Can your UK app send customers to a cheaper web checkout?

On Google Play, yes: since 30 June 2026 UK apps can link customers to pay on the web, which skips Google's 5% billing fee but still carries a service fee. On Apple's App Store, not yet. Apple still bars UK apps from pointing buyers of digital content to a cheaper checkout elsewhere. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed a rule to change that and says it will decide later in 2026.

What does "steering" mean for an app?

Steering is when an app tells customers they can pay somewhere other than the app store, usually on the business's own website, and gives them a link or button to get there. The reason it matters is money. A purchase made through the store's own payment system carries the store's commission, while a purchase on your website carries only your card processing costs and whatever fee the store charges for the link.

The CMA has flagged "up to 30% commission on some in app purchases" as a problem for UK businesses, alongside rules that stop developers telling customers about other ways to pay. In its July 2025 announcement it said those restrictions could make some business models unviable. Steering is the fix it has been working towards since then.

It helps to know which purchases this covers. Steering rules apply to digital goods and services: subscriptions, premium features, credits, courses, content. Physical goods and real world services are a different case, covered further down.

What can a UK app do on Google Play today?

Google Play already lets UK apps send customers to an outside checkout. Google announced new terms on 24 June 2026 that took effect in the US, UK and European Economic Area on 30 June 2026, as 9to5Google reported . The CMA noted the change in its own consultation announcement and said steering on Play is still "subject to certain restrictions".

The new Google structure splits the old single commission in two:

• A service fee of 10% on a developer's first 1 million US dollars of annual earnings, charged whichever way the customer pays. All auto renewing subscriptions sit at 10% too.
• A billing fee of 5%, charged only when the purchase goes through Google Play's own billing.

So a small UK developer selling through Play Billing pays roughly 15%, and one sending the customer to an external web link pays roughly 10% to Google plus their own card processing. Above the 1 million dollar threshold, fees on one off purchases rise, and Google charges less on customers who installed after the new terms began than on older installs.

The saving on Android is real but modest: about five percentage points, minus whatever your payment provider charges. For many small apps that will not justify building a separate web checkout on its own. It becomes worth it when the same web checkout also serves iPhone users.

What does Apple allow in the UK right now?

Apple does not currently allow UK apps to steer buyers of digital content to an outside checkout. Its App Review Guidelines say that in every storefront except the United States, apps "may not include buttons, external links, or other calls to action that direct customers to purchasing mechanisms other than in app purchase". The CMA puts it plainly: Apple bans steering in the UK.

There are narrow exceptions. Reader apps, such as those for magazines, books, music and video, can apply for an entitlement to link to their own website for account management. Apple also offers link entitlements in certain regions, but they are limited to specific storefronts.

Apple's commission for most small developers is 15%. The App Store Small Business Program gives a reduced 15% rate to developers who made up to 1 million US dollars in proceeds in the previous calendar year, and to developers new to the store. Above that, the standard rate applies.

One thing Apple does allow everywhere: talking to your customers outside the app. The same guidelines say developers "can send communications outside of the app to their user base about purchasing methods other than in app purchase". An email to existing customers mentioning a web price is within the rules. A button inside the UK app is not.

What has the CMA proposed for Apple?

The CMA has proposed a steering conduct requirement that would make Apple "allow developers to 'steer' users out of the app, including to complete transactions on fair and reasonable terms". The consultation opened on 30 June 2026 and closed on 28 July 2026. Apple was designated with strategic market status, the label that lets the CMA impose rules like this, in October 2025.

The proposal does not ban fees on steered purchases. Apple and Google could still charge, but the CMA wants those fees justified by evidence and said it "would expect steering fees to be lower than current app store charges". It also wants the savings passed to UK customers or reinvested by developers.

The CMA chose a set of principles rather than a fixed percentage. According to a Wolters Kluwer analysis of the consultation, the fee must reflect Apple's genuine costs plus a reasonable return, a share of any genuine extra value the platform adds, and be simple to understand. The same analysis notes the CMA described a cost based fee as likely to be significantly lower than Apple's current fees.

As of late October 2026, the steering decision had not been published. Bratby Law's tracker , updated on 22 October 2026, records a separate CMA proposal on contactless payment access for Apple that month, but no steering decision and no implementation date.

Does steering matter if you sell physical goods or services?

Steering mostly does not matter for apps that sell physical goods or services used in the real world. Apple's guidelines already require those apps to use payment methods other than in app purchase, "such as Apple Pay or traditional credit card entry". That covers a table booking, a takeaway order, a gym class, a haircut or a parcel.

If your app is for a restaurant, a clinic, a shop or a trade business, you can already take payment directly with your own provider and keep the store's commission out of it. The CMA's steering rule is aimed at subscriptions, digital content and in app features, where the store fee has always applied.

This is worth checking before anything else, because it changes the whole pricing conversation. Plenty of business owners assume the 15% or 30% applies to every app sale, and it does not.

How to plan an app's pricing while the decision is pending

The safest plan is to build for today's rules and leave room for steering, rather than betting on an outcome that has not been decided. A few practical steps make that easy.

1. Price on today's fees. Model your app's subscription or purchase price on the 15% Apple and Play Billing rate. If your margins only work with steering, you are relying on a decision that has not been made and a fee level that has not been set.
2. Keep accounts on your own system. Customer accounts, entitlements and subscription status should live on your own backend, not only inside the store. That is what lets a customer who pays on the web unlock the same features in the app.
3. Build the web checkout once. A web checkout serves Android external links today and can serve iPhone users if Apple's rules change. It also lets you sell to customers who never install the app at all.
4. Use the channels you already control. Email, your website and your social accounts can tell existing customers about web pricing within Apple's current rules.
5. Expect a fee, not a free pass. Under the CMA's proposal, a steered purchase would still carry a platform fee. Plan for a saving of some percentage points, not the whole commission.

The decision is also likely to come with an implementation period, so even a favourable ruling will not change your App Store listing overnight. An app launched this winter on today's rules can add a steering link later as an update.

If you are planning a paid app and want to know which of these pricing setups suits it, our mobile app development work covers in app purchases, web checkouts and shared accounts from the start.

Not sure whether your app's sales would even fall under store fees? Book a free 15 minute call and we will tell you straight.

Frequently asked questions

Will steering mean no fees to Apple at all?

No. Under the CMA's proposal Apple could still charge a fee on purchases made through a steering link, as long as the fee is fair, reasonable and justified by evidence. The CMA expects the fee to be lower than current App Store charges, but it has not set a number.

Can a UK app link to web payments on iPhone if it also sells in the US?

Only in the United States storefront. Apple's guidelines lift the ban on purchase links for US storefront apps, but the UK version of the same app must still follow the UK rules. In practice that means showing the link only to customers on the US storefront.

Is it allowed to email app customers about cheaper web prices?

Yes. Apple's App Review Guidelines say developers can communicate outside the app with their user base about other ways to pay. What is not allowed in the UK is a link, button or call to action inside the app itself.

Do I pay app store fees on bookings or physical products?

No. Apple requires apps selling physical goods or services used outside the app to take payment through other methods, such as Apple Pay or card entry. Store commission applies to digital content and features, not to a meal, a product or an appointment.