Apple’s new business terms for apps distributed in the European Union take effect Thursday, October 1, 2026. The change replaces the Core Technology Fee with a flat 5 percent Core Technology Commission, eliminates two other fees outright, and folds everything into a single rate card of 26, 20, 15 and 5 percent depending on how a developer distributes the app and processes payment. Apple announced the change on August 18, 2026, and says developers can sign the new terms now.
Apple describes the change as the result of collaboration with the European Commission under the EU’s Digital Markets Act, moving every developer in the region onto, in Apple’s words, “a single set of business terms.” It arrives a few weeks after iOS 27 shipped as a free update on September 14, though the new terms live inside Apple’s developer agreements rather than inside that software release.
Key facts on Apple’s new EU terms
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Announced | August 18, 2026, Apple Newsroom |
| Effective | Thursday, October 1, 2026 |
| Core Technology Fee | Replaced by a flat 5% Core Technology Commission |
| Initial Acquisition Fee | Eliminated |
| Store Services Fee | Eliminated |
| Rate card | 26 / 20 / 15 / 5 percent, by distribution route |
| Source | developer.apple.com/support/apps-in-the-eu/ |
The same August 18 update also carried a new Apple Developer Program License Agreement, so the rate card is not a standalone policy note. It sits inside the contract every developer with an app in the EU has to accept, and Apple says that contract can be signed now, ahead of the October 1 effective date.
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The new 26/20/15/5 rate card
Apple’s developer support page lays out four routes to the customer, each with a standard rate and a reduced rate:
| Route to the customer | Standard rate | Reduced rate |
|---|---|---|
| App Store app, Apple In-App Purchase | 26% | 15% |
| App Store app, alternative payment processing in the app | 20% | 10% |
| App Store app, link out to the web (Store Services Commission) | 15% | 10% |
| Alternative marketplace or the developer’s own website (Core Technology Commission) | 5% | None |
The reduced rate applies to participants in the Small Business Program, the Mini Apps Partner Program and the Video Partner Program, and to auto-renewing subscriptions after their first year, per Apple’s developer support page. The 5 percent Core Technology Commission carries no reduced tier because it is already the lowest rate on the card, and it applies whether a customer reaches the app through an alternative marketplace or through the developer’s own website.
What disappears from the old EU terms
Apple’s release lists several pieces of the prior EU framework as gone outright, not just renamed:
- The Core Technology Fee, a per-install charge, is replaced by the flat 5 percent Core Technology Commission on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store.
- The Initial Acquisition Fee is eliminated.
- The Store Services Fee is eliminated.
- The Alternative Terms Addendum for Apps in the EU is superseded.
- The StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement (EU) Addendum is superseded.
Apple In-App Purchase and alternative payments can now coexist
One change in Apple’s release is a reversal rather than a simplification: developers can now offer Apple In-App Purchase alongside alternative payment options inside the same iPhone 18 Pro or iPhone Duo app sold in the EU, something Apple’s own terms previously prohibited. Apple’s release states this plainly without further detail on how the two payment paths are expected to be presented together inside one app.
That single line undoes a rule that shaped how EU developers built checkout flows since the DMA’s business-terms provisions first applied to Apple. A developer no longer has to pick one payment system for the whole EU version of an app; Apple’s own commission structure now assumes several routes can run at once.
What Apple has not said
- Apple has not published a full list of which developers qualify for the reduced rate beyond naming the three programs and the subscription-renewal case.
- Apple has not said whether the rate card itself can change again before the DMA’s separate interoperability deadlines, which run through June 2027.
- Apple has not detailed how it will audit or verify the transaction reports developers must file under the new terms.
- Apple has not said what happens to an app that has not accepted the updated license agreement by October 1.
As of September 12, 2026, the updated Apple Developer Program License Agreement carrying these EU terms is available to sign, with the October 1 effective date fixed. Our iOS 27 release date coverage and full event recap cover what else Apple has shipped this month.
