Apple cuts EU App Store fees and replaces Core Technology Fee with 5% commission

Apple announced the revised terms on 18 August. The Commission said the same day that it welcomed the changes. "The Commission welcomes Apple's changes to their business terms," the EU executive said in a statement, adding that developers in the EU can distribute apps through the App Store, a third-party app store or the web.

Apple described the terms as developed in close collaboration with the Commission and said they "resolve Apple's disagreements with the Commission over business terms and alternative distribution". The Commission said Apple had committed to reduce and simplify its App Store fees and that the terms give developers greater freedom to steer App Store users towards alternative platforms and payment systems. It also said EU users will be able to use alternative app distribution channels even when travelling outside the bloc.

What Apple will charge from October

Apple said the new rates take effect on 1 October 2026. The standard commission on App Store sales using Apple's in-app purchase system falls to 26% from 30%, and to 15% for qualifying programmes including the Small Business Program, Mini Apps, Video Partner and auto-renewing subscriptions after the first year.

App Store sales using alternative payment processing carry 20%, or 10% for qualifying programmes. Sales through an external purchase link carry 15%, or 10% for eligible programmes. Apps distributed through an alternative marketplace or the web pay a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital transactions.

The Core Technology Commission replaces the Core Technology Fee, a per-install charge of €0.50 for every first annual install beyond one million that Apple introduced in its January 2024 DMA compliance package. The new charge applies only to digital transactions, so a free app that earns no revenue pays nothing.

Apple's terms require developers to maintain a 12-month payment configuration lock-in before switching. For the first time in the EU, developers can offer Apple In-App Purchase alongside alternative payment options within the same app. Apple will continue to require every iOS app distributed in the EU to pass notarization, regardless of which store sells it.

The €500m fine behind the changes

In April 2025 the Commission fined Apple €500m ($586m) for preventing developers from telling iPhone and iPad users about cheaper offers outside the App Store. It was the DMA's first fine, issued the same day as a €200m penalty for Meta. Both firms were given 60 days to overhaul their business terms or face daily penalties of up to 5% of global turnover.

After the fine, which Apple has appealed, the company was told to make changes to comply with the DMA or face periodic penalty payments that could reach more than €50m a day. It submitted a first set of proposals and has since been engaged in a to-and-fro with the Commission over the final shape of its offer. An EU spokesperson said the Commission is not considering periodic penalty payments at this stage and is monitoring the announced measure.

Court defeat

On 8 July 2026 the EU General Court dismissed all three of Apple's actions and upheld its designation as a gatekeeper for the App Store, iOS and Safari. The three cases concerned the gatekeeper designation, the opening of a market investigation into whether iMessage is an important gateway, and the closure of that investigation without designating iMessage. The challenge to treating Apple's five app stores as a single core platform service was dismissed on the merits; the other two were dismissed on procedural grounds.

The court ruled Apple's plea against Article 6(7) of the DMA inadmissible, saying the designation decision rests on Article 3 alone and that Article 6(7) appears nowhere in its reasoning. It noted that Apple retains the possibility of raising that argument in other proceedings, including its pending appeals against the Commission's two interoperability specification decisions of 19 March 2025.

The DMA lets the Commission designate platforms as gatekeepers and impose restrictions on them if they meet certain criteria. Designation matters because the DMA presumes gatekeeper status for a platform with more than 45 million monthly active end users and more than 10,000 yearly active business users in the EU.