A creator I spoke to could not work out why two members paying the same £10 a month produced different payouts. Same tier, same price, different money landing. The answer was where they tapped subscribe. One paid on the web. One paid inside an iOS app, and Apple took roughly £3 of that tenner before anyone else got a look in.
I work on Crownerr, and this is the fee that catches the most people out, because it is invisible until you go looking. So here is the plain version.
What the Apple tax actually is
When a digital purchase happens inside an iOS app, Apple generally requires it to go through its in-app purchase system, and that system takes a commission. For most developers that has historically been up to 30%, dropping to 15% in some cases such as small businesses in Apple's reduced-rate program or subscriptions after the first year.
The key word is digital. A membership, access to content, credits, a digital download, these typically fall under in-app purchase rules. Physical goods and real-world services usually do not, which is why you can buy a sofa or a taxi in an app without Apple taking a cut.
Why it hurts memberships specifically
Memberships are recurring and digital, which is exactly the category Apple's commission targets. A 30% cut on a one-off is a bad day. A 30% cut on a subscription is a bad day that repeats every month for the life of the member. Over a year, that compounds into real money, and it stacks on top of payment processing and your platform's own fee. The layered math is brutal once all three apply at once.
Who this actually affects
Not everyone. The Apple tax only bites when the purchase happens inside an iOS app distributed through the App Store. That means it hits you if:
- You have a native iOS app and your fans subscribe or buy digital goods inside it.
- You rely on a platform whose iOS app routes purchases through Apple's in-app purchase system.
It does not hit you when a fan pays through a web browser on their phone or computer, because that is not an in-app purchase. This distinction is the whole game, and it is the lever you can actually pull.
The same £10 membership can net you about £7 through an app or closer to £9 through the web. The product is identical. Only the checkout location changed.
How to legitimately reduce the bite
To be clear, this is about staying within the rules, not dodging them. Apple's terms are strict and they change, so the safe plays are the durable ones.
1. Sell digital memberships on the web
The simplest, most reliable approach. If your membership and digital products are sold through a web checkout on your own domain, the in-app purchase rules do not apply, because no purchase is happening inside an iOS app. A web-first checkout sidesteps the 30% entirely and keeps the full processing-and-platform stack as your only cuts.
2. Check whether you qualify for Apple's reduced rate
If you do need in-app purchases, smaller earners may qualify for Apple's reduced commission program, and subscriptions can drop to a lower rate after a member's first year. It is not nothing. Verify your eligibility directly against Apple's current terms rather than trusting a forum post, because the details shift.
3. Use physical or service products where they genuinely fit
Physical goods and some real-world services sit outside in-app purchase rules. This is not a loophole to force, but if your offer legitimately includes physical items, those sales are not subject to the digital commission.
The bigger lesson
The Apple tax is really a specific case of a general truth: where the transaction happens decides how much you keep. The more of your selling you do on a web checkout on a domain you control, the fewer middlemen sit between a fan's payment and your account.
That is part of why Crownerr leans on web-based, owned checkout for memberships and digital products, on your own domain, so the default path is the one with fewer cuts. You can see the full fee picture on the pricing page, and the broader case for selling on ground you own is in the piece on owning your audience. If you want the complete fee breakdown beyond just Apple, the platform fees explainer walks through all three layers.