structure only applies to apps making less than $1 Million, afterwards the 12% commission kicks in. I also found this tweet which seems to corroborate that:
Conclusion
I believe that the App Store and other distribution channels do provide a lot of value and always shrugged off the fees because what else was I supposed to do? Either way it will be interesting to see how this affects the apps we use and pay for.