In April 2025, the app landscape fundamentally shifted.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Apple violated her 2021 injunction by continuing to restrict how developers inform users about alternative payment options.

A monumental decision in the ongoing Epic Games v. Apple saga, the judge found that Apple "willfully" violated the court order "with the express intent to create new anticompetitive barriers" to maintain its revenue stream. 

The ruling opened External Payments, or App2Web, wide open for developers selling into the US. Over a year on from the ruling, we break down what it all means in practice, and how to run a successful App2Web motion.

Already clued up on Epic v. Apple & App2Web? Start experimenting today.

Apple’s updated guidelines

On May 1, 2025, Apple officially updated the App Store Guidelines to comply with the court's ruling. 

The key changes:

• Apps selling into the US can now include buttons, external links, or other calls to action for web payments
• No fee entitlement is required for these external links
• Apple must remove all UX friction and allow unfettered access to external payment links
• Developers can now communicate with users about outside payment options

These changes represent a complete reversal of Apple's previous stance and open up significant opportunities for app developers and their teams.

Below: Paddle's VP of Product, Lucas Lovell, places the ruling within the wider legal context.

What the rules mean in 2026

Over a year on we’re seeing some of the world’s top apps run App2Web. But adoption has been conservative. 

One reason developers have been slow to act is uncertainty about what Apple will and won't allow. 

The court guidance is more specific than it might seem.

Three things need to be true for any App2Web implementation:

Offer IAP alongside the external link: You cannot remove the IAP option from your paywall. External checkout runs alongside it, not instead of it.

Make the billing context transparent: Users need to know they are leaving Apple's payment environment before they tap through to a web checkout. Disclosure copy is required at the point of the link.

No post-decline pressure: If a user dismisses the external checkout prompt, you cannot immediately re-surface it or use dark patterns designed to steer them back.

The fee math

This is what the ruling actually means for your margin, when running an App2Web motion. 

Pre-ruling, Apple required all in-app purchases to go through IAP. External payment links were prohibited. 

Post-ruling, for apps selling into the US, developers can link to external payments from their app and attract zero Apple commission.

We created a couple of scenario's based on a fictional app with $2,000,000 ARR to articulate this change.

*Table does not account for any increase or decrease in conversion on the web

What the ruling means for apps on the small business program

For those on Apple’s small business program, the financial incentives are definitely less dramatic than for larger apps paying Apple’s full fee. But even for these sellers, there are still some notable benefits. 

Cash flow advantages for growing apps

Small business apps often face significant cash flow challenges when scaling their marketing efforts. 

Apple's payout delays of up to 60 days can severely limit a growing app's ability to reinvest in user acquisition, especially when trying to establish their first profitable marketing channel.

External payments solve this immediately. Instead of waiting two months for revenue, developers can access funds within weeks, allowing for more aggressive testing and iteration cycles that are critical during the growth phase

Stay under the small business threshold with App2Web

Some apps are using the web to stay below this threshold, shifting revenue over 1M onto the web and retaining the 15% small business program fee. 

Beyond fees, what is the oppurtunity?

A quick look at the core advantages this ruling opens up:

Keep more revenue 

With Apple's commission removed on external purchases, you retain significantly more per transaction, paying fees as low as 5.5% rather than the 15-30% standard today.

Enhanced cash flow

Developers are no longer tied to Apple's up to 60-day payout window. With faster access to revenue, those funds can go straight back into user acquisition.

Pricing flexibility

You are no longer bound by Apple's pricing tiers. Time-limited sales, coupon codes, special bundles, and localized pricing strategies that were previously impossible are now available.

Direct customer relationships

Collect emails and behavioral data, and communicate directly with your customers instead of having Apple mediate every interaction. That data also tightens your paid acquisition feedback loop in ways that IAP attribution simply cannot.

Involuntary and voluntary churn prevention 

Apple retries failed cards on an unpublished schedule you cannot see or tune, under Apple's branding, without ever sharing the customer's email. Voluntary churn prevention options are limited too. Moving customers to the web allows you to step in before a customer chooses to churn: pause options, retention discounts, tailored messaging. 

On the web, you control the retry logic, the messaging, and the recovery flow end to end.

Control over UX and direct product enhancement

On the App Store, your paywall is limited by Apple’s own UX constraints. On the web, it can mirror your product and add to the user experience. Tolan, one of the fastest-growing AI companion apps today. Its paywall isn't generic but draws on what users share during onboarding, so the purchase moment reflects the reason they downloaded the app in the first place.

No drop in conversions, launched in days: Stoikk's success so far

When the ruling was announced, Stoikk saw a huge opportunity to keep more of its revenue but knew they had to act fast.

Here's how they established their new App2Web monetization strategy successfully: 

Dual options to highlight the benefit for the user: 

Their paywall features two call-to-action buttons: "Use Apple Pay and get a 25% extra discount" and "Continue in-app."

Apple Pay focus 

Their checkout design prioritized Apple Pay over credit/debit card payment to maintain the familiarity and trust of the native payment experience.

Trust signaling

They implemented a loading screen with their app logo before the checkout page to reinforce user trust and brand recognition.

Their experience executing web funnels previously provided them with valuable data on higher lifetime values (LTVs) with web payments, allowing them to make informed decisions about their implementation strategy.

No drop in conversions

The early results have been promising. 

Early data shows that rather than a dip in conversions, Stoikk has seen a slight uplift. 

The company anticipates significant increases in customer lifetime value through improved retention tactics available with web payments, and by moving quickly, they've gained valuable insights before the market becomes saturated and CPMs (Cost Per Mille) potentially increase.

How Cal AI made the picture clearer 

In April 2026, Apple pulled Cal AI from the App Store for breaking several guidelines. 

The violations weren't about having a web checkout (which, post-Epic ruling, is legal in the US). They were about how Cal AI handled the rest of its monetization:

Bypassing IAP entirely: The app was using Stripe to process in-app digital purchases instead of Apple's payment system, which is a clear breach of the 2025 Epic vs Apple ruling. 

Deceptive pricing display: The paywall showed a cheaper weekly price prominently while burying the actual billing amount

Manipulative flows: Users who declined the first subscription offer were hit with a second, The lesson isn't "don't do App2Web." The courts have been unambiguous: App2Web is legal in the US, and Apple cannot prohibit it. 

The risk calculus looks different depending on your size. A large, established app can survive a few days off the App Store. 

For an early-stage startup, a few days off the app stores can be existential.

If you're going to implement App2Web flows, make sure everything else about your monetization is clean. You're buying yourself more scrutiny, so give Apple nothing to find.

For most companies, though, the bigger risk runs the other way: being too conservative, missing the window, and watching competitors build a compounding advantage while you're still treating the web as an afterthought.

Cal AI was willing to test the limits of the system and the industry is clearer because of it.

For most, this is a hybrid motion

App2Web is not about moving off the App Store. It is about running a second revenue channel alongside IAP.

Your existing Apple subscribers cannot be moved to web billing unless they cancel and resubscribe. Apple's IAP governs those relationships. And Apple still requires IAP as an option on the paywall for new users too.

What you can do is route new users through web checkout, keep existing Apple subscribers on IAP undisturbed, and run both channels in parallel.

More freedom, more responsibility

The App Store handles several critical functions that many developers take for granted, and there needs to be an adequate replacement before you move purchase volume to the web.

Global payments: Supporting different payment methods worldwide.

Fraud prevention: Protection against chargebacks and payment fraud.

Subscription management: Handling trial periods, renewals, and cancellations.

Global tax compliance: Managing international tax obligations across jurisdictions. Gaps in US state sales tax filing are one of the most common reasons M&A due diligence surfaces problems. Fixing it at the infrastructure level is cleaner than dealing with it before a deal closes.

Moving to web payments without addressing these backend complexities could create serious operational and legal issues. More freedom, yes. But it comes with responsibilities.

It’s time to experiment

For apps not already running an App2Web motion, if there is one thing to do right now it is experiment.

Embrace a test-and-learn mindset.

This ruling creates a real opportunity to find out what works for your specific app. Set up experiments comparing web and in-app monetization paths, measuring conversion rates, revenue per user, and retention across both.

Test pricing structures that were not possible before. Tiered discounts, seasonal promotions, bundled offerings, different subscription terms, intro offers. Measure how each variation affects both initial conversion and lifetime value.

Optimize your checkout flow. Test form length, payment options, visual design. Small changes at checkout compound.

Use retention tools that IAP does not allow. Web-based subscriptions give you the ability to step in before a customer churns with pause options, discounts, or tailored messaging.

How to implement App2Web today

Paddle's partnership with Helium covers the implementation end-to-end: the checkout flow, the Merchant of Record layer, and web/app attribution.

Learn how Paddle helps apps grow beyond the app store.