App Store Commission Calculator

The standard App Store commission is 30% on paid apps, in-app purchases, and the first year of each auto-renewable subscription. The Small Business Program, launched in 2021, halves that to 15% for developers whose total proceeds were under $1 million in the prior calendar year — enrollment is required, it is not automatic, and crossing the $1M threshold mid-year moves subsequent sales to the standard rate. Separately, any auto-renewable subscriber who accumulates more than one year of paid service drops to 15% for as long as they stay subscribed (a lapse of more than 60 days resets the clock).

These tiers stack into a blended effective rate that improves as your subscription base matures. A subscription app on the standard tier with strong retention might pay 30% on new-subscriber revenue but 15% on a growing base of year-two-plus renewals, landing its blended commission in the low-to-mid 20s. Note also that commission applies to proceeds after certain taxes in some storefronts, and that regulatory changes (EU alternative terms, US external-purchase-link rulings) are creating regional exceptions — but 30/15/15 remains the baseline model worldwide.

Every unit-economics number downstream of revenue depends on which commission you plug in. LTV computed on gross billings overstates a standard-tier developer’s real proceeds by 43% (1 ÷ 0.7); ROAS break-even shifts from 1.43 to 1.18 when your margin improves from the 30% to the 15% tier at an otherwise-70% margin. Teams that model with gross figures systematically overbid on user acquisition.

The Small Business Program is also a strategic input, not just a discount. Because eligibility is based on the prior year’s proceeds, a developer approaching $1M faces a cliff: crossing it means all revenue moves to 30% the following period. For apps near the line, the after-commission difference can justify timing decisions around releases and promotions — and it always justifies checking your enrollment status, since eligible developers who never enrolled are simply donating 15 points of margin.