In-App Purchases Explained: Types, Fees and 2026 Data

In-app purchases are anything you pay for inside an app after you download it: extra features, content, game currency or a subscription. Both stores label apps that offer them, and they’re how most big apps make money. On Google Play on October 20, 2026, only 13.5% of all apps offered in-app purchases, but 68% of apps with 10 million or more installs did, and 97 of the 100 top-grossing apps. This page covers the types, what Apple and Google take, and what the data says about who uses them.

Types of in-app purchases

Type	What it is	Example
Consumable	Used once, then bought again	Game coins, AI credits, extra lives
Non-consumable	Bought once, kept forever	”Pro” unlock, removing ads, a filter pack
Auto-renewable subscription	Renews automatically until cancelled	Monthly or yearly premium plan
Non-renewing subscription	Access for a set time, doesn’t renew	A season pass

These are Apple’s four types, from App Store Connect Help. Google Play groups them as one-time products, consumable or not, and subscriptions.

How to tell if an app has in-app purchases

On the App Store, look for “In-App Purchases” next to the price or Get button (Apple Support). On Google Play, the label sits by the Price or Install button in the app, and the website shows “Offers in-app purchases” under the app’s name (Google Play Help). The separate “Contains ads” label means the app shows ads; it says nothing about purchases.

What Apple and Google take

Store	Standard	Reduced rate
App Store	30%	15% for Small Business Program members (up to $1M in proceeds the prior year) and for subscriptions after a subscriber’s first year
Google Play: EEA, UK, US (since June 30, 2026); Australia, Japan (since Sept 30, 2026)	20% + 5% billing fee on most purchases for new installs (25% + 5% for existing installs)	10% + 5% on a developer’s first $1M a year and on subscriptions
Google Play: all other markets	30% above $1M a year	15% on the first $1M a year and on all subscriptions

Apple’s rates are from its developer agreement and Small Business Program page; mainland China (25% and 12%) and the EU’s alternative terms (26% and 15%) differ. Google’s are from its service fees page, checked October 20, 2026; Google also offers lower rates through its Games Level Up and Apps Experience programs.

Who uses in-app purchases: the data

The bigger the app, the more likely it sells something inside:

Share of Google Play apps that offer in-app purchases, by lifetime installs, October 20, 2026.

That pattern runs all the way to the top: 97 of Google Play’s 100 top-grossing apps and 99 of its 100 top-grossing games offer in-app purchases. Very few apps make big money from ads or upfront prices alone.

By category, among Google Play apps with 1 million or more installs, games lead and shopping and finance apps trail, likely because their money comes from orders and accounts outside the app store:

In-app purchases on the App Store: what top apps sell

Among the 4,542 free-to-download iPhone apps in Apple’s top charts between September 21 and October 21, 2026, 86% sell in-app purchases; only 14.2% have nothing to buy. 57% offer a weekly, monthly or yearly plan.

What those plans cost:

US prices, in US dollars. The revenue side tells the same story: in our July 7, 2026 data, 13.76% of freemium apps make $1,000 or more a month, against 2.12% of paid apps (full breakdown).

Which in-app purchase type should your app use?

• Subscriptions fit apps people come back to: fitness, language learning, productivity, photo editing. They’re also where the store fee drops after a year on the App Store, and Google’s 2026 rates favor them.
• Non-consumables fit tools with a clear “pro” version: a one-time unlock is simple to sell and simple to understand.
• Consumables fit games and AI apps where usage varies: coins, credits, extra generations.

Many successful apps mix them, such as a subscription plus a one-time lifetime option. For how the choice plays out in revenue, see how to make money from apps, and for new apps specifically, how to launch an app.

About the data

Google Play figures are GetAppNiche data for 2,767,292 Google Play listings and Google Play’s US top-grossing charts for apps and games, October 20, 2026. App Store figures cover the 4,542 free-to-download apps in Apple’s top charts as of October 21, 2026: apps in the charts, not the whole store. App Store revenue figures are from GetAppNiche’s July 7, 2026 data on 744,874 iOS apps. Store rules and fees are from Apple’s and Google’s own pages, checked October 20, 2026.