Substack Lets iOS Users Pay Outside Apple to Cut Fees

Substack embraces external iOS payments after Apple rule change

Substack is rolling out support for external payments inside its iOS app in the U.S., taking advantage of Apple’s May App Store rule changes that followed Epic Games’ antitrust case. That means users can now complete a subscription purchase through Substack’s web checkout without leaving the app experience.

This move joins other major apps — Spotify, Patreon, and the Kindle app among them — that have started linking to web-based purchases to avoid Apple’s in-app purchase commission. For Substack, the change reduces platform fees and can translate to lower prices for readers or higher take-home pay for creators.

How Substack will handle pricing and creator revenue

Substack says it will automatically raise the app price for iOS customers to account for Apple’s fees so creators receive the same net amount they would from web subscriptions. Creators can disable that auto-adjust if they prefer to offer lower iOS pricing. Substack will continue to take its 10% platform fee based on the web price.

To ease the move, Substack is offering migration tools to help creators shift subscribers off Apple’s payments system to the web flow. The company reports early tests of expanded payment options boosted paid sign-ups, though it hasn’t shared hard numbers yet.

What this means for creators, readers, and app teams

The changes give creators flexibility: they can keep Apple’s convenient in-app payment option or nudge readers toward cheaper web-based subscriptions. Consumers stand to benefit from lower prices when the platform passes savings through. For app teams, the choice introduces new UX, billing and compliance considerations.

Apple’s rules still require apps to offer IAP (fully opting out isn’t permitted), so developers must support both flows and clearly present pricing choices. Substack’s rollout applies to new subscriptions in the U.S. only; the company is still weighing the more complex EU and U.K. rules for forgoing IAP.

Practical steps and pitfalls for publishers

Publishers weighing this approach should plan for three areas: revenue modeling to set equivalent or competitive prices, subscriber migration flows that keep churn low, and UI patterns that make the dual-payment option transparent and simple. Poorly handled transitions risk confusing customers or fragmenting billing records.

• Lower prices for readers when web checkout is used
• Creators keep more revenue after avoiding Apple commissions
• Developers must maintain two billing flows and navigate regional App Store rules

In short: Substack’s change is a practical example of how platform rule shifts ripple through product, pricing and legal teams. It’s less a dramatic pivot than an operational upgrade — but one that requires careful execution to turn lower fees into real gains for creators and better prices for subscribers.

For publishers and app teams, the takeaway is clear: external payments are now a viable lever to protect margins and reduce consumer prices, but they demand deliberate migration planning, clear pricing communication, and compliance tracking as regional rules continue to evolve.