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Google changed the shape of its cut on 30 June 2026, splitting one service fee into a service fee plus a separate billing fee. This works out what you keep under the new structure, what the $1 million threshold does to it mid-year, and how the same revenue would land on the App Store.

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What users pay, before any fee.

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Servers, tools, contractors, the $25 Play registration.

— you keep after platform fees

The same revenue on each store.
Store Below $1M Above $1M Platform takes You keep Effective rate

What changed on 30 June 2026

Google split its single service fee into two components for the US, UK and EEA: a service fee for distribution and a separate billing fee for taking the payment. Subscriptions carry a 10% service fee, plus 5% if you use Google Play Billing — which lands at the same 15% that subscriptions have paid since January 2022. Route the payment through your own processor or an external link and Google's cut drops to 10%, with your processor taking its own share from there.

Play Billing: 10% service + 5% billing = 15% Alternative billing: 10% service + ~2.9% processor ≈ 12.9% Above $1M/year: 30% for the remainder of the year the threshold is per account group, and it resets annually

The headline reads as a cut and mostly is not. For a developer already below the $1 million threshold and using Play Billing, the rate is unchanged. What is genuinely new is that alternative billing became arithmetically worthwhile: 10% plus a processor beats 15%, as long as you are willing to own refunds, chargebacks, tax and support.

The $1 million cliff

Cross $1 million in earnings across your account group and the rate becomes 30% for the rest of the calendar year, then resets in January. It is a cliff rather than a marginal band on the way up, which produces a genuinely strange incentive around December for a developer sitting just under the line.

Apple's Small Business Program works the same way at 15% below $1 million and 30% above, with one difference that matters: Apple removes you from the programme for the following full year once you cross, where Google resets annually.

Costs the fee split does not cover

  • Sales tax and VAT. Both stores collect and remit it in most jurisdictions, which is worth real money — doing it yourself under alternative billing is a compliance project, not a checkbox.
  • Refunds and chargebacks. Charged against your revenue; under your own processor, the fee is not returned to you.
  • Currency conversion on the way to your bank.
  • Income tax on what remains, which the calculator applies last because that is the order it happens in.

Questions people ask about this

How much does Google Play take in 2026?

For subscriptions in the US, UK and EEA: 10% service fee plus 5% billing fee when you use Google Play Billing, so 15% all in — the same effective rate subscriptions have paid since 2022, now itemised differently. Using alternative billing or an external link drops Google's share to 10%, and your own processor charges from there. Above $1 million of earnings in a calendar year the rate becomes 30% for the remainder of that year.

Is alternative billing cheaper than Google Play Billing?

On the rate, yes: 10% plus roughly 2.9% to a payment processor is about 12.9%, against 15% for Play Billing. What the 5% buys you is tax collection and remittance in most jurisdictions, refund handling, chargeback management and payment support. For a small team that is usually worth more than the 2 points.

What happens when I pass $1 million on the app stores?

The rate jumps from 15% to 30% for the rest of the calendar year on both stores. Google resets the threshold each January. Apple removes you from the Small Business Program for the whole of the following year, so crossing in December costs you the entire next year at 30% on Apple and only a few weeks on Google.

What does a developer actually keep from a $10 subscription?

About $8.50 after a 15% platform fee, before anything else. Take off payment disputes, currency conversion, running costs and income tax and $6 to $6.50 is a realistic figure. The gap between gross revenue and money in a bank account is consistently larger than developers plan for.

Where these numbers come from

Rates on this page were last checked against the published price lists on . Grading companies change fees and pause tiers without notice — confirm the total on the submission form before you pay.