Google lowers Play Store subscription fees to 15% and fees for ebooks and on-demand music streaming services to “as low as 10%”; IAP cut seems to be unaffected
here are the details Sareena Dayaram / CNET : Google to cut Play Store fees for subscription-based apps next year Chris Wallace / MCV/DEVELOP : Google cuts the Play Store subscription share to 15% Kul Bhushan / Tech in Asia : Google cuts app store fees to 15% after regulatory, developer issues Sarvesh Mathi / MediaNama : Google slashes Play Store commissions for apps in certain categories Laxitha Mundhra / Inc42 Media : Google Slashes Play Store Commission By Half To “Address Developer Needs” Megha Mandavia / The Economic Times : Google's commission cut a distraction tactic, says ADIF Joe Wituschek / iMore : In-app events will come to the App Store on October 27 CNBC : Google slashes service fees in its app store after similar move by Apple Marie Dealessandri / GamesIndustry.biz : Google lowers Play Store subscription share to 15% Chris Eggertsen / Billboard : Google Play Cuts Fees for Subscription-Based Apps, Including Streaming Services Tweets: Chris Lacy / @chrismlacy : Pleasing to see Google lowering Play's subscription rates across the board. 15% is a whole lot better than 30%, but remains >3X more than what developers would pay if competition for digital payments was allowed. https://android-developers.googleblog.c om/ ... David Barnard / @drbarnard : 6/ First, the shaping. You might be surprised to hear a @RevenueCat employee say this, but not all apps should use subscriptions. Both Apple and Google specifically incentivize developers to use the subscription model even if it isn't a good fit for their business. Luis von Ahn / @luisvonahn : This is great news! This reduction in subscription fees will help Duolingo accelerate our mission of providing universally available education. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 10/ Today Google also announced a new program for music and ebook apps that will see them paying a commission “as low as 10%”. Thats... great... now do that for creator platforms. And then X category and then Y business model and then Z type companies. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 8/ As the app stores layer on more and more tax breaks and rules for various business models, app categories, company sizes, and so on, developers will be incentivized to contort their businesses to minimize fees even if it's at the expense of customer experience. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 7/ That's not good for consumers, developers, or the app stores. Developers should be free to experiment with and optimize for whatever business model fits their app, customers, long-term plans, etc. And they shouldn't have to pay a higher commission to do it. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 11/ I already get far too many questions from developers confused about the rules around in-app purchases. Can't wait to field endless questions about how to qualify for various app store tax breaks. Ryan Jones / @rjonesy : More pressure on Apple now. They'll say “Devs are free to go get that.” But the optics, talking heads, and court room effects of “Apple charges double” are real. https://twitter.com/... David Barnard / @drbarnard : 14/ What should they do instead? Drop the fee to 10% across the board (or at least for non-game apps). That's obviously unlikely, but there's a strong case to be made that it would spur innovation, increase gross revenue, and maybe not impact net revenue as much as it might seem. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 9/ But the issue that weighs even heavier on my mind: dropping the commission for subscription apps doesn't address so many other issues like creator platforms, low-margin business models, and other areas where app store commissions are stifling innovation and competition. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 3/ The first big change to the tax itself was Apple dropping the commission to 15% for big apps like Netflix in private deals that were under NDA until revealed in court documents. But Apple formalized those exceptions with the Apple Video Partner Program: https://developer.apple.com/ ... David Barnard / @drbarnard : 5/ Google has followed pretty much in lock-step with Apple (yay duopoly!). And while all of these changes have ostensively been good for developers, doing things piecemeal like this is going to shape the app store economies in specific ways and leaves many issues unaddressed. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 12/ Ultimately this piecemeal approach from Apple and Google may or may not forestall heavy handed regulation, but it's not what's best for anyone but their short-term shareholders and employees/execs cashing in RSUs. David Barnard / @drbarnard : 1/ Allow me a moment to look this gift horse in the mouth. It is, of course, great news for developers (and @RevenueCat ;) that Google is dropping their commission for subscription apps. But there are a lot of layers to consider here... https://twitter.com/... David Barnard / @drbarnard : 4/ In 2016 Apple dropped the commission to 15% starting the second year of a subscription. https://www.theverge.com/... And then in 2020 the App Store Small Business Program dropped the fee to 15% across the board for apps making under $1M/yr. https://developer.apple.com/ ... David Barnard / @drbarnard : 2/ The app stores operate in ways similar to economies and rules about commissions can be thought of as a sort of tax code. For the better part of a decade we had a flat tax of 30%, but the rules about who has to pay and how they can charge customers have evolved. Mark Gurman / @markgurman : Google is lowering its cut from all subscriptions on Google Play to 15% from 30% — from day 1. The reduction previously only took effect on the first $1 million in revenue and for users who subscribed longer than a year. Change doesn't apply to in-app-purchases (games) however. @thomasbcn : Play Store subscriptions fee down to 15% for everyone. Users never bought too many of those but still great news for developers. Come on Apple, for once that Google opens the way! Hiroshi Lockheimer / @lockheimer : We made changes to Play's fees today. Whether it's APIs or business models, we are in this to help developers succeed. Thank you, developers, for your support of the Android and Play ecosystem! 🙏 https://android-developers.googleblog.c om/ ... Eric Lawrence / @ericlaw : Reminder that your fee for the web is $0, regardless of what your app does or how much money it makes. https://twitter.com/... Kosta Eleftheriou / @keleftheriou : “It's unstated but also surely true that regulatory pressure and public pressure from companies like Spotify have factored in to Google's decision.” https://twitter.com/... Brad Freeman / @stockmarketnerd : Great news for companies selling app subscriptions. Virtually all of the $DUOL input costs come from these app fees. Should be a large gross profit tailwind for this company & many, many more. 👍🙂 $AAPL next? https://www.theverge.com/... Alex Good / @goodalexander : Just FYI - the reason Roblox $RBLX is spiking intraday is on this news. Keep in mind unlike ad supported model Roblox sells Robux currency so is quite affected by take rate of Google and Apple. Google caving and cutting fees could precede Apple doing same https://www.theverge.com/... Conor Mac / @investmenttalkk : 2/2 “Google's previous structure was similar to Apple's: 30% the first year, 15% thereafter. The new change simplifies that by offering 15% right off the bat” https://www.theverge.com/... Khushita Vasant / @khushitavasant : In a move that puts pressure on @Apple, Google announced a decrease in the service fee for all subscriptions on @GooglePlay from 30% to 15%, starting Jan. 1, 2022. @Google says 99% of developers on its platform qualify for a service fee of 15% or less. https://android-developers.googleblog.c om/ ... @fenng : To help support the specific needs of developers offering subscriptions, starting on January 1, 2022, we're decreasing the service fee for all subscriptions on Google Play from 30% to 15%, starting from day one. https://android-developers.googleblog.c om/ ... @googleplaydev : Partnering with @Bumble, @Smule, @Calm & other devs helps us evolve the app store model and keep Google Play competitive. Today's subscriptions and program announcements mean 99% of devs, regardless of size, qualify for a service fee of 15% or less.
Context & Ripple Effects
Google had already reduced its Play Store share on the first $1 million of a developer’s annual revenue in March, following Apple’s similar move. It also spent 2020 tightening the requirement that Play apps use Google’s billing system, even as Netflix and Spotify had bypassed the prior cut.
The new schedule broadens the lower rate for subscriptions and gives ebooks and on-demand music a still-lower tier, while preserving the existing treatment of in-app purchases. It extends a subscription-revenue model Google had tested years earlier without loosening its billing-system rule.
First-order effects
- Subscription app developers move immediately to a 15% Play fee from day one, while eligible ebook and on-demand music services can qualify for rates as low as 10%.
- Developers whose revenue depends on one-time or other in-app purchases receive no corresponding fee reduction, leaving their Play economics unchanged.
Second-order effects
- Subscription, ebook, and music services have more room to price, promote, or reinvest on Android than IAP-led apps, sharpening the business-model difference inside the same store.
- Google lowers the revenue share for selected categories while retaining the billing requirement, so affected developers gain margin without gaining an alternative payment route.
Third-order effects
- The split rate structure points toward app-store commissions being negotiated by revenue model and category rather than applied as a single standard take rate.
- As platforms face continued scrutiny over store fees, billing control and commission levels are increasingly being separated: lower take rates can relieve pressure while gatekeepers retain transaction control.
The trend: Mobile app stores are moving from uniform commissions toward category-specific, scrutiny-sensitive take rates while preserving platform control over billing.