App Store Fee Calculator

App stores take a percentage of what a developer earns through them. A standard rate applies by default, and two separate routes lead to a reduced one: a small-business programme, which is gated on a revenue threshold, and auto-renewing subscriptions that have passed twelve consecutive months, which is not. This calculator applies whichever rate results and shows the gap against the standard rate.

How to use it

Both rates and the threshold are entered rather than stored. Apple and Google structure their reduced-rate programmes differently, the figures vary by market, and regulation in several jurisdictions has been changing them. Entering the rates from the developer agreement that applies to your account and market gives a result specific to it; the values loaded here are illustrative.

How the rate is chosen

The standard rate applies unless one of the two routes qualifies. The small-business route requires enrolment and revenue below the threshold, so it stops applying once revenue passes it. The subscription route depends on subscriber tenure rather than revenue, so it continues to apply above the threshold. The fee is the applied rate times annual revenue; net revenue is what remains.

A worked example

Take annual revenue of 200,000 with no programme enrolment and no year-two subscriptions. The standard rate of 30% applies, giving a fee of 60,000 and net revenue of 140,000. Enrol in the small-business programme at the same revenue and the reduced 15% rate applies instead: a fee of 30,000 and net revenue of 170,000. Raise revenue to 2,000,000 with enrolment still in place and the threshold stops the small-business route, so the standard rate returns unless the subscription route qualifies independently.

What moves the number most

Annual revenue moves the result proportionally, since a single rate applies to all of it. The two eligibility settings move it in a step rather than a curve: they switch the applied rate between the two figures entered, so the fee either halves or doubles at the default rates rather than shifting gradually. The gap between the two rates widens in absolute terms as revenue rises.

Which currency the threshold is in

Programme thresholds are denominated in the platform's own currency, which for both major stores is US dollars, and eligibility is assessed in that currency regardless of what the calculator displays. Entering a threshold converted into the display currency keeps the comparison meaningful; leaving the figure at a nominal million while displaying a currency worth far less than the dollar will place the boundary in the wrong place.

Where the two stores differ

The two major stores are treated here as a single rate structure, which they are not. They differ in how the threshold is assessed, in how subscription tenure is counted, and in how alternative billing arrangements affect the rate in particular markets. The calculator reproduces the shape common to both — a standard rate with reduced-rate routes — rather than either programme exactly, which is why the rates and threshold are editable.

What this doesn't capture

Development, hosting and infrastructure costs sit outside this calculation, as do marketing spend, payroll, tax obligations, and any payment-processing charges levied separately from commission. So does a revenue mix split across categories charged at different rates: the model applies one rate to the whole amount. Future changes to rates, thresholds and eligibility rules are exactly why those figures are inputs.