Apple Overhauls EU App Terms, Swaps Core Technology Fee for 5% Commission

Apple is consolidating its European app business terms into a single model that takes effect October 1, 2026, ending a running dispute with the European Commission over how it handles alternative app distribution. The most consequential change scraps the Core Technology Fee — a flat per-install charge levied on high-volume developers — and replaces it with a Core Technology Commission of 5 percent on digital transactions in apps distributed outside the App Store. Apple is also dropping its initial acquisition fee and store services fee, and rejiggering commission rates across the board: 26 percent for App Store apps on Apple’s own in-app purchase system (15 percent for small businesses and post-first-year subscriptions), 20 percent for apps using alternative payment processors, and 15 percent for apps that link out to the web, with reduced rates for developers in Apple’s various partner programs.

Crucially, EU developers can now offer Apple In-App Purchase side by side with alternative payment options, something Apple had previously barred in the region — though they must lock in whichever mix they choose for 12 months. Apple is pairing the payment flexibility with child-safety rules borrowed from other markets: parental gates for under-18 users making purchases through outside processors, a ban on transaction links in the Kids category, and no web-based checkout at all for under-13 users.

Apple is also widening who can run a third-party app marketplace or distribute apps directly via the web, adding qualification paths tied to financial stability scores, public-company status, venture backing, audits, or government/nonprofit status. But the company is pointedly keeping its Notarization review requirement on every alternatively distributed app, arguing that web distribution lacks a marketplace operator or ongoing oversight and could let bad actors operate unchecked. The framing signals Apple’s continued reluctance to fully cede control even as it bends to the Commission’s demands under the Digital Markets Act.