Alternative billing

Also called alternative payment processing, third-party billing, alternative in-app payments

Letting players pay inside a mobile app through the studio's own payment provider, in place of or alongside Apple's or Google's billing, where the store allows it.

Alternative billing keeps the purchase inside the app and swaps the checkout. A link-out, by contrast, sends the player to a web shop. The store still charges a service fee, and you save its billing fee in exchange for handling payments yourself.

Rates as of 8 October 2026:

Google Play in the US, UK, EEA, Australia and Japan: 20% on new installs and 25% on existing installs above the first $1M, with no 5% Play Billing fee on top (Google US, billing choice). The US fee has been due since 1 October 2026 and is contested.
Google Play in South Korea and India: the standard Play fee minus 4 percentage points.
Apple in the EU since 1 October 2026: 20%, or 10% reduced, offered alongside Apple’s in-app purchase (Apple).
Apple in Japan and Brazil: 21%, or 10% reduced, where Apple’s own in-app purchase costs 26%.

With alternative billing the studio, or its merchant of record, takes on the payment, the tax and the disputes for those sales while still paying most of the store fee. Price it against a link-out before building both. See Google Play rules.