Trending•August 25, 2026•5 min read

Apple's New EU Terms Match Japan and Brazil: What It Means for Developers

TL;DR

From October 1, 2026, every developer in the EU moves to one set of Apple business terms. The per-install Core Technology Fee is gone; apps distributed outside the App Store pay a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital sales.
That is the model already live in Japan (December 2025) and Brazil (June 2026). The rate cards match to within one percentage point.
App Store commission drops to 26% with Apple In-App Purchase, 20% with your own in-app payments and 15% on link-outs (15%, 10% and 10% at the reduced rate). Your payment set-up is locked for 12 months.
No EU entity is needed anymore to run a marketplace or distribute from the web.

On August 18, Apple announced new business terms for apps in the European Union, agreed with the European Commission and effective October 1, 2026. They end the structure Apple introduced under the Digital Markets Act in 2024 — per-install charges, addenda, tiered fees — and replace it with the commission-based model Apple already runs in Japan and Brazil.

What changes on October 1

The changes come after a €500 million fine in April 2025 for breaching the DMA's anti-steering rules, and a June 2025 revision that added fees rather than removing them. The new terms:

One agreement. The Alternative Terms Addendum and the External Purchase Link addendum are replaced by Attachment 14 of the Developer Program License Agreement. You can sign now; it applies from October 1, or from the day you sign if later.
No more per-install fee. The €0.50 Core Technology Fee per first annual install above one million — which marketplaces paid from install one — becomes a 5% Core Technology Commission on digital goods and services sold in apps distributed via alternative marketplaces or the web. The Initial Acquisition Fee and Store Services Fee are dropped too.
Lower App Store rates. 26% with Apple In-App Purchase, 20% with your own in-app payment processor, 15% on purchases made within 7 days of a link-out. The reduced rate — Small Business Program, Mini Apps and Video Partner programmes, subscriptions after year one — is 15%, 10% and 10%. Apple IAP can now sit next to alternative payments; whatever set-up you pick, you keep it for 12 months.
Easier to run a marketplace. No EU entity required. Financial standing can be shown with a Dun & Bradstreet rating, a public listing, venture funding or a recent audit, as well as the old routes: a USD 1M letter of credit or one million first annual installs.

Fees accrued under the old addendum stay payable. The 5% is charged on the price paid less transaction taxes and reported to Apple monthly.

The same model as Japan and Brazil

Apple shipped this model outside Europe first: in Japan with iOS 26.2, when the Mobile Software Competition Act took effect in December 2025, and in Brazil with iOS 26.5 in June 2026, after its settlement with the competition authority CADE. The EU is the third market:

	European Union (Oct 1, 2026)	Japan (Dec 2025)	Brazil (Jun 2026)
Alternative app marketplaces	5% Core Technology Commission (also web distribution)	5% Core Technology Commission	5% Core Technology Commission
App Store, Apple In-App Purchase	26% (15% reduced)	21% + 5% processing = 26% (15% reduced)	21% + 5% processing = 26% (15% reduced)
App Store, own in-app payments	20% (10%)	21% (10%)	21% (10%)
App Store, link-out (7-day window)	15% (10%)	15% (10%)	15% (10%)
Per-install fee	None	None	None
Marketplace operator requirements	No local entity; D&B rating, listing, VC funding, audit, USD 1M letter of credit or 1M installs	No local entity; USD 1M letter of credit or 1M installs	No local entity; USD 1M letter of credit or 1M installs

Japan and Brazil show the App Store charge as a 21% commission plus a 5% processing fee; the EU shows one 26% number. The only real gap is alternative in-app payments: 20% in the EU, 21% elsewhere. Apple also treats the three as one programme — a letter of credit posted in one market counts in the others, and marketplaces approved in Japan or Brazil may start in the EU before October 1.

From per-install to per-sale

The Core Technology Fee charged for reach, not revenue. A free-to-play game with two million EU installs and no sales owed Apple €500,000 a year for being distributed outside the App Store. Under the new terms it owes nothing; a game with €10 million in in-app sales owes €500,000, paid as the money comes in. Cost now follows revenue — the way every other channel a developer uses already works.

It is also what we asked for. When Aptoide launched Leveling the Game in March 2024, the first demand to regulators was to eliminate or sharply reduce the CTF. Two and a half years later, it is gone.

What it means for developers

App Store only: your commission drops from 30% to 26% (the reduced rate stays 15%), and you get two options the EU never had — your own in-app payment processor at 20%, or Apple IAP and an alternative side by side.
Already on an alternative marketplace: per-install exposure ends. You pay 5% of digital sales, reported within 15 days of month-end, and nothing else to Apple. CTF accrued before October 1 is still due.
Shipping in more than one of the three markets: plan them as one. Notarization runs through App Store Connect in all three, the commission is 5% in all three, and the reporting cadence is the same.

What has not changed: Apple still notarizes every app distributed outside the App Store, still requires a Developer Program membership, and still gets a monthly report. This is a cheaper, more predictable channel — not an exit from Apple's rules.

If you distribute with Aptoide

Aptoide for iOS has been open to every EU user since March 2025, after a beta that began in June 2024. AppArena, our game-first iOS store for Japan built with BBSS, a SoftBank group company, launched on March 31, 2026 — under the commission model the EU is now adopting.

For developers on our network, October 1 changes the cost, not the workflow: the same notarized build, distributed through Aptoide for iOS, with the Apple side now a flat 5% of what you sell instead of a per-install fee. Our own models are on the iOS page. A game live with us in the EU can ship in Japan through AppArena on the same Apple terms; Brazil opened in June — if it is on your roadmap, talk to us.

Before October 1

Have your Account Holder agree to Attachment 14. The new tools and entitlements appear in App Store Connect on October 1 only for accounts that have.
Decide your App Store payment set-up — IAP, your own processor, link-out, or a mix — knowing it holds for 12 months.
Re-run your distribution model with 5% of digital sales in place of any per-install estimate. For most free-to-play titles the number moves a lot.