Payments company Paddle announces an alternative in-app payments system for iOS, charging 5%-10% fees and launching December 7, following Epic v. Apple ruling
which makes it not “in-app” but more like how we've been doing it on the web for the past 20 yrs 😉 Fees: 10% or 5% + $0.50 https://twitter.com/... Elena / @virtualelena : $689m is an incredible number, but it would be even more amazing if Roblox weren't forced to pay out 30% of its revenue to other platforms. This is a problem that's produced upstream, by app stores. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Congratulations to Paddle on announcing the first in-app purchasing system for iOS, which is opening up (to everyone but Fortnite) by the court's judgment giving Apple 90 days to permit apps to “direct customers to purchasing mechanisms”. https://twitter.com/... Paul Hudson / @twostraws : Me: “This could be interesting...” > By removing Apple as the middleman, Paddle can give sellers far greater access to data on each customer. Me: “...right, back to Apple, then.” https://twitter.com/... Zach / @zachshakked : Competition is great - aint it? Adding the PayPal gateway (in addition to Apple Pay + credit cards) is HUGE. From what I've heard, companies that offer PayPal see a large % of their revenue come from it. https://www.macrumors.com/... Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : @nickjsheriff Companies like @RevenueCat have a big incentive to ensure their new offerings are compliant before making them generally available. They have a reputation to maintain, which matters a lot in their industry. @hodapp : I always find it to be fascinating to see one of the primary objections to third party billing in apps is “I don't trust my information to anyone else!” So, like, how do you engage in online commerce with literally anyone else if only Apple can be trusted with your billing info? Nick S. / @nickjsheriff : These companies egging you on are not you, they are not startups who have apps in the App Store. They do not have to live with any consequences here they are empowered by the opportunity to disrupt and benefit from that disruption. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Analysts considering the situation should consider the cumulative impact of the Northern District of California ruling, the new Korean law, and news today of an apparent Dutch regulatory finding: https://twitter.com/... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : So Apple is basically going to lose this battle around forcing apps to pay them 30% revenue share on a country by country basis versus doing the right thing and either lowering their cut or providing more value to apps commensurate with their cut? Wow😮 https://www.reuters.com/... Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff : @GoldfingersVox I think the fact that devs are prepping various options means no one really knows exactly what Apple will allow, except Apple. I have to assume they'll do what's allowable to protect this revenue engine. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Apple and Google's 15% tax rate “for small businesses” are a lie. They judge the size of top-level apps like Minecraft and Roblox, ignoring aspiring individual creators and small teams participating in the ecosystem. They are strangling the nascent metaverse economy. https://twitter.com/... @axios : The online game platform Roblox has “great partnerships” with companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft, its CEO said — but added that lower app store commissions would allow the company to pay its developers more. #AxiosOnHBO https://twitter.com/... Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : Best case for Paddle: this gets allowed. Worst case: free marketing stunt. Paddle is basically nudging Apple to share its interpretation of the Epic Games ruling. I think there's basically zero chance Apple agrees with Paddle's interpretation. Apple staying silent so far. https://twitter.com/... Kif / @kifleswing : Developers are building ways to skirt Apple's cut of in-app purchases after Epic trial @PaddleHQ, @RevenueCat building SDKs to make it easy for apps to install their own billing on Dec 7 ... but there's still uncertainty about how guidelines will change https://www.cnbc.com/... @hodapp : Totally removing the cost savings, the control you'd have over customer support via a third party payment system like Paddle is huge. It's weird supporting an iOS app and when the best solution is to just give someone a refund you have to refer them to Apple who can just say no. Elena / @virtualelena : Roblox's CEO has gone on the record to say that he could pay developers more if Apple and Google lowered their take rates, which stand at an average of ~30%. In other words, it's take rates, all the way down. https://twitter.com/... Nick S. / @nickjsheriff : Apple will simply remove your app and ban your account guys immediately! Or they will evaporate your authority scoring so that your binary can never rank organically for any keyword forever. You also can never rank in the top charts! Do this stupidity at your own peril. https://twitter.com/... Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : @wooordwooord925 Apple and Google both make much more profit from Roblox than Roblox makes, and more than all Roblox creators make combined. They take 30% off the top for processing payments, which Visa and MasterCard will do for less than 3%. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : @trevx @ZhugeEX Ah, a price and feature comparison matrix! Something sorely lacking from the iOS and Android In-App Payments businesses, where the OS monopolies previously tied their storefront to their aftermarket IAP system, blocking all competitors. https://twitter.com/... David Barnard / @drbarnard : @keleftheriou ... Yup! Already been pestering Apple to clarify the rules sooner rather than later. Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : @trevx @ZhugeEX Apple has created a serious customer service problem on iOS by refusing to give developers the ability to refund customers for past purchases. Only Apple can grant refunds, but Apple doesn't have developers' insight into reasons for customer refunds. Paddle / @paddlehq : Introducing the new Paddle In-App Purchase - the industry's first alternative in-app Purchasing system for iOS, launching December 7th 2021. All the same benefits as the App Store, without the hefty price tag. Find out more here: https://paddle.com/... Stephen Warwick / @stephenwarwick9 : Paddle telling me in a statement its understanding is that its system is permissible following Epic vs Apple ruling but that it “would welcome Apple sharing its own interpretation on this to bring further clarity to an issue that will have a significant impact on iOS developers.. https://twitter.com/... Brian Roemmele / @brianroemmele : Congratulations to my friends at Paddle. They are the first innovative payment company to offer a simple in-app payment alternative after the Epic vs Apple lawsuit. Dropping fees to as low as 5%. Up next #Bitcoin payments for in-app purchases from a surprising company. https://twitter.com/... Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life : The rise of the creator economy and Metaverse are currently being strangled by the 30% cut of digital transactions being charged by Apple & Google. One reason crypto is rising is because it bypasses App Stores and leaves more money on the table for participants in the ecosystem. https://twitter.com/... Lance Ulanoff / @lanceulanoff : Could be a case of people getting ahead of themselves. Apple will likely come up with some pretty tight restrictions that still satisfy the letter of the law https://www.cnbc.com/... Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : I doubt Apple will allow this. https://twitter.com/... Kaushik Subramanian / @theholykau : It has begun. Apple is generally the worst for app developers so I'm really happy that the IAP market is opening up to be more competitive: https://paddle.com/... Dave Mark / @davemark : DEVS: Paddle to release IAP support for iOS Apps. They already offer pretty robust support for Mac apps (I use it, pretty solid). Paddle is 10% for apps up to $10, 5% + 50¢ for apps $10+. And your app STAYS in the App Store. Best of both worlds. https://paddle.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Paddle’s launch follows the Epic v. Apple ruling requiring Apple to let apps direct customers to other purchase mechanisms, after Apple had removed Fortnite for bypassing its standard in-app payment system. The immediate significance is that Paddle is packaging that newly required route into a payments product rather than leaving each developer to build its own checkout flow.
The ruling had raised expectations of lower fees for smaller developers, although related coverage noted uncertainty over whether consumers would use alternative payment methods. Paddle puts a 5%-10% price point on that test.
First-order effects
- iOS developers using Paddle In-App Purchase gain a planned December 7 option to route customers to Paddle-backed purchases at 10%, or 5% plus $0.50, instead of relying solely on Apple’s payment system.
- Apple must accommodate developers directing customers outward under the court order, but Paddle’s offering does not restore Fortnite to the App Store or remove Apple’s control over App Store distribution.
Second-order effects
- Paddle’s lower listed fees put pressure on Apple’s payment economics, while developers must weigh any savings against the added customer journey of an external purchase flow.
- Apple’s subsequent position that it could charge a commission on competing payment platforms would narrow Paddle’s price advantage and make policy terms, not processing alone, central to developers’ choice.
Third-order effects
- The dispute shifts from exclusive in-app billing toward control of linking, commissions, and customer access: a platform can lose payment exclusivity while retaining much of its economic leverage.
- If developers and customers adopt these routes, payments providers such as Paddle become intermediaries in App Store commerce; if they do not, the court-mandated link-out option remains a limited competitive constraint.
The trend: App-store payment competition is moving from a fight over mandatory billing to a fight over the terms on which platforms permit alternative checkout paths.