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Big changes are coming for Patreon creators on iOS, as the company plans to discontinue certain billing models in 2025 to comply with Apple’s subscription model.
Patreon has shared some upcoming updates to its in-app billing system, in order to comply with demands from Apple and remain on the App Store.
In a blogpost, Patreon said Apple requires it to switch to the iPhone maker’s in-app purchase system for “all iOS transactions” or risk being kicked off the App Store. To comply with this, Patreon said it has begun a 16-month process to move all creators to the iOS in-app purchase system by November 2025.
The changes include a 30pc Apple App Store fee for all new memberships purchased in the Patreon iOS app. This fee also applies to anything bought in a creator’s Patreon shop. Patreon also said creators that are on the “first-of-the-month or per-creation billing plans” will have to switch over to subscription billing to keep making money in the iOS app because “that’s the only billing type Apple’s in-app purchase system supports”.
“To be clear, this means that first-of-the-month and per-creation billing models will be discontinued in November 2025,” Patreon said.
While the full changes are planned for 2025, Patron said some of the impacts will be felt sooner. The company plans to have creators switch over to subscription billing starting in November 2024, but creators will have the option to delay this change until November 2025 – though this comes with its own drawbacks.
“Even if you delay your migration, Apple’s requirements still apply,” Patreon said. “If you have not switched to subscription billing by this November, your fans will not be able to purchase new memberships in the iOS app.”
Patreon has also built an “optional tool” for creators to automatically increase prices in the iOS app to “offset the cost of Apple’s fee”. Creators can either use this automatic price increase or keep their prices the same and “pay the 30pc fee from your earnings”.
“We don’t recommend this, because it means you’d earn less per membership on in-app iOS transactions – but ultimately we believe it’s important to give you agency to make your own decisions,” Patreon said. “Apple’s fees are only in the iOS app. Your prices on the web and the Android app will remain completely unaffected.”
Apple has faced criticism from multiple companies over the years for its App Store fees. Epic Games was involved in a dramatic court battle with Apple last year about its App Store policies. But US appeals court upheld a 2021 ruling between Epic and Apple, which largely rejected claims by Epic that App Store policies violated antitrust rules.
In the EU, Apple has altered its App Store rules to comply with the Digital Markets Act. The company revealed that it will let developers steer consumers to alternative apps and is implementing a different fee system. But both Epic and Spotify have taken issue with these new rules.
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