Why You Should Always Subscribe in the Browser and Not in the App

In-app purchases are inevitable. The app may be free to download, but most likely a pop-up will tell you immediately that the best features are locked behind a monthly fee or an annual subscription. Before you subscribe (or make a digital purchase) in the app, it’s worth taking the time to try paying in the browser instead. The extra effort can save you some money.

In-app purchases can be more expensive

When you make an in-app purchase on your iPhone or Android device, the developer does not receive the full amount of that purchase. Both Google and Apple take a hefty percentage of that payment as part of an agreement they make with developers to primarily list apps on their digital marketplaces.

Apple charges developers 30% for any digital goods and services they sell on iOS apps (or 15% if the developer earns less than $1 million and qualifies for the Small Business Program). This means that if an app charges $10 per month for a subscription, Apple actually gets $3 of that fee. If you buy the game for $5, Apple gets $1.50. However, if a user sticks with a subscription for more than a year, Apple reduces the fee to 15%.

Google has a similar setting in the Play Store , but it’s a little less restrictive. It’s more of a progressive tax system, charging developers 15% on their first million dollars in revenue, and then 30% on every dollar thereafter. However, they only charge 15% for a subscription, no matter how long users subscribe.

This business model applies to every digital purchase you make on an app downloaded from the Apple App Store (including your Mac) and the Google Play Store, and it’s pretty cool, especially when the developer is entitled to a 30% “tax”. to the application.” Developers are missing out on nearly a third of all revenue generated from these funds, leading some to look for other ways to save that money.

(Note: However, this does not apply to physical items you purchase in-apps . If you, for example, make a purchase on Amazon or order takeout through DoorDash, there is no additional charge for developers and you should not expect them to miss any additional costs along with you – at least not from Apple or Google.)

Some companies charge less if you don’t pay within the app.

Some companies, such as Netflix and Spotify, are addressing this issue by limiting subscriptions in their apps. Netflix won’t let you subscribe to the app on iOS and Android, and Spotify won’t let iOS users subscribe to Premium on the app. ( Google recently made special arrangements for Spotify so that Android users can now subscribe within the app.) Both companies would rather their customers go a long way to subscribe to their platforms and do so via a computer or web browser, even if it is means they are losing some potential paying customers in the process.

In addition, there are companies that charge less for their subscriptions and features when purchased in the browser rather than in the app, although they usually do not advertise this fact. YouTube Premium , for example, charges $15.99 per month on the app and $11.99 per month on desktop. TikTok coins are up to 31% cheaper when purchased in the browser. Twitter Blue costs $11/month on iOS (or $114.99/year) but only $8/month online. (But in any case , everyone will know that you paid for Twitter .) Most often, the savings come from a subscription, not a one-time purchase, but there are discounts on them too.

A desktop subscription can earn you discounts in other ways. While Headspace offers the same pricing plan whether or not you subscribe in the desktop app, right now they have a deal with Rakuten offering 7% cash back on new subscriptions . You won’t be able to take advantage of this deal if you pay for your monthly or yearly plan in the app itself, so a desktop browser subscription pays off unexpectedly.

It’s not easy to tell which apps charge more for an in-app subscription. That’s why it’s worth checking yourself before you subscribe on your phone. At worst, the prices are the same and you can subscribe however you want. Best case scenario: You save some money and give all your money to the app developer rather than the tech giant in the middle.