Apple's October 2026 EU fee overhaul shows how the DMA actually works

On October 1, 2026, Apple replaced its Core Technology Fee in the European Union with a flat 5% commission on digital transactions made through apps distributed outside the App Store. It is the third major restructuring of Apple's EU fee terms since the Digital Markets Act forced the company to allow alternative app marketplaces and sideloading in 2024. The pattern is now clear: alternative distribution itself has barely moved the needle, but each legal setback has pushed Apple toward a simpler, lower fee structure for everyone.

What actually changed

Under the old system, once an app passed one million installs in the EU within a twelve-month window, Apple charged developers €0.50 per install or annual update on top of a separate store services fee — a structure developers and the European Commission both criticized as functionally similar to the fees it replaced. The new 5% Core Technology Commission applies uniformly to transactions in apps distributed through alternative marketplaces or the open web, with no per-install charge and no million-download threshold.

Apple also cut its standard in-app purchase commission for apps that stay in the App Store from 30% to 26%, dropping to 15% for developers enrolled in the App Store Small Business Program. Apps that use alternative payment processors inside the App Store pay 20%, or 10% under the same small-business terms. The European Commission said it welcomed the changes and would monitor their implementation — notably not calling the matter closed.

Why Apple kept revising the terms

Each fee structure Apple introduced since 2024 was challenged as a disguised continuation of the old 30% commission, and each time, regulators or courts pushed back. In July 2026, the EU's General Court rejected Apple's challenges to the Commission's designation of the App Store and iOS as a core platform service under the DMA, closing off Apple's main legal avenue for resisting the obligations altogether. The October restructuring reads less like a voluntary concession and more like the final step after Apple exhausted its appeals.

Alternative stores still have not taken off

The part of the DMA that got the most attention — forcing Apple to permit rival app marketplaces and direct sideloading — has produced modest real-world adoption. A handful of alternative stores launched, including ones backed by Epic Games and set-top-box makers, and some high-profile titles returned to iOS through them. But the large majority of EU iPhone users still install everything through Apple's own App Store, whether from habit, trust, or simple lack of awareness that alternatives exist. Developers who could distribute outside Apple's store largely chose not to, because the audience reach of the App Store still outweighs the fee savings for most apps below a certain revenue threshold.

What this means going forward

The lesson from two years of DMA enforcement in mobile is that forcing competition in distribution channels does not automatically produce it — users do not switch stores just because they legally can. What does move is the incumbent's own pricing, under sustained legal pressure. Developers evaluating whether to use alternative distribution in the EU should weigh the now-lower in-App-Store commission against the audience loss of leaving it, rather than assuming alternative marketplaces are now the default path. For most apps, staying inside Apple's store at 26% or 15% remains cheaper in practice than paying for independent marketing to build an audience outside it.