Google Play Service Fees in 2026: What Small Developers Pay
Google Play changed how it charges developers in 2026. The single service fee many developers know, 15% or 30%, is being replaced region by region with a lower service fee plus a separate fee for using Google Play's billing system. For a small subscription app, the result is simpler than the tables suggest. This guide explains the new model, where it applies, where the older model still runs, and what a small app actually pays. Google's figures below come from its own pages as of 12 September 2026.
The short version
- Google announced the new model on 4 March 2026 and published the rates and dates on 24 June 2026.
- Where it applies, the service fee is 10% on auto-renewing subscriptions and 10% on other purchases up to $1M (USD) of annual earnings. Paying through Google Play Billing adds a 5% billing fee in the EEA, UK and US.
- It started in the EEA, UK and US on 30 June 2026. Australia and Japan follow on 30 September 2026, Korea on 31 December 2026 and the rest of the world on 30 September 2027.
- Everywhere else the older model applies: 15% on subscriptions, and 15% on other sales up to $1M a year for developers enrolled in the 15% tier.
- For a small subscription app on Google Play Billing, the total is 15% under both models. What changes is the split.
What changed in 2026
Google's announcement of 4 March 2026 promised more billing choice and lower fees, and a follow-up post on 24 June 2026 gave the details. As of 12 September 2026, Google's help page on the new service fees and their rollout describes two fees:
- A service fee on every transaction, whether it goes through Google Play Billing, an alternative billing system or an external web link.
- A billing fee on top when the purchase uses Google Play Billing: 5% in the EEA, UK and US. On 12 September, Google's page said details for other regions were still to come.
New and existing installs
For purchases other than subscriptions, the rate also depends on the install. Google counts an install as new when the user installed the app from Google Play, or updated it from Google Play if it came from somewhere else, on or after the rollout date for their region. A user whose install date falls before that is an existing install. For the EEA, UK and US the date is 30 June 2026, so someone who has used your app since 2025 counts as an existing install.
The rollout dates
| Rollout date | New service fees and expanded billing choice |
|---|---|
| 30 June 2026 | EEA, UK, US |
| 30 September 2026 | Australia, Japan |
| 31 December 2026 | Korea |
| 30 September 2027 | Rest of the world |
The new rates
As of 12 September 2026, Google's service fees page gives this table for users in the EEA, UK and US. Each cell is the service fee, plus the 5% billing fee where the purchase uses Google Play Billing:
| Fee type | Auto-renewing subscriptions (new and existing installs) | Other purchases, new installs | Other purchases, existing installs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual earnings up to $1M (USD) | 10% + 5% | 10% + 5% | 10% + 5% |
| Standard | 10% + 5% | 20% + 5% | 25% + 5% |
| In the Apps Experience or Games Level Up programs | 10% + 5% | 15% + 5% | 20% + 5% |
Google's footnote says the billing fee applies when a user buys an in-app digital service or feature with Google Play Billing, or on the initial purchase of a paid app or game. For existing installs, the same page lists lower figures for purchases through external web links: 20% standard, and 15% in the two programs.
The two programs are the new Apps Experience Program and the revamped Games Level Up program. Google's June post says apps and games that meet all their requirements are eligible for the reduced rate card from 30 September 2026. Subscriptions are 10% either way.
How the $1M limit works
The $1M row on the fees page links to Google's page on the 15% service fee tier. As of 12 September 2026 that page explains how the limit is counted and how to enrol:
- Earnings are counted per calendar year, 1 January to 31 December, in USD.
- All your associated developer accounts share one limit. You list them in an Account Group in Play Console, and once the group's total passes $1M, the higher rate applies to every account in it for the rest of the year.
- To enrol, you need a payments profile and an Account Group, and you accept the tier's terms on the Associated developer accounts page. Google applies the reduced rate from the date you complete enrolment.
If you have never been through those steps, check your enrolment status on that page before you sell anything.
The older model, still used elsewhere
Until the new fees reach a region, the previous structure applies there. As of 12 September 2026 that means every country outside the EEA, UK and US, with Australia and Japan due to switch on 30 September. Google's fees page lists:
- 15% on the initial $1M (USD) of earnings each year for developers enrolled in the 15% service fee tier, and 30% above that.
- 15% on auto-renewing subscriptions, whatever you earn.
- 15% or lower on other transactions for developers who qualify under programs such as the Play Media Experience Program.
The same page covers South Korea and India, where developers who offer their own billing system alongside Google Play's pay the Google Play rate reduced by 4% on transactions through their own system.
Billing choice: alternative billing and external links
You can also let users pay with your own payment provider inside the app, or link them to your website. Google's June post says the billing fee does not apply to transactions processed via alternative billing or external web links. The service fee still does, and you pay your own provider's costs.
EEA and UK: the billing choice program
As of 12 September 2026, Google's billing choice program page lists the EEA and the UK as available markets. Enrolled developers must give users a choice between Google Play Billing and either alternative billing in the app or an external web link. They integrate Google's billing choice APIs, report all authorised transactions to Google within 24 hours, and provide customer support and refunds for purchases made outside Google Play.
The service fees follow the table above, without the billing fee. Through alternative billing in the app, subscriptions and earnings up to $1M are 10%, and other purchases are 20% on new installs and 25% on existing installs. For purchases completed within 24 hours of following an external web link, subscriptions and earnings up to $1M are 10%, and other purchases are 20% on any install. Google's page notes that in the EEA, its earlier user choice billing and EEA programs remain available.
US: alternative billing and external content links
The US has its own programs, run under a US District Court order. As of 12 September 2026:
- Alternative billing in the US lets you offer your own billing system instead of, or alongside, Google Play Billing. The rates are 10% on subscriptions and on earnings up to $1M, 20% on other purchases from new installs and 25% from existing installs.
- The external content links program lets you link US users out to buy in-app digital items. Purchases completed within 24 hours of following a link carry 10% on recurring subscriptions and on earnings up to $1M, and 20% otherwise.
- Both pages cite a 22 July 2026 update: enrolled developers must report transactions and pay the service fee starting 1 October 2026.
What a small subscription app pays
Take a fictional hiking app, Trailmate, with 1,000 subscribers paying $5 a month. All of them are in the US, UK or EEA, all pay through Google Play Billing, and Trailmate earns well under $1M a year. Ignoring taxes:
| New model | Older model | |
|---|---|---|
| Customer payments per month | $5,000 | $5,000 |
| Service fee | $500 (10%) | $750 (15%) |
| Billing fee | $250 (5%) | None |
| Trailmate receives | $4,250 | $4,250 |
The total is 15% either way. A subscriber in Brazil pays the same 15% today, under the older model. And because subscriptions are 10% plus 5% at every earnings level, Trailmate's subscription income would cost the same even if it grew past $1M.
One-off purchases are where the models part. Say Trailmate also sells a $20 lifetime unlock through Google Play Billing:
- Up to $1M of annual earnings, each sale costs 15% in all, $3, on any install.
- Above $1M, a sale to a new install costs 25%, $5, and a sale to an existing install 30%, $6. Under the older model it was 30%, $6.
Alternative billing changes the sum on paper: a subscription through your own billing carries the 10% service fee and no billing fee. Whether that beats 15% depends on what your payment provider charges, the tax and refund handling you take on, and the work of meeting the program's requirements. For a small team, those costs can easily outweigh 5%.
These tables change as regions roll out, so read Google's live service fees page before you set prices. If you also ship on iOS, see our guide to the App Store Small Business Program. To get set up on Google Play in the right order, our guides to the Google Play developer account and publishing on Google Play cover the steps.
How FeedbackKit fits in
A lower fee helps at the margin. Keeping subscribers helps more, and subscribers stay when the app keeps doing what they need. The cheapest way to learn what that is: ask them, inside the app.
FeedbackKit adds a request board to your Android app, where users post ideas, vote and comment without leaving it. There are Jetpack Compose views in the Kotlin SDK, plus SDKs for Flutter and React Native. Our Kotlin setup guide walks through adding it. Here is how collecting requests looks in FeedbackKit, with sample data from a fictional hiking app:
Requests from inside the app
When you build something people asked for, tell them. FeedbackKit emails the person who submitted a request when it moves to a status in your project's list, on every plan; our post on closing the loop explains how. Plans are on the pricing page, or you can start free and put a request board in front of your subscribers this week.