Understanding Google Play’s payments policy

Yes, you can distribute your app however you like. As an open ecosystem, most Android devices come pre-installed with more than one store – and users can install others. Android gives developers the freedom and flexibility to distribute their apps on other Android app stores, directly from a website or through device preloads, all without using Google Play's billing system.

Yes. Google Play’s developer policies – including the requirement that apps use Google Play’s billing system for in-app purchases of digital goods – apply to all apps on Google Play, including Google’s own apps.

Yes. Outside of your app, you are free to communicate with your users about alternative purchase options. You can use email marketing and other channels outside of the app to provide subscription offers and even special pricing.

Within an app, developers may not lead users to a payment method other than Google Play’s billing system unless permitted by the payments policy. This includes directly linking to a web page that could lead to an alternative payment method or using language that encourages a user to purchase the digital item outside of the app.

Developers can refer users to administrative information – like an account management page, privacy policy or to a Help Centre – as long as the web page does not eventually lead to an alternative payment method prohibited by the payments policy.

For services and products that are consumption only (apps that do not enable users to purchase access to digital goods or services from within the app), developers may choose to provide additional information about purchasing options without direct links, including using language such as:

• 'You can purchase this book directly on our website'
• 'Go to our website to upgrade your subscription to Premium'
• 'This movie isn’t available to rent in the app. However, any movie that you rent through our website.com will be immediately available to view in the app'
• 'Need extra lives? Head to our website to purchase more'

Yes, you can email them or otherwise communicate outside your app about your offerings, even if they are different on Google Play.

Yes. We do not require parity across platforms. You can create different versions of your app to support different platforms, features and pricing models.

Yes. Google Play allows any app to be consumption-only, even if it is part of a paid service. For example, a user could log in when the app opens and access content paid for somewhere else.

Remember, consumption-only means that any product(s) or service(s), whether digital or physical, cannot be purchased from within the app.

No. All app categories are subject to Google Play's payments policy.

Yes. You can continue to issue refunds to your customers and offer customer support directly.

Yes. Cloud game streaming apps that comply with Google Play’s policies are welcome on Google Play.

No. Purchases for goods or services like insurance, stock trades, investment consulting or tax preparation and filing should not use Google Play’s billing system.

Transactions involving regulated clinical services should not use Google Play’s billing system. Regulated clinical services include services provided by or on behalf of a licensed healthcare provider that is intended to diagnose or manage (prevent, treat, mitigate or cure) medical conditions. These services may include consulting a doctor, receiving a medical prescription, or treatment planning by a licensed healthcare professional.

In addition, digital COVID passport certification apps are not required to use Google Play’s billing system if the service is provided by, and any associated fees are directly assessed by, a government agency.

Purchases of digital goods or services that can only be consumed outside of a Play-distributed app and cannot be accessed in a Play-distributed app do not require Google Play’s billing system. Examples include ringtones usable on the device but not in the app, web-only content never consumed in the app and apps that manage cloud service platforms but don’t provide access to that cloud storage in-app.

No. Google Play’s billing system is not required for the sale of in-app gift cards, regardless of whether the gift card is an eGift or physically posted to the user.

Yes. Earned or awarded points can be issued in-app without using Google Play’s billing system. Users can also exchange those earned or rewarded points in-app for digital goods and services without Google Play’s billing system. However, bear in mind that if these points (or other types of virtual currency) are sold in-app, Google Play’s billing system must be used.

If you're a telecommunication operator, broadband, multichannel satellite, cable or managed IPTV (referred to as a 'Physical service') service provider, you may be eligible to combine certain digital goods or services, which are also available through your non-mobile sales channels, with your customer’s physical service bill. The customer’s physical service bill must be used as the form of payment and those digital goods or services can only be sold in your apps where users can manage their physical service or where in-app purchases are only available to your physical service subscribers.  Examples include:

• Offering standard digital or physical service subscription bundles that are broadly available in non-mobile sales channels and billed to the user's physical service bill.
• Offering transactional video on demand, music, digital comics or digital books behind a paying digital service subscription that is billed to the user's physical service bill.
• Offering video on demand to users subscribed to a physical multichannel satellite, cable or managed IPTV service.

To be eligible as a telecommunication operator service provider, please fill in this form.

As a result of regulatory developments in India and the South Korean legislation, we will offer all developers the ability to offer an alternative billing system alongside Google Play's billing system for users in India and South Korea making in-app purchases within Play-distributed apps on mobile phones and tablets.

Developers will still be subject to a service fee for transactions using an alternative in-app billing system, but the service fee will be reduced by 4%. For example, when the service fee is 15% for transactions through Google Play's billing system, it will be 11% for transactions made through an alternative billing system.

If you are a developer with users in South Korea, you can learn more about implementing an additional billing system in this Help Centre article.

If you are a developer with users in India, you can learn more about implementing an additional billing system in this Help Centre article.

The user choice billing pilot is designed to test offering an alternative billing option next to Google Play's billing system and to help us explore offering this choice to users in certain countries. Learn more about pilot eligibility, requirements and how to sign up in this Help Centre article.

To comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), we introduced new programmes to support billing alternatives for European Economic Area (EEA) users. Developers selling digital content or services can now offer their users in the EEA an alternative to Google Play's billing system within their apps, subject to programme requirements. 

Additionally, developers may lead users in the EEA outside of the app, including to promote offers for in-app digital features and services, subject to programme requirements.

Google Play's billing system must be used for the SKUs in your app that include more digital goods or services than physical goods or services, and for the SKUs in your app that are marketed to users as digital goods or services. View examples of digital and physical goods and services in our payments policy.

Eligible developers in certain regions, including India, South Korea and European Economic Area, also have the option to offer an alternative billing system, subject to additional requirements.

Tokenised digital assets like NFTs can be used to represent digital or physical content. If the tokenised digital assets are used for in-app purchases of digital content then Google Play’s payments policy applies and you must use Google Play’s billing system for such transactions.

Refer to our blockchain-based content policy for more details on tokenised digital assets.