Great news from Apple: Decrease in App Store rates for small businesses
Adrian Florian
co-CEO
Reading time: 1 min
Published: Dec 1, 2020
Key takeaways
- Through the App Store Small Business Program, Apple reduced its commission to 15% (from 30%) for developers earning up to $1 million a year.
- Developers who exceed the $1 million threshold pay the standard 30% commission for the rest of that year.
- A developer who previously earned over $1 million but later falls below the threshold can re-qualify for 15% the following year.
- The change carries no restrictions, and small businesses keep full access to Apple's developer tools.
Apple reduced its commission for small businesses to 15 percent.
Apple announced that it would charge app developers who earn less than $1 million a year a commission of 15 percent instead of 30 percent, through its App Store Small Business Program.
Developers whose earnings exceed $1 million are charged the standard commission of 30 percent, with the possibility to re-qualify in future years if their revenue drops below the $1 million threshold.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our global economy and the beating heart of innovation and opportunity in communities around the world,” said Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook. “We’re launching this program to help small business owners write the next chapter of creativity and prosperity on the App Store, and to build the kind of quality apps our customers love.”
Over the years, we’ve seen many companies try to (legally) avoid Apple’s commission in creative ways, purely because it was so high — often at the cost of user experience. We believe this change will help startups and small businesses and increase the share of developers willing to pay the commission, making use of Apple’s tools for smooth in-app purchases and more.
The change comes with no restrictions on developers; small businesses still benefit from Apple’s developer tools.
Here are the key points:
- Developers who earned up to $1 million across all their apps can qualify for the program and the reduced commission.
- If a developer exceeds the $1 million threshold, the standard commission applies for the rest of the year.
- If a developer earned over $1 million in previous years but their business falls below the threshold, they can re-qualify the following year for the 15 percent commission.
At the time of the announcement, the App Store had reached 1.5 billion devices worldwide across 175 countries and over 40 languages, and in 2019 the App Store ecosystem facilitated $519 billion in commerce worldwide.
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