All creators still using legacy billing will be required to switch to subscription billing by November 1, 2026. If you'd like one-to-one assistance during this transition, you must contact Support via your settings by September 30th, 2026.
Subscription billing offers a more predictable model for you and your members, and unlocks features like Free trials, Autopilot, Gifting, Discounts, and Tier Repricing.
In August 2024, we let you know that Apple is requiring Patreon to use its in-app purchase system for all future membership and product purchases made in the iOS app. To comply with Apple’s in-app purchase requirements, some Patreon functionality may work differently for memberships purchased in the iOS app. Patreon began rolling out iOS in-app purchases in November 2024.
Key Impacts
- Payout Delay: iOS in-app funds have a 75-day pending period due to Apple's processing time
- Earnings: Creators can view a breakdown of revenue by platform and see pending vs. settled funds
- Pricing: iOS in-app pricing may be higher to account for Apple's fees, except for tiers with physical goods. Pricing for U.S. based fans may not appear higher if they select web checkout
- Unpublishing: If you unpublish your Patreon page, iOS in-app memberships will be canceled (no automatic refunds); pausing is recommended to maintain these memberships
- Refunds: Fans who joined via iOS in-app must request refunds through Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com, but creators can still issue other refunds via the Audience Manager
- Custom Amounts: Fans cannot set a custom membership amount when editing their membership in the iOS app; this is still possible on Web and Android
For iOS users in the U.S.: Fans in the U.S. may have the option to complete their purchase through Patreon’s mobile web checkout instead of using Apple’s in-app purchase flow. Purchases completed on the mobile web are not subject to Apple’s App Store fee.
Payout delay
The iOS in-app purchase system requires a 75-day pending period while Apple processes and makes the funds available for payout. Patreon cannot expedite Apple’s processing timeline. Funds from iOS in-app purchases will appear as pending on your account until Apple has settled the transaction.
Learn more about paying out your balance.
Earnings insights
You're able to view a breakdown of your monthly revenue, comparing income from transactions made in the iOS app, web browser, or Android app. Additionally, you’ll see a breakdown of your monthly earnings, including pending funds due to Apple’s payout delay and settled funds already deposited into your payout.
Pricing a tier
When pricing a tier on the tier edit screen, you will see a preview of what the price will be when viewed in the iOS app. Depending on the choice you have selected for how to account for Apple’s fees, the price may be higher in the iOS app or the same. This preview allows you to see the price that will be displayed for each individual tier. Please note that any fan in the U.S. will see your original tier pricing first, and will only see the higher tier price if they choose Apple’s in-app purchase system over the default web checkout flow, which doesn’t include Apple’s fee.
Please note: Tiers that utilize structured tier benefits may be exempt from the iOS in-app fee if they include physical goods, such as merch, commissions (delivered by mail) or other tangible goods. The increased offset price will not be included in these tiers when viewed in the iOS app, keeping the same price as on the Web and Android.
Visit our Advanced Sales Tax Settings article to learn more.
Annual memberships
Currently, annual memberships are not supported in the iOS app. Creators can still offer annual memberships on Web and Android. We are working to support annual memberships in the iOS app as a fast follow.
Payout delay
The iOS in-app purchase system requires a 75-day pending period while Apple processes and makes the funds available for payout. Patreon cannot expedite Apple’s processing timeline. Funds from iOS in-app purchases will appear as pending on your account until Apple has settled the transaction.
Learn more about paying out your balance.
Unpublishing your Patreon
Unpublishing your Patreon will remove active memberships for fans who joined through iOS in-app purchases. If you’d like to take a break, we recommend pausing your membership for a month at a time.
If you unpublish your page, all memberships made on iOS in-app purchasing will be canceled without automatic refunds. Memberships created on Web, Android, or iOS prior to the rollout of in-app purchasing will be paused rather than canceled. Since unpublishing your Patreon can impact your ability to republish with your same audience, we recommend pausing your page for up to 60 days so that you don’t lose your iOS memberships processed with Apple’s in-app purchasing system.
Learn more about pausing your membership.
Refunding members
Fans who joined through iOS in-app purchases should request a refund through Apple at reportaproblem.apple.com. Theicon next to a purchase indicates whether the purchase was made with iOS in-app purchases. As a creator, you can still issue refunds for fans through your Audience relationship manager and Sales tab.
Apple ultimately decides whether to approve a refund request on transactions made through in-app purchases. You can find Apple’s guide to requesting a refund here.
Refunding fans who joined on Web or Android
You can continue to issue refunds from their Patreon balance to fans who joined on the Web or Android. Read more about how refunds work.
Custom membership amount
At rollout, fans will not be able to create a custom pledge amount when they edit their membership through the iOS app. This also means that memberships made via in-app purchasing cannot be edited to a custom amount.
Fans will still be able to create and edit their memberships to a custom amount on the Web and Android.