iOS in-app purchases and migrating to subscription billing

  • Updated

Apple's requirement to use iOS in-app purchases

In order to have a Patreon iOS app available for all creators and fans, Apple is requiring Patreon to use their in-app purchase system for all sales, including new memberships, made in the iOS app. Beginning in November 2024 new memberships purchased in the iOS app will be subject to Apple’s 30% App Store fee.

Apple only supports Patreon’s subscription billing model. Apple’s mandate means that if you’re on a first-of-the-month or per-creation billing model, your membership will no longer be available for fans to purchase in the iOS app starting this November.

Apple has also made clear that if creators on Patreon continue to use Apple’s unsupported billing models in the iOS app, we will be at risk of having the entire app removed from their App Store. 

Why Patreon is moving forward with subscription billing

As a result of Apple’s mandates and in order to make sure that you can continue growing in the iOS app, we've started a 16-month-long migration process to bring all creators onto subscription billing by November 2025, supported by a roadmap of new features and tools to make sure your business continues to thrive once you’ve migrated.

Patreon would not choose to migrate creators to subscription billing in this way if we didn't have constraints and deadlines from Apple jeopardizing our availability in the App Store.

How subscription billing has helped creators grow

Hear from creators who have found success and growth with switching to subscription billing:

How Patreon will help creators migrate to subscription billing

Creators can choose when to migrate to subscription billing before November 2025. Due to Apple’s requirements, creators who delay migrating to subscription billing will not be able to sell new memberships in the iOS app in November 2024, when iOS in-app purchases rolls out.

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What creators can expect when we roll out iOS in-app purchases for all sales

  • Subscription billing creators can continue offering new memberships in the iOS app but will be impacted by the Apple App Store fee
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  • First-of-the-month billing creators will be automatically migrated to subscription billing beginning in November 2024, so your fans can continue to purchase your membership in the iOS app. You can delay the migration to subscription billing by selecting this option in your settings by November 1, 2024
    • We are automatically migrating you because we want you to continue earning in the iOS app. However, you deserve full control over when you migrate, which is why you can delay the migration
    • If you delay the migration to subscription billing, you can migrate any time before November 2025, and will not be able to sell memberships in the iOS app until you switch to subscription billing
      Timeline Graphic - First-of-the-month.jpg
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  • Per-creation billing creators can migrate to subscription billing any time before November 2025. We are giving you more time to migrate because it is a manual process that requires help from our Product Support teams. To learn more about this process, read our Help Center article
    Timeline Graphic - Per-creation billing and subscription billing.jpg
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Switching to subscription billing is a permanent, one-time change. Read these help center articles to learn about the process of migrating to a new billing model and its impact on you and your members:

Creators control how Apple’s fee is applied to their prices

To keep the Patreon iOS app in the Apple App Store, Apple is requiring that we use their iOS in-app purchase system. This means that beginning in November 2024, all new memberships made in the iOS app will have the 30% App Store fee applied. While there’s no way around this, creators will be able to decide how the Apple fee is applied to their prices.

Creators can choose to:

  • Increase the prices of the memberships and digital goods sold in the iOS app. This will help creators earn the same across platforms despite the Apple fee and is the default option
  • Keep prices the same across all platforms. This means that the creator absorbs the Apple App Store fee themselves and therefore earns less from sales in the iOS app

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You can switch from the default setting of increasing the prices of membership and digital goods sold on the iOS app by visiting your Billing and payouts settings.

We’ve created a page on how iOS in-app purchases will impact fans you can share with fans to help communicate this change.

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