Patreon memberships sold on iOS will soon face Apple’s 30% fee

Patreon memberships sold in the iOS app will soon be subject to Apple’s 30% commission on in-app purchases. In a post on MondayPatreon says Apple is forcing the platform to use the company’s in-app payment system starting in Novemberor “risk of being kicked from the App Store”.

As part of the change, creators will need to switch to Patreon Subscription Billing Method to continue earning money through the platform’s iOS app. This means that Apple’s 30 percent commission will apply when a new subscription is initially purchased, as well as whenever it is renewed. To help offset the costs of the new fee, Patreon will give creators the option to automatically increase their prices in the iOS app.

The fee will only apply to memberships purchased in the Patreon iOS app on or after November 4, 2024. Existing memberships on Patreon will not be affected by the change, nor will memberships sold on the Patreon website or Android app. But with Patreon already having a set of platform feesApple’s commission will only result in creators receiving less money for their work.

“Unless creators decide to absorb the Apple App Store fee themselves, new transactions in the Patreon iOS app will be more expensive than the same purchase on the web because of the Apple App Store fee,” writes Patreon.

Until this year, Patreon was allowed to bypass Apple’s 30% commission by using alternative payment processors. In 2021, Patreon CEO Jack Conte said during an interview with Decoder that it does not have “any special contract with Apple” and that the company had to “deal with the App Store’s policies and review process like anyone else.” He said Apple may have given Patreon a chance because “users don’t come to Patreon to discover creators and content.”

But last year, Patreon announced would have to switch to Apple’s in-app payment system, with Apple’s 30 percent commission on digital products taking effect in early 2024. Patreon said Apple would extend the fee to new memberships and subscriptions later in the year .