How Google Play’s New Service and Billing Fees Work (2026)
Google Play’s service fee depends on whether the buyer’s install is new or existing, with a 5% billing fee on Play Billing sales. Each rate, and where it applies.
Checked against Google’s Play Console Help article “Understanding Google Play’s lower service fees”
As of · standard Google Play service fees by install and transaction type, vendor-stated1
| Install | Transaction | Standard service fee (%) | Apps & Games programs (%) | First $1M annual earnings (%) | Billing fee | Standard + 5% billing fee (%, our sum) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New | Non-recurring, in-app (Play Billing or alternative billing) | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5%, if applicable | 25% |
| New | Non-recurring, external web link | 20% | 15% | 10% | None (no Play Billing) | 20% |
| New | Recurring (subscriptions) | 10% | 10% | 10% | 5%, if applicable | 15% |
| New | Initial purchase of a paid app or game | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5% | 25% |
| Existing | Non-recurring, in-app (Play Billing or alternative billing) | 25% | 20% | 10% | 5%, if applicable | 30% |
| Existing | Non-recurring, external web link | 20% | 15% | 10% | None (no Play Billing) | 20% |
| Existing | Recurring (subscriptions) | 10% | 10% | 10% | 5%, if applicable | 15% |
| Existing | Initial purchase of a paid app or game | 25% | 20% | 10% | 5% | 30% |
All rates are Google’s own published figures (vendor-stated), where the billing fee is the 5% Google sets for AU, JP, US, UK and the EEA; its details for other regions are “forthcoming.”1 The last column is our sum of two stated percentages, since Google writes the billing fee as “+ billing fee”; the page doesn’t say how the two are applied to a sale, so we assume both apply to the sale price. Programs: the Apps Experience Program and the revamped Games Level Up Program. The page says details of the external-link program “will be shared in the coming months,” and it says the “first $1M annual earnings” rate applies without defining the period further.1 Rows aren’t ranked: a lower rate isn’t better, only a different kind of sale.
How it works
One service fee on every sale
Google Play charges a service fee on all transactions, “regardless of whether the transaction uses Google Play Billing, Alternative Billing or external web links.”1 Google says the fee reflects the value provided by Android and Play. For sales that go through Google Play Billing, a separate billing fee is added on top.1
New installs versus existing installs
The rate depends on the buyer, not the app. A transaction counts as a new install when the user’s first install of the app from Google Play, or its first update from Google Play if it wasn’t originally installed there, happened on or after the date the new fee structure launched in their region. Anything earlier is an existing install.1 Google says it uses its own record of that first install or update to set the install date.1
The effect is a split in the table: for ordinary non-recurring in-app sales and paid-app purchases, the standard rate is 20% on a new install and 25% on an existing one.1 Over time, as more buyers install after their region’s rollout date, more sales fall under the new-install column.
Three kinds of transaction
Google separates recurring transactions (subscriptions) from non-recurring ones (one-off in-app purchases) and from the initial purchase of a paid app or game. Subscriptions carry a 10% standard service fee on both new and existing installs. The other two carry 20% (new) or 25% (existing) in the Play Store.1
Non-recurring sales can also be made through an external web link. On a new install that costs the same 20% service fee as an in-app sale; on an existing install the page lists 20%, against 25% in-app.1
The 5% billing fee
The billing fee applies to transactions that use Google Play’s billing system. In Australia, Japan, the US, the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA) it is set at 5%.1 Google’s page marks it “if applicable” on non-recurring sales and subscriptions and lists it without that qualifier on the initial purchase of a paid app.1
A worked example, our calculation: a $10 one-off in-app purchase from a new install, paid through Google Play Billing in the US, at the standard rate is 20% + 5% = 25%, or $2.50, so $7.50 is left before any other taxes or costs. The same $10 from an existing install is 25% + 5% = 30%, or $3.00. A $10 subscription payment is 10% + 5% = 15%, or $1.50.1
Lower rates: the programs and the first $1M
Two lower tiers sit beside the standard one. Developers who join the new Apps Experience Program or the revamped Games Level Up Program are eligible for 15% on new installs and 20% on existing installs for non-recurring products, excluding the billing fee; subscriptions stay at 10%.1 Separately, a “first $1M annual earnings” row sets 10% across every transaction type.1
The programs are described as having “specific integration and functionality requirements,” and Google says those requirements, and more detail, are still to come; developers already in Games Level Up must keep participating and meet the new requirements once announced.1
Where and when
The rollout is staggered, and each region’s date is also the cut-off for what counts as a new install.1
- June 30, 2026: new service fees and expanded billing choice in the EEA, UK and US.
- September 30, 2026: the same in Australia and Japan, and availability of the new Apps and Games programs in AU, EEA, JP, UK and US.
- December 31, 2026: South Korea, for both.
- September 30, 2027: the rest of the world, for both.
As of today the first two dates have passed; Korea and the rest of the world have not.1
What it asks of a solo developer
The rates are only part of the setup. Alternative billing, the external offers program and the billing choice program each have their own enrollment article in the same Play Console Help section, so using anything other than Google Play Billing means enrolling first.1 Joining a lower-rate program means meeting its integration requirements, which is engineering time to budget once the requirements are published.1 Staying on Google Play Billing needs no enrollment, where the 5% billing fee applies.1
What the page doesn’t say
Google’s page doesn’t give the old fee schedule, a definition of the $1M period, the external-link program’s terms or the billing fee outside five regions, so this post leaves those out. This post describes the published fees; it doesn’t say which billing route or program suits a business.1
Sources
- Google, Play Console Help, Understanding Google Play’s lower service fees (announced March 4, 2026), retrieved 2026-10-14.