Google cuts Play Store fees from 30% to as low as 10% and opens alternative billing on June 30, thanks to its Epic Games settlement. Full breakdown inside.
INTRODUCTION
Starting June 30, 2026, the app economy changes, at least on Android. Google is implementing two landmark changes to the Google Play Store: slashing its commission from the longstanding 30% rate to as low as 10%, and allowing developers worldwide to offer payment systems outside of Google Play Billing. Both changes are the direct result of the antitrust settlement Google reached with Epic Games after losing its Play Store monopoly case in court. For app developers, publishers, and anyone building a business on Android, this is the most significant shift in Google’s platform economics since the Play Store was established. For the broader tech industry, the changes also put fresh pressure on Apple, which is fighting a similar antitrust battle with Epic in US courts while managing a patchwork of country-specific billing rules, to either follow Google’s lead or defend an increasingly isolated position. Here is a complete breakdown of what is changing, when, and what it means for developers at every revenue level.
THE BACKGROUND: EPIC GAMES V. GOOGLE
To understand why this is happening, the Epic Games v. Google case deserves a clear summary. Epic Games, maker of Fortnite, sued both Google and Apple in 2020, alleging that their app store monopolies forced developers to pay artificially high commissions of up to 30% on every in-app purchase, with no viable alternative. The two cases proceeded separately through the courts. Google’s case concluded first and more definitively. A jury found Google liable for maintaining an app store monopoly that resulted in higher fees for developers. A settlement agreement reached in November 2025 required Google to lower fees, support alternative app stores, and allow alternative payment options, and to implement these changes within a specified timeline. June 30, 2026, is when the first wave of those changes goes live. The Apple case is moving on a different trajectory. Apple is currently appealing to the US Supreme Court after lower courts found it cannot charge commissions on US apps that link users to external purchase options. Apple is also subject to the EU’s Digital Markets Act, which has forced its own set of billing changes in Europe. But Apple does not have, and is actively fighting against having, a single, unified worldwide policy like the one Google is now implementing.
WHAT CHANGES ON JUNE 30
Two distinct changes take effect simultaneously on June 30 in the US, UK, and European Economic Area.
CHANGE 1: ALTERNATIVE BILLING OPENS WORLDWIDE
Developers will now be able to offer payment systems other than Google Play Billing to users in the US, UK, and EEA, and they can link users directly to their own websites to complete purchases outside the app. When a user reaches the checkout in a qualifying app, they will see a choice screen: Google Play’s payment system or the developer’s alternative. Developers can design their own checkout screen, provided it meets Google’s UX guidelines. The important distinction is that Google Play’s billing system remains present and available, developers are not forced to replace it, just given the option to compete alongside it. This is a meaningful practical change. Previously, offering alternative billing in the Play Store was either prohibited or available only under limited test programmes in specific markets. From June 30, it becomes a globally consistent option, with worldwide expansion following later.
CHANGE 2: THE NEW FEE STRUCTURE
Google is separating its fee into two distinct components: a service fee (for distribution, platform access, and infrastructure) and a billing fee (for using Google Play’s own payment system). Developers who use alternative billing only pay the service fee, not the billing fee. Here is the complete fee structure as confirmed by Engadget, MacRumors, and Google’s own developer support page:
SERVICE FEES (apply regardless of billing system used):
First $1 million in annual earnings:
→ 10% service fee (down from the previous 30% standard rate)
→ Also applies to all subscription auto-renewals at any revenue level
Above $1 million in annual earnings (new installs):
→ 20% service fee
Above $1 million in annual earnings (existing installs, apps installed before the new rules took effect):
→ 25% service fee
Link-out transactions (purchases made via link to developer’s website, where the transaction happens off-platform):
→ 20% for apps earning over $1 million annually
BILLING FEE (additional, only applies when using Google Play Billing):
→ 5% on top of the applicable service fee
EXAMPLE FOR CLARITY:
A developer earning $2 million annually, using Google Play Billing, on a new install would pay: 20% service fee + 5% billing fee = 25% total. The same developer using alternative billing on the same transaction would pay: 20% service fee only.
For the first $1 million, developers using alternative billing pay 10% total. Using Google Play Billing, they pay 15% (10% + 5%).
Lower fees are available through two qualifying programmes:
Games Level Up: For developers creating high-quality gaming experiences. Fees range from 10% to 20%. Opens to developers starting September 30, 2026. Apps Experience: A new programme for developers building premium multi-device experiences across Android. Same fee range: 10% to 20%. Also opens September 30, 2026.
Google’s full fee structure is published at:
support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/16954621
THE ROLLOUT TIMELINE
The changes are being phased globally over approximately 15 months:
June 30, 2026:
→ Alternative billing opens for US, UK, and EEA developers
→ New fee structure takes effect in US, UK, and EEA
By end of 2026:
→ Australia, Japan, and South Korea added
September 30, 2027:
→ Rest of world added
→ Changes become the global standard for all Play Store markets
Developers and publishers operating in markets outside the initial three regions (US, UK, EEA) continue under existing rules until their market is phased in. Africa, Latin America, South and Southeast Asia, and other markets outside the initial regions are in the September 2027 cohort.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR DIFFERENT DEVELOPERS
FOR SMALL AND INDEPENDENT DEVELOPERS
The most significant immediate benefit falls on developers earning under $1 million annually. The fee on their first million drops from 30% to 10% (or 15% if using Google Play Billing), a reduction of more than half at the base. Google’s existing small developer programmes, which previously offered reduced fees for qualifying lower-revenue developers, continue alongside these new structures. Developers who previously qualified for the 15% fee under the Small Business Programme may find the new base 10% rate brings them further savings.
FOR LARGER DEVELOPERS AND PUBLISHERS
Above the $1 million threshold, the picture is more nuanced. New installs pay 20% (plus 5% for Play Billing), while existing installs pay 25% (plus 5% for Play Billing). The transition fee for existing installs above $1 million is higher than the equivalent rate under some older agreements, which is worth modelling carefully for large-catalogue publishers. Qualifying for the Games Level Up or Apps Experience programmes, once they open in September, could reduce those rates back into the 10-20% range.
FOR SUBSCRIPTION-BASED APPS
Subscription auto-renewals retain the 10% rate regardless of where the app’s total annual revenue sits. This is a meaningful structural benefit for subscription-heavy businesses, music services, productivity tools, health apps, fitness subscriptions, where the revenue model depends on consistent renewal economics.
FOR DEVELOPERS USING ALTERNATIVE BILLING
The 5% billing fee only applies when a developer chooses to use Google Play Billing. Developers who route transactions through alternative payment systems or link users to their own websites pay service fees only. The practical economics will depend on how much the developer’s alternative billing provider charges, but for developers with established payment infrastructure, the 5% saving on the billing component is real.
HOW THIS COMPARES TO APPLE’S APP STORE
The contrast with Apple’s current position is now significant, and becoming more visible by the day. Apple is currently charging $0 commission on US apps that link users to external purchase options (this is the result of the ongoing Epic v. Apple litigation). In the EU, Apple is operating under Digital Markets Act obligations that allow alternative marketplaces and billing but still includes a Core Technology Fee of €0.50 per install above the first 1 million annual installs. Apple does not have a single global policy. It is managing different rules in the US, the EU, and dozens of other markets separately, often using the strictest interpretation possible in each jurisdiction. Google now has a single, globally consistent framework rolling out by September 2027. MacRumors notes this directly: “Apple and Google have historically charged developers similar fees, and though Apple is fighting App Store regulation in multiple countries, it is having to implement a disjointed set of fees and restrictions on a per-country basis to keep up with local laws.” Whether Google’s unified approach influences the Supreme Court’s eventual handling of Epic v. Apple is a genuinely open question. The two cases have followed different legal tracks, and the Supreme Court will rule on its own merits, but a major platform voluntarily implementing the relief Epic sought could shape the broader regulatory and judicial context.
CONCLUSION
June 30, 2026 is a meaningful date for anyone who builds or publishes apps on Android. The base service fee dropping from 30% to 10% on the first $1 million is the single most impactful fee change the Play Store has seen in over a decade. Opening alternative billing, globally, not as a regional pilot, gives developers a structural option they have never had before at scale.
The changes are the direct outcome of Epic Games’ antitrust case. They are also a signal to the broader regulatory environment that platform self-reform is possible when courts and regulators create sufficient pressure. How Apple responds, in court, in policy, and in the global fee structures it implements country by country, will be the follow-on story worth watching.
