Stripe or in-app purchase: which can an AI-built app use?

Can an app built with AI use Stripe?

Yes, for some things. Picture this hypothetical: your web app has a Stripe checkout for its Pro plan, and it works. You convert it to a native app and submit it. The checkout that was fine on the web now puts you against Guideline 3.1.1, because Pro unlocks features inside the app. The AI didn't cause that. The product you sell did.

So one app can use both. A hypothetical gym app could sell in-person classes through Stripe and a library of workout videos through in-app purchase.

What does Apple allow for digital and physical goods?

Apple sends digital features to in-app purchase and real-world purchases away from it, then lists specific exceptions in Guideline 3.1.3. Find your product here:

Two details catch AI-built apps. Credits bought through in-app purchase may not expire (3.1.1), which matters if you sell AI credits. And people who paid on your website can still use what they bought in the app, as long as those items are also available as in-app purchases (3.1.3(b)).

If a guide sends you to Guideline 3.1.5 for physical goods, check the current text. Today 3.1.5 covers cryptocurrencies: wallets, mining, exchanges, coin offerings. The physical goods rule is 3.1.3(e).

What does Google Play's Payments policy require?

Google draws nearly the same line. In-app features and digital content use Google Play's billing system, and physical goods and services must not use it.

Outside its listed exceptions, the policy also says apps may not lead users to another payment method. That covers the store listing, promotions, in-app webviews, buttons and sign-up flows. For digital features, a Stripe page opened in a webview counts.

Can US apps link out to Stripe?

Yes, on both stores, though Google asks for more paperwork. Both changes came from Epic's court cases, and both can still move.

Apple's guideline covers buttons and links, so this is a link out, not a card form inside the app. Stripe's docs describe the iOS route the same way: a redirect to an external payment page for US sales of digital products. The commission is unsettled. The Next Web reported on June 30, 2026 that the Supreme Court agreed to hear Apple's appeal of the contempt finding over its 27 percent fee on linked purchases, and that the Ninth Circuit left room for a cost-based fee set on remand. The court docket (No. 25-1311) confirms the grant.

Google says that for US users on phones and tablets it will not require Play Billing or ban other in-app payment methods. Google signed a settlement with Epic on March 4, 2026. MacRumors reported on July 15, 2026 that the two withdrew their request to change the court's injunction, and that the fee agreement remains in place. Google says its current policies and programs remain in effect. In practice that means enrolling:

• The alternative billing program, for your own checkout inside the app. Stripe's docs list in-app payments on Android for the US.
• The external content links program, for links to your site. You enroll each app, integrate Google's APIs, limit links to US users, and offer support, refunds and a dispute process.
• Either way, Google still charges a service fee. Enrolled developers report transactions and pay fees from October 1, 2026. For app downloads through external links, Google moved the deadline to February 1, 2027.

What about the EU, UK, Japan and Brazil?

Other payment options exist in several other markets too, though not at every store, and each has its own program and terms, so check before you build. This is what each store says as of November 2, 2026:

Apple's license puts its commission on alternative payments in Japan and Brazil at 21%, or 10% for Small Business Program members and for auto-renewals after the first year. In its billing choice markets, Google's listed service fee for alternative billing is 10% on auto-renewing subscriptions and on your first $1M in annual earnings. Standard rates on other transactions are 20% for new installs and 25% for existing ones.

Is Stripe cheaper than in-app purchase?

Sometimes, but the gap is smaller than it looks, and for digital goods you may not get the choice. These are the store rates:

• Apple takes 15% under the App Store Small Business Program. Developers new to the store and those up to $1M in proceeds the prior calendar year can qualify, and you have to enroll. Passing $1M in the current year ends the lower rate on future sales.
• Outside that program, Apple says you receive 70% of a subscription's price in a subscriber's first year and 85% after that. Its license sets lower commissions in some storefronts, including the EU, Japan, Brazil, China mainland and Taiwan.
• In the US, UK, EEA, Japan and Australia, Google's service fee starts at 10% on your first $1M in annual earnings, and 10% applies to all auto-renewing subscriptions. Play billing adds a 5% billing fee in those markets, which doesn't apply to alternative billing or external web links. In other markets, Google still lists 15% on your first $1M and on subscriptions, and 30% above $1M.

With a linked or alternative checkout you also pay your processor, and you take on support, refunds and disputes yourself. Google's external links program requires all three.

Which should you use, and can you do it yourself?

If your app sells digital features to people in more than one country, start with in-app purchase, because it is allowed everywhere. Add a US link later if the numbers justify the work. You can sort this out yourself:

1. List every paid thing in your app and mark it physical, real-world or digital.
2. Keep your Stripe checkout for the physical and real-world items.
3. Move the digital items to store products. Our guide to adding subscriptions walks through it.
4. For digital items, remove any upgrade button, webview or wording that leads to Stripe, in the app and in its listing, unless you're on the US storefront or enrolled in a program that covers that market.
5. Check the rule again before launch. Apple revised its guidelines in February, June and October 2026.

You don't need us for a physical-goods app whose checkout is already right. Moving digital plans to in-app purchase is part of the native conversion we do, if you'd rather hand it over.