Apple Wants A Cut Even When You Don’t Pay Through The App Store

Apple already takes a percentage of many purchases made through its App Store.

Now, the company wants to take a cut even when the customer leaves the App Store to pay somewhere else.

Apple has proposed charging developers up to 15% on purchases made through external payment links inside iPhone and iPad apps. The proposal was submitted to a U.S. federal court as part of Apple's long-running legal battle with Epic Games.

That sounds strange at first.

If a customer clicks a link inside an app, leaves Apple's payment system, and completes the purchase on a website, why should Apple receive a percentage of that transaction?

That question sits at the heart of one of the biggest battles over the future of mobile app businesses.

Under Apple's proposed structure, standard apps would face a 15% commission on qualifying external purchases.

Developers participating in certain Apple partner programs, as well as some subscription renewals, would face a 10% rate.

Developers in Apple's Small Business Program would pay 5%.

The proposal is significant because external payments were supposed to give developers a way to avoid Apple's traditional in-app payment system.

For years, Apple's App Store rules restricted how developers could direct customers toward alternative payment options.

Epic Games challenged those rules after attempting to introduce its own payment system in Fortnite, setting off a legal battle that has continued for years.

The courts eventually ordered Apple to allow developers to provide links directing users toward outside purchasing mechanisms.

But the fight didn't end there.

Apple subsequently sought to impose restrictions and fees around those external purchases, leading to another round of legal disputes.

Now Apple has put forward a new proposal.

And Epic isn't happy.

One of the strangest parts of the latest dispute is that Apple has acknowledged that the actual costs associated with facilitating these external web purchases are essentially zero under the court's definition of "necessary costs."

Yet Apple is still proposing commissions of between 5% and 15%.

Apple argues that its broader ecosystem provides developers with valuable tools, technologies, distribution, security, and other services, and that its proposed structure should compensate for those benefits.

Epic sees the situation very differently.

The company argues that Apple's proposed fees go beyond what the court's ruling allows and would undermine the purpose of letting developers direct customers outside the App Store.

And that's where this becomes much bigger than Apple and Epic.

For a small startup, the difference between keeping 100% of a customer's payment and giving away 15% can be enormous.

Imagine a subscription business generating $1 million through purchases linked from its iPhone app.

A 15% commission would represent $150,000.

For a giant technology company, that may be manageable.

For a young startup trying to hire engineers, pay for servers, acquire customers, and survive long enough to grow, it can represent a significant amount of money.

That's why app-store fees have become such an important issue for startups.

The argument isn't simply about percentages.

It's about who controls the relationship between a startup and its customers.

Apple controls iOS.

Developers build businesses on top of it.

And whenever customers discover a product through an iPhone app, Apple sits between the developer and the platform on which that relationship exists.

That gives Apple enormous influence over how mobile businesses operate.

Apple's proposal raises a question that could become increasingly important as digital businesses evolve:

If a company provides the platform but doesn't process the payment, how much should it be allowed to charge?

There is no simple answer.

Apple spends enormous amounts maintaining iOS, operating the App Store, providing developer tools, protecting users, and running its ecosystem.

But developers argue that forcing them to pay a percentage of transactions completed outside Apple's payment system gives Apple too much control over businesses that technically operate beyond the App Store.

The answer could have consequences far beyond Epic Games.

If courts ultimately establish clearer limits on Apple's ability to charge for external purchases, developers could gain more freedom to build alternative payment systems and business models.

That could be especially important for startups.

A small company might be able to offer cheaper subscriptions, keep more revenue, or experiment with different pricing without giving Apple a percentage of every transaction.

But if Apple succeeds in maintaining a meaningful commission on external purchases, developers could continue facing significant platform costs even when they choose to process payments elsewhere.

It's important to understand what Apple is actually proposing.

This isn't Apple abandoning its App Store commission model.

It's the opposite.

Apple is attempting to create a new structure that allows external purchasing while still giving the company a financial interest in those transactions.

The proposed rates are lower than Apple's traditional 30% maximum App Store commission, but they still give Apple a percentage of purchases that happen outside its payment system.

And for developers, that distinction matters.

An external payment option only becomes a powerful alternative if it provides a meaningful economic benefit.

If developers escape one fee only to encounter another, the question becomes whether the alternative is actually alternative enough.

That is precisely what regulators and courts will have to consider.

Apple's proposal is not a final rule yet.

It still has to go through the court process, and Epic is expected to challenge it. The broader legal dispute between the two companies also continues, with the U.S. Supreme Court involved in related proceedings.

But regardless of how this particular proposal ends, the underlying battle isn't disappearing.

The world's biggest technology platforms increasingly control the infrastructure on which startups build their businesses.

And when one company controls the operating system, app distribution, payment infrastructure, and rules governing access to customers, even a seemingly small percentage can become a major business issue.

Apple isn't simply fighting over a 15% fee.

It's fighting over how much control it should retain over an economy built on top of its platform.

And for startups, the answer could determine how much of their own revenue they actually get to keep.