App Store or website: how much more a subscription costs in the iPhone app
The same subscription can have two prices in the same country: one on the vendor's own website, another inside its iPhone app, where Apple handles the payment and takes a commission. We record which of the two every price on this site is, and for 4 products we hold the main plan both ways in the same countries — 42 country-by-country pairs as of October 2026.
The biggest gap is YouTube Premium: in the iPhone app it costs a median +31% against the website, country for country. At the other end, Disney+ charges the same both ways.
The gap, product by product
| Product | Plan | Countries | Median gap | Widest gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YouTube | Premium | 13 | +31% | 🇪🇬 Egypt: $1.26 → $2.19 |
| HBO Max | Premium | 12 | +18% | 🇷🇴 Romania: $8.40 → $12.82 |
| Google One | 100 GB | 13 | +11% | 🇹🇷 Türkiye: $1.02 → $1.73 |
| Disney+ | Premium | 4 | +1% | 🇺🇸 United States: $18.99 → $21.49 |
Across all 42 pairs, the app was dearer in 28, cheaper in 1 and the same in 13.
Why the app costs more
Apple takes a commission on subscriptions sold through the App Store — 30% in the first year, 15% after a subscriber's first year, and 15% throughout for small developers. A vendor can absorb that, or pass it on. YouTube, HBO Max and Google One pass at least part of it on; Disney+ absorbs it. The App Store also rounds every price to one of Apple's price points in each currency, so even a vendor that means to charge the same can end up a little apart in some countries.
Some apps go further and do not sell in the app at all, sending you to the website instead; for them only a web price exists.
What it means when you compare countries
A country-to-country comparison is only fair inside one channel: an App Store price in one country against a web price in another measures Apple's commission, not regional pricing. Every comparison on this site — the product pages, the 196 products priced in the App Store, the country rankings, the calculator — compares one channel at a time, and tables mark App Store prices App. Where we hold both, the product page has a switch between them.
The practical rule
If a service sells on its own website, subscribe there, not in the app: you pay the same or less, and the subscription is managed in your account with the vendor rather than in Apple's settings. The app price is worth knowing for one reason only — if you already pay through the App Store, switching to the web can be the easiest saving available, no other country required.
Web figures come partly from readings older than the app figures beside them; where a vendor has changed its web price since, part of a gap can be that change. Each figure's reading date is on its product page.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to subscribe on the website than in the app?
Usually the same or cheaper. In 28 of 42 country pairs we compared, the iPhone app cost more; for YouTube a median +31%.
Why do subscriptions cost more in the App Store?
Apple takes a commission — 30% in a subscriber’s first year, 15% after it and for small developers — and many vendors raise the in-app price to cover it.
How do I move a subscription from the App Store to the website?
Cancel it in your Apple ID subscription settings, let the paid period run out, then subscribe again on the vendor’s website with the same account.