How in-app purchases and subscriptions work
An in-app purchase is a user buying a digital feature, piece of content or subscription inside a mobile app. On the App Store and Google Play, digital goods are as a rule sold through the store’s own payment system: the store takes the payment, keeps its commission and pays the rest to the developer. Physical goods and services fall outside that rule. Choosing the right model is a decision for the app’s first design, not for launch week.
Below we summarise the rules, based on section 3.1 of Apple’s App Review Guidelines and Google Play’s Payments policy. Everything was checked against the official pages in October 2026. Store rules change often, so look at the current versions again before you launch.
Which purchases must go through the store’s payment system?
Anything digital that is used inside the app is sold through the store’s payment system. Under Apple’s guideline 3.1.1, unlocking features or functionality in an app — subscriptions, in-game currency, levels, premium content, a full version — must use in-app purchase, and apps may not use their own unlocking mechanisms such as licence keys or QR codes. Google Play’s Payments policy likewise requires Google Play’s billing system for in-app features, content, subscriptions and ad-free versions.
The main exceptions:
| What is sold | Store payment required? | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| In-app feature, content, ad-free version | Yes | Apple 3.1.1, Google Play Payments policy |
| Subscription to digital content or a service | Yes | Apple 3.1.2, Google Play Payments policy |
| Physical goods or services used outside the app | No — store payment is not used | Apple 3.1.3(e), Google Play Payments policy |
| Real-time service between two people (tutoring, consultations) | Not on Apple; yes for one-to-many services | Apple 3.1.3(d) |
| Services sold to organisations for their staff | Not on Apple, under set conditions | Apple 3.1.3(c) |
In a restaurant app, for example, a food order is paid by card or another method. A “premium recipe archive” sold in the same app is an in-app purchase.
May you send users to your website to pay?
It depends on the country. Apple’s guidelines bar buttons and links that steer users to other purchase methods in every storefront except the United States, unless the developer holds a specific entitlement from Apple; in the US storefront that prohibition does not apply. On Google Play, linking out or offering alternative billing is possible only in eligible countries and through the relevant programme. Outside those cases, building the purchase on the store’s own system is the safe route.
One-off purchase or subscription?
A one-off purchase sells a lasting right once; a subscription sells ongoing value period by period. Apple’s in-app purchase page names four types: consumable, non-consumable, auto-renewable subscription and non-renewing subscription.
| Model | What is sold | Suits | Store rule to watch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumable | Something used up | In-game currency, credits, a one-time service | Purchased credits may not expire (Apple 3.1.1) |
| Non-consumable | A right bought once and kept | Ad-free version, full version, a permanent feature | Offer a way to restore purchases (Apple 3.1.1) |
| Auto-renewable subscription | Ongoing value: content, a service, sync | News, learning content, cloud services | At least a seven-day period, ongoing value, available on all the user’s devices (Apple 3.1.2(a)) |
| Non-renewing subscription | Access for a fixed period | A season pass | Does not renew on its own |
Two of our own apps show two models. In Tako, every feature is free; a small ad banner keeps the app going, and a single one-time purchase removes it for good. We did not want to ask the user of a subscription tracker to take out yet another subscription just to manage theirs. Mümin 360 offers a Premium option alongside its free version.
The question to ask before choosing a subscription
Before choosing a subscription, ask: does the user receive new value every period? Apple’s guideline 3.1.2(a) explicitly requires a subscription to provide “ongoing value”. If the value is delivered once — a feature, a tool, an ad-free experience — a one-off purchase fits both the rules and the user’s expectations better. If there is new content, a server-side service or continuously updated data, a subscription makes sense.
Apple also asks that, when an existing app switches to a subscription model, existing users do not lose the primary functionality they have already paid for.
How much commission do the stores take?
Store commission depends on the type of sale, the developer’s annual earnings and the country. The figures below come from the official pages and apply to the price after tax.
App Store. According to Apple’s subscriptions page, for an auto-renewable subscription the developer receives 70% of the price at each billing cycle during a subscriber’s first year, rising to 85% once that subscriber has a year of paid service. Developers in the App Store Small Business Program — those who earned up to USD 1 million in proceeds across all their apps in the prior calendar year, and developers new to the store — pay a reduced 15% commission on paid apps and in-app purchases. Different terms can apply in the European Union.
Google Play. Google is part-way through a change. In the UK, the EEA and the US, a new structure started on 30 June 2026 (Australia and Japan followed on 30 September): the fee is split into a service fee and, for Google Play Billing, a 5% billing fee. Auto-renewing subscriptions within a developer’s first USD 1 million of annual earnings carry 10% plus that billing fee; the other rates depend on the purchase type, the programme and whether the user installed before or after the rollout date, and are set out on Google’s fee page. In the remaining markets — Türkiye among them — the older rates still apply until the global rollout on 30 September 2027: 15% on the first USD 1 million earned each year, 30% above that, and a flat 15% on auto-renewing subscriptions.
These rates are where a revenue model starts. When setting a price, account for the store’s share, tax and any free trial periods together.
How do refunds work?
The store decides refunds, and users ask the store for them. On the App Store, users request a refund at reportaproblem.apple.com and Apple assesses the request. On Google Play, users request refunds through Google Play; Google notes that developers can also issue refunds under their own policies and applicable law.
For cancellations, Google Play’s subscriptions policy sets the default: a user who cancels does not get a refund for the current billing period and keeps access until it ends. In some countries local law allows a prorated refund.
For the app’s design, this means refunds and cancellations happen in the store’s screens, but users must be able to reach those screens easily from your app. Apple recommends always making the system’s subscription-management screen, where people can cancel, easy to get to. Google Play requires apps that sell subscriptions to show clearly how to manage and cancel them.
What belongs on the purchase screen?
A purchase screen should let users see at a glance what they are buying, what they will pay and how to back out. Apple’s guideline 3.1.2(c) and Google Play’s subscriptions policy both ask for this information to be clear. Before submitting to the stores, we recommend going through this checklist:
- Is the thing being bought described concretely (“ad-free use”, “new content every month”)?
- Are the price and billing period clear? On an annual plan, is the monthly equivalent kept less prominent than the real price?
- If there is a free trial, are its length and the amount due afterwards stated?
- Are automatic renewal and the way to cancel explained?
- For a one-off purchase, is there a “restore purchases” option?
- Does the subscription work on all the user’s devices?
- Does the purchase ask the user to do extra tasks — post on social media, upload contacts? If so, remove them; Apple 3.1.2 does not allow it.
- Are the terms of use and privacy policy linked from the purchase screen?
Some of these are frequent reasons for rejection in App Store review; we list the most common ones in why the App Store rejects apps. We cover the review process as a whole in the App Store review process.
What about tax?
Tax on store sales has two layers: the sales tax collected from the user and the tax on the developer’s own income. Apple defines the developer’s share as the price “minus applicable taxes”, and in many countries the stores collect the tax due from users themselves. Which countries those are is set out in the developer agreements’ annexes and in the developer consoles.
How the developer records the payout, which documents to issue and how the income is taxed depend on the law of the developer’s own country. For a definite answer, speak to your accountant. We build the purchase design of the app; we do not give tax or accounting advice.
Frequently asked questions
Does the store take commission if my app sells physical goods?
No. For physical goods and services used outside the app, Apple requires payment methods other than in-app purchase, and Google Play keeps such sales outside its billing system. Card payments or Apple Pay are used instead, and the payment provider’s own fee applies.
Should an ad-free version be a subscription or a one-off purchase?
In most apps a one-off purchase fits better, because removing ads is a right granted once. A subscription makes sense when the user gets new value every period. That is why the purchase that removes Tako’s ad banner is a one-off.
How does a user cancel a subscription?
Through the store’s own subscription screen: on the App Store, in the subscriptions section of their account settings; on Google Play, in the Play Store’s subscriptions centre. The app has to show the way to that screen clearly.
Are in-app purchases set up the same way in both stores?
The logic is the same; the set-up is separate. Products are defined separately in App Store Connect and Google Play Console, and the two stores’ rules and fee structures differ. If you are launching on both platforms, plan the design for both from the start; we cover the knock-on effects in iOS or Android?.
If you would like to think through the right revenue model for your app together, see our mobile apps page, read what determines mobile app cost for the other cost drivers, or simply write to us. We reply within two working days.
