For over a year, Apple hasn't earned a single cent in the US when an app directs its customers to its website for payment. That's about to change: Apple has now provided the court with a figure. And, of all places, Europe is being used as the example.
On August 13, Apple filed a motion with the Federal District Court for the Northern District of California, as requested by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers: a concrete proposal outlining the commission the company could charge on purchases made through links from its app to third-party websites. Two days earlier, the court had denied Apple's request to stay the proceedings pending a Supreme Court ruling - we previously documented the 24-hour deadline here. The proposal is contained in Apple's written submission to the court, a 37-page document including three expert opinions (via 9to5mac).
Key Facts at a Glance
- Apple suggests tiered rates: 15 percent for standard apps, 10 percent for partner programs and subscription renewals, 5 percent for small developers.
- This proposal applies exclusively to the USA. Germany and Austria have had their own, higher rates in place since June 2025; in Switzerland, external purchase links are not permitted at all.
- Apple also argues to the court that a pure cost reimbursement, according to the appeals court's definition, would amount to zero percent.
- Apple's assessor uses its own rates from the EU, Japan and Brazil as a benchmark – and refers to them as the lower limit.
- Nothing is decided yet: Epic Games is allowed to respond, the court sets the sentence, and in parallel the Supreme Court examines the basis of the case.
Three sets of sentences for three groups of apps
Apple's model essentially halves the current commission rate for in-app purchases. Those who currently pay 30 percent will pay 15 percent for sales made through an external link. Those already using a reduced commission rate through a partner program will pay 10 percent.
Subscriptions have a special feature: 15 percent is charged in the first year, but the rate drops to 10 percent after the first renewal. This mirrors the tiered pricing Apple already uses for in-app purchases.
| Group | Commission on in-app purchases | Suggested external link |
|---|---|---|
| Standard apps | 30 % | 15 % |
| Video, News and Mini Apps Partner Program | 15 % | 10 % |
| Subscription renewals from the second year onwards | 15 % | 10 % |
| Small Business Program (under US$1 million annual revenue) | 15 % | 5 % |
The Mini Apps Partner Program appears here for the first time in this context. Apple launched it in November 2025 with a 15 percent commission and now assigns it to the same group as video and news partners.
Why Apple itself speaks of zero percent
The most striking part of the document is not the 15, but the 0. In December, the appeals court ruled that Apple is entitled to a commission, but that this should be based on the actual costs incurred in coordinating external links – explicitly excluding security and privacy features.
Apple explains what this definition means: The one-time development costs for the Link feature in the US are in the low single-digit millions. Of the entire patent portfolio, only 14 intellectual property rights are directly involved in the creation of an external purchase, 10 of which also apply to in-app purchases. Apple itself cites the result as a rate of zero percent.
That's precisely why the company argues that the cost metric is flawed. The assessment should focus on the point at which a commission effectively discourages developers from selling externally – not on the cost to Apple. To support this claim, Apple presents figures for payment processing: According to Stripe's and Paddle's list prices, the average processing costs for large apps are 8.1 and 7.8 percent, respectively, while Epic's head of payments stated in court back in 2021 that his company's processing costs were around 3.5 percent.
What European developers are already paying today
Here's how the process works specifically for German-speaking regions. External purchase links have been permitted in the EU since June 26, 2025, and Apple charges a three-part fee for them: an initial acquisition fee of 2 percent for the first six months after installation, a Store Services fee of 5 or 13 percent depending on the chosen tier, and a Core Technology Commission of 5 percent. These figures are detailed in Apple's developer documentation for the EU regulation.
Level 2 is the standard case; those who switch to Level 1 forgo automatic updates, curation, and analysis tools. This creates a picture that clearly contradicts the US proposal.
| Case | USA (proposal) | EU (valid since June 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Standard app, full store services | 15 % | 20 % |
| Standard app, reduced store services | – | 12 % |
| Small Business Program, full store services | 5 % | 15 % |
| Small Business Program, reduced store services | – | 10 % |
A small development company in Berlin or Vienna therefore pays at least twice as much for the same process as what Apple offers a US colleague. That European developers consider this model too expensive has been documented since the end of 2025.
It is noteworthy how Apple uses these rates in the proceedings. The appraiser cites commission models from the EU, Japan, and Brazil as a benchmark range of 10 to 20 percent – and explicitly describes them as a conservative lower limit because they originate from regulatory proceedings in which the negotiating position favored concessions below market value. Apple thus argues to a US court that its own European rates are set too low.
For comparison, the document also cites the competition: Google Play charges 20 percent for external links in the standard case, 15 percent for program participants, and 10 percent for subscribers. The Samsung Galaxy Store charges 20 and 15 percent respectively, while Amazon's Android marketplace prohibits external links entirely.
What buyers in Germany and Austria will notice
For users, the commission rate is only half the story. Apple explains in the same documentation what an external purchase practically means: These transactions don't appear in the Apple account's purchase history or subscription management, Family Sharing and Purchase Request don't work, "Report a Problem" isn't available, and a refund through Apple is impossible. If you want to know which of your current subscriptions are still being billed through Apple, check your purchase history in your Apple account.
Switzerland is on the other side here: It's neither in the EU nor the EEA, so the Digital Markets Act doesn't apply. Apple lists the countries permitted for external purchase links individually – Germany and Austria are included, but Switzerland isn't. Swiss customers therefore don't see the cheaper web offers, but they retain their purchase history, family sharing, and refund process unchanged with Apple.
In practice, even in Germany and Austria, little of this has been implemented. Anyone trying to subscribe to Premium in the Spotify app is presented with a message box stating "You can't subscribe to Premium in the app," along with the provider's website address and a dismissal button. Apple's system dialog, which normally appears before the app closes, doesn't even show up.
This isn't an oversight, but a calculated move. Apple's fees only apply when an offer is advertised with a clickable link – simply mentioning an address doesn't trigger the initial acquisition fee, the store services fee, or the Core Technology Commission. The cost is borne by the user who types the address into their browser.
The proposal is geared towards Europe
The 15 percent figure is not derived from cost calculations, but rather a positioning: slightly below what Google Play charges and significantly below what Apple charges in the EU. This allows Apple to tell the court that it is more competitive than its direct competitor – and thus avoids having to lower its own European rates.
Our expectation is that the court will settle significantly lower. The starting point for this is in the written submission itself: In her dismissal of August 11, Judge Gonzalez Rogers adopted verbatim the wording of the appeals court, according to which only the costs truly necessary for coordinating external links may be reimbursed – „but no more.“ Anyone who uses this sentence as a benchmark will hardly arrive at a reduction of the regular commission by half. Apple apparently factored this in and filed a motion for settlement talks alongside the proposal.
The proceedings have no direct impact on the DACH market. However, they do have an indirect effect: Should a US court set a rate close to zero, this would create a benchmark that developers and regulators in Brussels could cite. The evidence Apple must provide in California is the same evidence the EU Commission requires regarding the appropriateness of the App Store services fee.
The timeline until the decision
Epic Games now has 60 days to submit its own statement, after which the court will schedule a hearing. The case is proceeding in parallel before the Supreme Court, which accepted Apple's appeal at the end of June; Apple's written submission there is due on September 14, and the session begins in October.
The two issues are interconnected. The Supreme Court is examining whether a court can enforce an injunction through coercive measures if it violates the spirit of the injunction rather than its literal wording. If this legal basis is invalidated, the grounds for setting the commission also disappear – whereas the Court of Appeals had already granted Apple a fundamental right to compensation in December. Until then, the commission remains at zero percent in the US.
External purchase links are essentially a trade-off for you: a few percent cheaper on the provider's website, but no purchase history, no family sharing, and no refund through Apple. Would you forgo these benefits for a lower price, or is the App Store transaction worth the extra cost to you? Let us know in the comments where you draw the line. (Image: Apple / Apfelpatient)
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