Apple is requiring Patreon to use their in-app purchase system and remove all other billing systems from the Patreon iOS app by November 2024. Beginning in November 2024 new memberships purchased in the iOS app will be subject to Apple’s 30% App Store fee. Apple’s in-app purchase system only supports our subscription billing model. This article lists questions we anticipate creators having about Apple’s requirements.
For questions regarding the migration to subscription billing, visit our subscription billing FAQ.
Click on a question below to view the answer:
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A: No. You cannot opt out of the fee, or we’ll be at risk of having our app pulled from the App Store. To keep your work in the iOS app, it must be sold via Apple's in-app purchasing system.
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A: No. Your existing memberships will not be affected by the Apple fee. If a member subscribed to your page in June 2024, for example, in the Patreon iOS app, their future subscription payments will not incur the App Store fee.
The App Store Fee only applies to new memberships purchased in the Patreon iOS app starting November 4, 2024. Your current members and new members who subscribe on other platforms (e.g. mobile web, desktop web, or Android) can continue to interact with your works in the iOS app.
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A: Yes. Once the change has taken place, if a fan subscribes to your membership in the iOS app, every recurring subscription will incur the Apple App Store fee.
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A: Patreon is not making these changes to make money. Using Apple’s in-app purchase system is required for our app to continue being available in the Apple App Store. While we do earn a percentage of revenue from sales made on our platform, we will not charge payment processing fees for in-app iOS purchases.
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A: If you choose to maintain your earnings, we automatically calculate the higher price to ensure you earn at least the same from in-app iOS sales as you do on other platforms, like web.
To calculate the higher iOS price, your list price is increased by roughly 43%*. That way, after subtracting Apple’s App Store fee, you will earn at least as much as you would if the purchase was made on the web.
Click to enlarge *Fully offsetting the App Store fee to maintain your earnings (30% of the higher iOS sale price)requires an increase of 1 / (1-30%), which is 42.86%.
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A: In order to safely roll changes to creators, we ramp releases over a short period of time. Beginning in November 2024, we will begin to roll out Apple’s in-app purchase system to creators and will complete the rollout in Q1 2025.
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A: Apple processes all transactions for sales in the iOS app, and then remits payment to Patreon, which can take up to 75 days after the transaction date. As a result of Apple processing the purchase, in-app iOS purchases will show as pending in your Creator Balance for up to 75 days. Patreon is unable to expedite Apple processing.
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A: Apple’s in-app purchase system supports over 44 currencies and 200 payment methods. Visit our Apple in-app purchases currency support page for the complete list of supported countries.
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A: To keep things simple for creators, we automatically add the price markup to your original tier price if you choose to maintain your earnings in the iOS app. Prices shown for iOS in-app purchases are not customizable. You can change your tier or product price if you’d like.
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A: Fans can request refunds on products purchased in the iOS app directly from you (as they do today) or through Apple. Apple will process refunds within 60 days of the purchase taking place.
- Through Patreon: You can refund purchases as you normally would for other Commerce purchases
- Through Apple: Fans can request a refund from Apple via reportaproblem.apple.com. Apple will handle the refund on your behalf and communicate with the fan on its status. If the refund is granted, funds will be issued back to their Apple account
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A: We’ve created this Help Center article to share with your fans to help explain the price difference in the iOS app. You can explain to fans that prices in the iOS app are higher to cover Apple’s App Store fee while ensuring that you earn the same on a product and membership sales across platforms after the Apple fee.
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A: No, Apple’s fee only applies to purchases made in the iOS app. Mobile web purchases on an iOS device will not incur the Apple fee.