Key Takeaways
Apple is replacing the per-install Core Technology Fee with a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store.
App Store commissions drop to 26% with Apple In-App Purchase, 20% with alternative payment processing, and 15% for link-outs, with reduced 15% and 10% rates for most developers.
Apps from the App Store cannot link out to websites for transactions for users under 13, and users under 18 hit a parental gate.
Apple announced on August 18 that it is rewriting its business terms for every developer distributing apps in the European Union, ending a two-year standoff with the European Commission over app distribution. Developers can sign the new terms now. They take effect October 1.
The headline change is structural. The Core Technology Fee, a per-install charge on developers at extraordinary scale that regulators said discouraged alternative marketplaces, is gone. In its place sits the Core Technology Commission, a flat 5% on digital transactions in apps distributed through third-party marketplaces or the web, according to Apple's announcement. The initial acquisition fee and store services fee are also eliminated.
What Developers Will Actually Pay
Apps on the App Store using Apple In-App Purchase pay 26%, falling to 15% for developers in the Small Business Program, Mini Apps Partner Program or Video Partner Program, and for auto-renewing subscriptions after the first year. Alternative payment processing costs 20%, or 10% for those same programs. Linking out to the web costs 15%, or 10% at the reduced rate. Developers can now offer Apple In-App Purchase alongside alternative payments, which the EU terms previously barred, and must hold their chosen configuration for 12 months.
The Child Safety Provisions Are the Part Most Coverage Skipped
Apps in the Kids category cannot include links to outside websites for transactions. Every App Store app using alternative payments or link-outs must present a parental gate to users under 18. Apps cannot link out at all for users under 13. That lands in the same fight WYDE covered when the Supreme Court let Texas enforce its app store age verification law and when 29 states opened their social media addiction trial against Meta.
Apple also widened eligibility to run an alternative marketplace, now open to publicly traded companies, venture-backed firms, audited businesses, government entities, educational institutions and nonprofits. Every alternatively distributed app still goes through Notarization. TechCrunch reported the changes read as a preview of what Apple may offer in the US.
People Also Ask
What is Apple's Core Technology Commission?
A 5% commission on digital transactions in apps distributed via alternative marketplaces or the web in the EU, replacing the per-install Core Technology Fee.
When do Apple's new EU App Store terms take effect?
October 1, 2026. Developers can sign the terms now.
What is Apple's new EU App Store commission rate?
26% with Apple In-App Purchase, 20% with alternative payment processing, 15% for link-outs, with reduced rates of 15% and 10% for most developers.
What child safety rules apply to alternative payments in the EU?
Kids category apps cannot link out for transactions, under-18 users face a parental gate, and under-13 users cannot be linked out at all.