The EU has more than one fee structure
Under the Digital Markets Act, Apple has offered EU developers a choice of business terms rather than a single set. The terms effective 1 October 2026 replace that patchwork with one unified structure, and they price each combination of distribution channel and payment method separately instead of bundling everything into one commission.
In that structure, App Store distribution with Apple In-App Purchase carries a 26% commission, or 15% where a reduced rate applies. Keeping App Store distribution but taking payment through your own processor carries 20%, or 10% at the reduced rate. Leaving the App Store — an alternative marketplace or distribution from your own site — replaces the commission with a 5% Core Technology Commission on external purchases.
Which combination is cheaper for you is genuinely not obvious: a 10% commission plus a 2.9% processor fee sits above the 15% reduced IAP rate only once your conversion loss is included, and the 5% path trades that commission for taking on distribution yourself. The calculator above resolves all of these from the same rule set, so you can switch channels and see the fee change rather than guess at it.
VAT changes the arithmetic
EU consumer prices generally include VAT. Where Apple collects that VAT it deducts it before applying its commission, so a VAT-inclusive €10,000 gives Apple a smaller base than the headline figure suggests. A payment processor does not work that way — it charges its percentage on the full amount the card was charged, VAT included. If your figure is VAT-inclusive, both paths lose the VAT itself, but only one of them also shrinks its fee base.
That is what the tax handling toggle above is for. Switching it to VAT-inclusive applies an estimated rate so the comparison stays consistent across both columns. Actual VAT depends on the customer's member state, your registration, and whether Apple or another party acts as merchant of record — so treat the built-in rate as a placeholder for your own number.
Reading the EU comparison
Both columns take their Apple fee from the same dated EU rule set, so the alternative-payment column is not an Apple-free best case. Under the unified terms loaded here by default it carries the 20% or 10% App Store commission, or the 5% Core Technology Commission once you distribute outside the App Store. Switch the effective date back to the earlier EU terms and a different structure applies — the fee breakdown always names whichever rule was used, so read that line rather than assuming this one.
What still sits outside the model is install-driven cost. Apple is phasing out the per-install Core Technology Fee under these terms, but transitional arrangements and eligibility conditions depend on details this tool does not collect. Verify the current EU terms in Apple's developer documentation before committing to a change.
The break-even conversion loss is the part of the output that travels best, because it tells you what your own funnel would have to survive for the switch to pay off.