Should I leave Apple IAP in the EU before 1 October 2026?

Who this is for

Founders and operators who sell digital goods in EU App Store storefronts and use Apple In-App Purchase today. If you have no EU digital storefront sales, this is not your week.

If you already signed Apple’s old Alternative Terms Addendum or the StoreKit External Purchase Link Entitlement (EU) Addendum, the Account Holder should still read the 18 August license this week. Apple says those addenda are superseded on 1 October. Apple has not published what happens to an account that never accepts the new license. Plan as if you need to accept before that date if you want alternative options to continue.

What actually changed

Apple published unified EU business terms on 18 August 2026. Developers can sign now. Commercial terms take effect 1 October 2026. Rates below are from Apple’s newsroom note and developer support pages.

Apple is replacing the Core Technology Fee with that 5 percent sales commission. Apple’s CTF overview still states the old mechanic: €0.50 per first annual install over one million in the past 12 months. The old initial acquisition fee and the old store services fee go away.

The Small Business Program threshold has not moved: no more than 1 million USD in proceeds in the prior calendar year, and no more than 1 million USD this year, including associated accounts. Enrollment is not automatic. If you are eligible and not enrolled, that enrollment is a larger swing than any alternative-payment project.

The trap is the lock, not the table

Once you select IAP, alternative in-app processing, and/or actionable link-out, you must keep that combination across all EU storefronts for 12 months. You may now offer alternatives alongside IAP. Different prices are allowed. IAP must be at least as prominent. You may not steer users off IAP.

If you leave IAP, Apple says you take tax remittance for processor-handled sales; monthly reports of all alternative-payment transactions — including refunds, corrections, renewals, and transactions that did not result in a purchase — within 15 days after month end; and customer support Apple will not do. Your processor must meet PCI Level 1. Kids-category apps cannot link out to a website. Under-13 and 13-to-17 users have parental-gate rules; some storefronts raise the age.

Apple invoices from your report, aggregates by the 15th of the following month, and gives 30 days to pay. Unpaid commission can offset proceeds in other markets, or remove the app or the developer account.

If you only use IAP, Apple’s line is explicit: no product change is required. Read the pages. Do not select a new payment combination.

When leaving IAP can still be real money

Over the $1 million proceeds line, the standard gap is 26 versus 20 versus 15 versus 5 percent. That can be real money. Off-store builds require notarization. Marketplace or Web Distribution eligibility, starting 1 October, is any one of: a moderate Dun & Bradstreet score, public-company status or ownership, venture funding from an established firm, a licensed-accountant audit, government / educational / nonprofit status, a USD 1,000,000 standby letter of credit, or one million first annual installs worldwide. App Store IAP is not available on those builds.

Do not enable alternative in-app processing, actionable link-out, or web / marketplace distribution unless two things are already true: you already remitted EU VAT and staffed refunds outside Apple, and you have a written four-path model on last-90-day EU digital revenue. Headline commission is not the model.

This week

• Two proceeds numbers from App Store Connect: prior year and year-to-date, including associated accounts. Write down whether you are in, eligible for, or over the Small Business Program. If eligible and not enrolled, enroll.
• EU digital revenue, last 90 days. Split first-year subscriptions, later renewals, and one-time. Later-renewal IAP is already 15 percent even off the program.
• Do not ship a payment UI. Do not flip entitlements. The lock is 12 months across all EU storefronts.
• Old alternative addenda only: Account Holder reads Attachment 14 and the 18 August license. Accept if you need those options past 1 October. Do not select a new combination until the four-path model exists.
• IAP-only teams: read the newsroom note and the payment-options page. Stop.
• If 5 to 11 points on that 90-day number changes the month, write one page with four columns (IAP / alternative in-app / link-out / off-store). Put Apple’s rate, your processor, tax, support, reporting, and a conversion haircut you believe. Pick in writing. Then accept terms and implement one path.
• Calendar 1 October and 15 November. Terms date, then the first monthly report deadline if alternative payments go live in October.

Signing before 1 October does not start the new rates early. Apple says the account is on the unified terms starting 1 October 2026 or the date you agree, whichever is later. Selecting a payment option is the irreversible operator move.

The public page is the call. The paid brief is the same call run against your proceeds, your 90-day EU split, and whether the Small Business Program already beats any alternative-payment project.

What I could not verify

Apple has not said what it does to an account that never accepts the 18 August license. It has not published the share of developers on the 15 percent rate, or conversion or refund rates for alternative checkout versus IAP. Processor fees are vendor-specific. I did not fetch the full license or Attachment 14 text; rates, locks, reporting, and eligibility above come from the public support pages and the newsroom note.

Sources

1. Apple Newsroom, “Apple announces changes for apps in the European Union.” apple.com/newsroom/2026/08/apple-announces-changes-for-apps-in-the-european-union
2. Apple Developer, “Changes for apps in the European Union.” developer.apple.com/support/apps-in-the-eu
3. Apple Developer, “Payment options on the App Store in the EU.” developer.apple.com/support/payment-options-on-the-app-store-in-the-eu
4. Apple Developer, “App Store Small Business Program.” developer.apple.com/app-store/small-business-program
5. Apple Developer, “Core Technology Fee overview.” developer.apple.com/support/core-technology-fee

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