iOS In-app Purchases and Switching to Subscription Billing FAQ

This article answers common questions about the switch to subscription billing that all creators completed in November 2026, and how it relates to iOS in-app purchases (IAP).

Switching FAQ

• Apple requires subscription billing for in-app purchases on iOS. To keep the Patreon iOS app available on the App Store, all creators on legacy billing models had until November 1, 2026 to switch. Accounts that hadn’t switched by then were switched automatically in November.

  Learn more about Apple’s decision and how it impacts Patreon creators.

• If you used first-of-the-month billing (charge upfront or non-charge upfront), your existing members are still billed on the 1st of each month for as long as their membership is active. If you used per-creation billing, your existing members now pay a set monthly price on the 1st of each month instead of paying for each paid post, up to any monthly limit they set. New members are billed on the date they join, then monthly on that same date.
• Your payout schedule will not change. You can pay out your account balance as soon as funds are settled, or you can auto‑payout on the 5th.
• Go to your Billing and payouts settings. Under “Billing schedule,” you’ll see “Members are charged on the day they join your membership, and then monthly on that same date.”
• No. Subscription billing is now the only billing model on Patreon, and the switch can’t be reversed.
• If you used per-creation billing, your billing was paused when your account switched. Review your new tier prices and resume billing when you’re ready. Follow the steps in How to move from per-creation to subscription billing.
• This only applies to creators switching from per-creation to subscription billing. To calculate a default tier price, we multiplied each tier’s per-creation price by the highest number of paid posts you charged for in a single month over the last 3 months. If your members set a maximum number of paid posts, we honor that limit. Learn more about how the new prices were calculated.
• Yes, after you resume billing. Editing tier prices is disabled while billing is paused. Once billing is active, you can change your prices and choose whether the new price applies to new members only or to new and existing members. Learn how to adjust your tier prices.

• When you move from per-creation to subscription billing, we’ll honor existing members' monthly maximums when calculating their new monthly price. If a member’s maximum is lower than the new tier price, they’ll remain in their tier and pay no more than their maximum.

  If you later change a tier’s price and apply it to all members, existing members’ monthly maximums will no longer apply. Existing members will be notified, and the new price will apply at their first renewal after the 31-day notice period.

  To preserve existing members’ current prices and monthly maximums, apply the price change to new members only.

• Once you resume billing, existing members are billed their monthly price on the 1st of the month. New members are billed when they join.
• We have a template that you can use! You can find it in this article. You can also work directly 1:1 with our support team to craft the right messaging for you and your members.
• We're actively building annual‑only memberships. If this option would work better for your workflow, reach out to our Support team, and we'll follow up with you directly as it becomes available and help you plan a transition.

iOS in-app purchases FAQ

• 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 some new memberships purchased in the Patreon iOS app. New members who join on mobile web, desktop, or Android won't be affected, and U.S. fans on iOS can choose web checkout to avoid Apple's fee altogether.

• For U.S. fans, there's still a way to avoid Apple's fee. When signing up in the iOS app, they can choose web checkout instead of Apple's in-app purchase system. Apple's rules require that any paid content shown in the iOS app is also available to purchase through Apple's in-app system.

  For fans outside the U.S., Apple does not allow web checkout, so those purchases must go through Apple's in-app purchase system and will include Apple's fee.

• No. Switching to subscription billing does not require all fans to use Apple's in-app purchase system. U.S. fans on iOS will continue to see a mobile web checkout option, which isn't subject to Apple's fee.

• Yes. If a fan subscribes to your membership in the iOS app once the change has taken place, every recurring subscription will incur the Apple App Store fee.

  How much of my business will be affected by Apple's in-app purchase system?
  
  For most creators, very little:

  • Your existing members are not affected. Apple's fee does not apply retroactively to people who already support you.
  • Most U.S. fans won't be affected either. Thanks to the current court ruling, U.S. fans on iOS can choose web checkout, which avoids Apple's 30% fee.
  • Only new memberships purchased directly inside the iOS app are subject to Apple's fee, and this primarily applies to non-U.S. fans.

  You can always see how much of your revenue comes from iOS purchases in your earnings insights, so you have a clear picture of how (or if) Apple's system impacts your business.

• You can see this directly in your Relationship Manager. For each member, you'll be able to view whether they joined via iOS or another platform.

• Apple doesn't allow platforms to direct members to cancel and re-subscribe in order to avoid in-app purchase fees. Because of this, Patreon can't prompt or reroute existing iOS members on your behalf.

  That said, you can focus on clear, proactive communication for new fans about available checkout options where allowed, and you're always free to communicate directly with individual members who've already joined via iOS if you choose.

• If you choose to maintain your earnings, we automatically calculate the higher price to ensure you earn at least the same on iOS memberships as you would on web and Android.

  To calculate the iOS membership 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.

  Note: 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%.

• 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.

• 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, iOS purchases will show as pending in your Creator Balance for up to 75 days.

  Patreon is unable to expedite Apple processing.

• Apple's in‑app payments system supports over 44 currencies and 200 payment methods. You can see a list of currencies supported by Apple here.

• Fans can request refunds on products purchased from 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:

  Creators 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 the creator's behalf and communicate with the fan on the status of the refund. If the refund is granted, funds will be issued back to the fan's Apple account.

• 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 product and membership sales across platforms after the Apple fee.
• 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.

• Yes. Apple reduces its App Store fee from 30% to 15% after a member completes one year of continuous billing on an IAP subscription. Patreon will begin passing these lower App Store fee savings directly to you when your member's subscription surpasses one year. You can see this reflected in your Member transaction history CSV, available in the Documents tab.

  Note that Apple updated its fees for members based in China in March 2026: 25% in the first year, and 12% when a member's subscription surpasses one year. Starting in April 2026, Patreon began applying these rates to new memberships. For existing memberships, Patreon will pass on the reduced App Store fees directly to creators.