Apple is tightening its grip on how money moves through the iOS version of Patreon, and creators are about to feel it in their wallets. A new enforcement deadline means Apple will soon take up to a 30 percent commission on memberships started inside the Patreon iOS app, effectively inserting the full App Store fee into a platform built to bypass traditional gatekeepers. For working artists, podcasters, and video makers who rely on recurring support, the change turns a convenience feature into a costly toll booth.
The shift is not just a technical tweak to billing flows, it is a structural change to how fan funding works on one of the internet’s biggest creator platforms. Patreon has already warned that it “strongly disagrees” with Apple’s decision but is complying to avoid being kicked out of the App Store, and creators now have only months to reconfigure their tiers, messaging, and business models before the new rules fully bite.
Apple’s 30 percent rule hits Patreon’s core model
At the heart of this fight is Apple’s insistence that digital goods and services sold inside iOS apps must run through its in-app purchase system, where the company can collect up to 30 percent of each transaction. For Patreon, which was built so fans could pay creators directly on a recurring basis, that requirement cuts straight into the money that would otherwise go to artists and independent publishers. Apple has now set a firm deadline of November 1 for Patreon to bring all new iOS memberships into compliance, a move highlighted in a widely shared post about how Apple Will Soon Take Up, Cut From All Patreon Creators, and that looming date is forcing the platform to redesign how it handles payments on iPhone and iPad.
Patreon’s own explanation of the situation makes clear that this is not a voluntary product experiment but a response to Apple’s enforcement of its rules. The company has told users that Apple is requiring Patreon to use the in-app purchasing system and to remove alternative payment flows from the iOS app, which means any new membership started there will be subject to Apple’s fee. In practical terms, that means a creator who might previously have kept almost all of a $10 pledge, after Patreon’s own cut and processing costs, will now see up to 30 percent of that pledge diverted to Apple before Patreon even takes its share, a structural change that reshapes the economics of the entire Patreon ecosystem.
Patreon’s response and Apple’s hard line
Patreon is not pretending to like this outcome. In a detailed explainer, the company said it “strongly disagrees with this decision” but is complying because the alternative would be removal from the App Store, which would instantly cut off millions of iOS users from the app. That frustration surfaced again when Jan, writing on behalf of Patreon, described how creators will have to switch to subscription-style billing by November so that memberships can be processed through Apple’s system whenever they are started in the iOS app. In coverage of the dispute, contributing reporter Will Shanklin noted that Patreon’s leadership sees this as an externally imposed change, not a strategic pivot, and that the company is trying to preserve as much flexibility as possible for memberships that are not initiated inside the app, a tension captured in the way Patreon creators are being pushed toward a single billing model.
From Apple’s side, the stance is consistent with how it has treated other subscription and content platforms. The company’s rules treat Patreon memberships as digital content that can be consumed in-app, which triggers the in-app purchase requirement and the associated commission. Patreon has explained that Apple is not backing down from that interpretation, and that the only way to keep the app available is to route qualifying payments through Apple’s system. In its own guidance, Patreon has tried to reassure creators that they can still make their own decisions about pricing and benefits, but it has also acknowledged that Apple’s requirements will now shape how memberships are sold and managed on iOS, a reality spelled out in the company’s breakdown of Apple’s requirements.
What actually changes for creators and fans
For creators, the most immediate change is that any new membership started inside the iOS app will carry Apple’s commission on top of Patreon’s existing fees. Patreon has stressed that existing members are not affected by the new rules, a point it made explicit when it said that Apple’s fee will not impact current supporters, only new memberships sold through iOS. That distinction, highlighted in reporting that quoted the line “Before we go any further, we want to be crystal clear about one thing: Apple’s fee will not impact your existing members,” is crucial for creators who fear a sudden drop in income from their current base. It means the real risk is in future growth, where every new iOS sign-up could be 30 percent less valuable than the same pledge started on the web, a dynamic detailed in coverage of how Apple forces Patreon to pay that share on new iOS memberships.
Fans will see the impact in pricing and in how they are nudged to sign up. Patreon has already indicated that memberships sold through the iOS app will be subject to Apple’s 30 percent cut, and that it is adjusting its product to comply. Reporting on the change has noted that Patreon is effectively adding what many creators call an “Apple tax” to iOS memberships to avoid being kicked out of the App Store, which means prices may be higher in the app than on the web. One analysis explained that memberships sold on the iOS app will soon carry Apple’s 30 percent fee, and that Patreon is making this change explicitly to stay within Apple’s rules, a tradeoff that underscores how much power Apple holds over distribution. That same reporting pointed out that Patreon had previously allowed users to bypass in-app purchases, but that option is now being curtailed, as detailed in coverage of how Patreon memberships on iOS are being reshaped by Apple’s policies.
Creators push back on the “Apple tax”
Creators themselves are already voicing anger at the idea that up to 30 percent of their fan funding will be siphoned off when supporters join through the iOS app. In one widely shared video, Sam Tucker, who runs the channel Sam Time, broke down how his income from Patreon is carved up, explaining that a portion goes to Apple, another portion goes to the government, and he is left with what remains. His complaint is not just about the raw percentage but about the feeling that a platform designed to connect fans directly with creators is being forced to route money through a corporate intermediary. By walking viewers through the math, Sam Tucker illustrated how a seemingly abstract platform policy translates into smaller payouts for individual artists, a point he underscored in his Apple is Taking breakdown.
Other commentators have framed the situation in even starker terms. In another video, posted in Aug, a host who goes by neon on Clownfish TV described how Apple’s enforcement of its fee structure is “screwing over” Patreon users, arguing that the 30 percent cut effectively penalizes fans who choose the convenience of signing up inside the app. Neon emphasized that he was not joined by his usual co-host geeky sparkles in that particular segment, but still laid out a detailed critique of how Apple’s policies ripple through the creator economy. His argument echoed a broader sentiment among independent creators that platform fees, payment processing costs, and now Apple’s commission are stacking up in ways that make it harder to sustain a living from fan support, a frustration he vented in the Apple Screws Over discussion.
