October 28, 2024

Apple’s in-app purchasing requirements begin to roll out next week

Beginning next week, Apple’s in-app purchase requirements will start to roll out for creators.

While the rollout starts in November this year, the entire process for Patreon to comply with Apple’s in-app purchase requirements will take time to be fully implemented and its roll out will be gradual. There are many components to move over to Apple’s in-app purchasing system and we want to minimize disruption for creators as much as possible. We’ve been sharing updates in the official Patreon Creator Community Discord server and directly to affected creators along the way. Please be sure to regularly check the email address connected to your creator account for updates and information.

Below you'll find key information that you need to know as you prepare for this change, along with detailed information for creators on each of Patreon's billing models. If you don’t know what billing model you’re on, you can check in your account settings. If you haven’t already, we recommend reading our announcement post first before continuing on.

Key information that you need to know for next week:

There are two key elements to Apple’s requirements:

  • Apple only supports Patreon’s subscription billing model, and as a result of Apple requirements, all creators must be on subscription billing by November 2025.

    • Starting next week, we will begin switching eligible creators to subscription billing.

    • For creators that do not switch to subscription billing, their fans will not be able to purchase a new membership in the Patreon iOS app starting as early as next week.

    • Learn more in the sections below.

  • All new membership purchases in Patreon's iOS app will soon use Apple’s in-app purchase system

    • The main consequence of this is that Apple applies a 30% payment processing fee to these transactions.

    • Creators can choose how the Apple fee impacts their businesses. You can either increase your tier prices in the Patreon iOS app only to cover the Apple fee or you can keep your tier prices the same across all platforms and cover the Apple fee yourself.

    • The migration to Apple’s in-app purchase system will take time. Creators on subscription billing may not be moved onto Apple’s in-app purchasing system right away and we’ll let creators know once their account has switched over to Apple’s in-app purchasing system.

SUBSCRIPTION BILLING
Here’s what you need to know as a creator on subscription billing:

  • You do not need to make any billing model changes to continue earning in the Patreon iOS app.

  • The ramp to Apple’s in-app purchase system will be slow and gradual and will take place over the next few months. You will be notified once you are switched over to the iOS in-app purchase system.

  • We’re ramping to in-app purchasing gradually and considerately to ensure this change has minimal disruption.

  • Read more about the key changes between Apple’s iOS in-app purchase system in our Help Center article and checkout the FAQ.

FIRST OF THE MONTH BILLING (CHARGE UP FRONT & NON-CHARGE UP FRONT)

Here’s what you need to know as a creator on first-of-the-month billing:

  • We want you to have control over when you switch to subscription billing, and you need to take action now if you do not want to switch until November 2025.

  • If you do not update your settings by November 1, and you are not in touch with Patreon to delay, you will be switched from your current billing model to subscription billing beginning the week of November 4.

    • If you choose this option, you will continue to earn across all platforms, including the Patreon iOS app throughout this switch. After you’ve been switched to subscription billing, Apple’s 30% fee may not take effect right away. The iOS in-app purchase system rollout will occur gradually as we migrate all Patreon creators into this system.

    • You’ll be notified once your account has been switched to subscription billing and you’ll be notified again once your account has switched to Apple’s in-app purchase system.

  • If you updated your settings to delay the switch to subscription billing until 2025, beginning as early as next week, your fans will no longer be able to purchase new membership subscriptions in the Patreon iOS app. And you will stay on your billing model until you decide to switch before November 2025, when all creators on Patreon must use subscription billing.

    • We know many creators are waiting to switch to subscription billing until we’ve released more features to support your workflow and benefit delivery needs to make the transition possible. We’ll be posting regular updates about new products and features here, and in our Creator Community Discord server.

PER-CREATION

Here’s what you need to know as a creator on per-creation billing:

  • You will not be automatically switched to subscription billing until November 2025 unless you manually opt-in to switch before then. Because subscription billing is such a big change to how you run your business, we want to ensure that per creation creators work directly one-on-one with our Product Support team to help you migrate.

    • When you are ready, you can start the migration process in your settings to receive direct support.

    • Learn more about this switch in our Help Center.

  • As part of Apple’s requirements, beginning as early as next week, your fans will no longer be able to join your Patreon page in the iOS app, and new members will have to sign up on web, mobile web or Android.

  • We know that there may be features that you need in order to make the switch to subscription billing work better for you. Our team is working hard, listening and considering creator feedback shared with us through our feedback channels (including this community), testing out ideas with creators, and build solutions and features that creators are asking for. We’ll be posting updates, in Discord community, on our progress.

Here are additional resources with more information:

We know this is a lot of information, and we’ll continue to share updates along the way.

Thank you to everyone who has already shared their suggestions, feedback, and thoughts with the Patreon team so far. While billing model changes will occur as early as next week, the entire process of migrating all creators onto subscription billing and rolling out Apple’s in-app purchase system will be gradual and experienced now through early next year. Please continue to share your product needs and feature requests with us here in this form, and reach out to Patreon's Support team if you need any assistance through this process.