Google is changing how it collects fees on the Play Store, and making it easier to use third-party app stores and billing systems.
Google is officially doing away with its 30 percent cut of Play Store transactions, and rolling out changes to how third-party app stores and alternate billing systems will be handled by Android. Some of these tweaks were proposed as part of the settlement the company reached with Epic in November 2025, but rather than wait for final judicial approval, Google is committing to revamping Android and the Play Store publicly.
The biggest change is to how Google will collect fees from developers publishing apps on Android. Rather than take its standard 30 percent cut of in-app purchases through the Play Store, Google is lowering its cut to 20 percent, and in some cases 15 percent for new installs of apps from developers participating in its new App Experience program or updated Google Play Games Level Up program. Google will also now charge a five percent service fee for developers in the UK, US or European Economic Area (EEA) using its billing system, and "a market-specific rate" in other regions. Of course, for anyone trying to avoid those fees, using alternatives to Google's billing system is also getting easier.
As part of these changes, Google says that developers will be able to offer alternative billing systems alongside its own or "guide users outside of their app to their own websites for purchases." The setup, as described by Google, appears to be more permissive than what Apple settled on in 2025. For iOS apps on the App Store, developers interested in avoiding Apple's fees can only direct customers to alternative payment methods on the web through in-app links. Allowing for these outside transactions is part of what prompted Epic to bring Fortnite back to the App Store in the US in May 2025. The developer added the app back to the Play Store in the US in December of that year, and Epic CEO Tim Sweeney shared alongside today's changes that Fortnite will soon be available in Google's app store globally.
Epic is ultimately interested in getting people to use the mobile version of its Epic Games Store, and Google’s announcement includes details on how third-party app stores can come to Android. Third-party app stores will be able to apply to the company's new "Registered App Stores" program to see if they meet "certain quality and safety benchmarks." If they do, they'll be able to take advantage of a streamlined installation interface in Android. Participating in the program is optional, and users will still be able to sideload alternative app stores that aren't part of the program, but Google clearly has a preference. Changes the company plans to make to sideloading later in 2026 could deliberately make the process more difficult, which might force developers to apply to Google’s program.
Given the scale of the changes, not all of Google's tweaks will be available everywhere at the same time. Google says that its updated fee structure will come to the EEA, the UK and the US by June 30, Australia by September 30, Korea and Japan by December 31 and the entire world by September 30, 2027. Meanwhile, the company's updated Google Play Games Level Up program and new App Experience program will launch in the EEA, the UK, the US and Australia on September 30, before hitting the remaining regions alongside the updated fee structure. For any developers interested in offering their own app store, Google says it'll launch its Registered App Stores program "with a version of a major Android release" before the end of the year. According to the company, the program will be available in other regions first before it comes to the US.
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Comments
This is kind of a misleading title. While they "ended" the 30-percent cut, they are keeping a 20-percent cut.
By Imustaskforhelp 2026-03-0421:561 reply > This is kind of a misleading title
Kind of is doing a lot of work there. This might be THE most misleading title I heard. Jumping into this thread I expected they went from 30% to 0% not 20% so I appreciate your comment for giving me more context.
Can Dang or HN moderation team fix the title to better reflect the true state and not be misleading as it currently is?
thanks in advance!
By waynesonfire 2026-03-0422:37 Or better yet, remove it all together. Why promote this type of deceivement?
It looks to be a pretty massive messaging compaign promoting this deceptive wording.
By upcoming-sesame 2026-03-0421:052 reply worse title I've seen in a while
Soviet level of journalism...
“Did you hear? On Red Square they’re giving away cars.”
“Not quite. First, it’s not on Red Square but on Dzerzhinsky Square. Second, they’re not cars but bicycles. And third, they’re not giving them away, they’re stealing them.”
By tw-20260303-001 2026-03-0422:51 "Did you hear, Russians went to space", "All of them?", "No, just one", "Then why do you bother me."
By quentindanjou 2026-03-0422:12 It would have been about Apple it probably would have said "Apple starts charging 20% fees on the AppStore"
By dataflow 2026-03-050:10 > This is kind of a misleading title
That kind of is an understatement
By justinclift 2026-03-0423:27 Note that the title is the same as the actual article's heading. :(
By onlyrealcuzzo 2026-03-0421:063 reply The majority of which is going directly to Visa, Amex, Mastercard.
By Legend2440 2026-03-0421:422 reply Nah, credit card fees are like 1.5 to 3.5%.
By sofixa 2026-03-051:56 Country dependent, in the EU there is a legal cap of 0.2% for debit and 0.3% for credit card transactions.
By onlyrealcuzzo 2026-03-0515:24 Interchange is $0.35. On small transactions, that eats up a lot.
By john_strinlai 2026-03-0421:411 reply i dont believe any of those companies take anywhere near a 20% cut per transaction
By dbbk 2026-03-0422:49 Also, iOS App Store and Google Play Store aren't just straight payment processing, they are Merchant of Record.
By rezonant 2026-03-0422:52 That's incredible, so Stripe at 3% plus $0.30 per transactions must be losing money hand over fist!
The article is confusingly worded. I think Google's announcement is more clear [1].
My read is:
* Developers using Google to process payments should expect to go from a 30% fee to a 25% fee (20% service fee + 5% billing fee).
* Subscriptions will now have a 15% fee (10% service fee + 5% billing fee)
* Some Third Party App Stores will be easier to install
[1] https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/03/a-new-era-...
By rezonant 2026-03-0422:54 Google's announcement is also confusingly written, but I believe your interpretation to be mostly correct as best I can tell.
There's a lot of added complexity because of the <1M plan which isn't new, which put the cut at 15% for under 1M of revenue. Also if you participate in whatever these confusing programs are transactions from brand new installs of your app will be only 20% but transactions from existing installs (before the change) will be 25%...
Ugh
I only trust this once they have finally detailed how they will allow "easy sideloading" (See one of the last fdroid news on this, currently google is on track to basically ban sideloading as it exists) and what exactly means "registered app store program".
By adithyassekhar 2026-03-0423:221 reply That's one of the arguments for sideloading. I don't want to use your new liquid ass design.
By greazy 2026-03-057:05
This made me laugh. I agree that's a plus! Auto updates are mostly bad. Look at the state of extensions on vscode. The permissions combined with silent updates is scaryLiquod ass design
By dark__paladin 2026-03-0422:06 why not?
