Google Play Billing

What it covers

Google Play Billing is how Android apps distributed on Google Play sell digital goods and subscriptions. The guide covers integrating the Play Billing Library, defining one-time products and subscriptions with base plans and offers in Play Console, verifying purchases on your server, listening for real-time developer notifications when a subscription renews or is cancelled, acknowledging purchases so they are not refunded automatically, and testing with licence testers.

Fees (as of 2026-09)

Google's service fee page is the source of truth, and it changed in 2026. In most markets the fee is 15% on the first $1 million of earnings a year and on auto-renewing subscriptions, and 30% above $1 million for other transactions. From 30 June 2026 the EEA, UK and US have a different structure that separates a service fee from a billing fee and treats new and existing installs differently. Read the current page for the markets you sell in.

Account costs and testing rules

A Google Play developer account costs a one-time $25 registration fee. New personal accounts created after 13 November 2023 must run a closed test with at least 12 testers who stay opted in for 14 days in a row before they can apply for production access. Plan this into your launch date: finding 12 real testers takes time, and paid "tester" services can break Play policies.

What you can do after reading

• Offer a monthly and yearly subscription with a free trial as an offer.
• Verify purchases on a server and grant access based on entitlements, not on the client alone.
• Handle grace periods and account holds when a renewal payment fails.

Prerequisites

Android development with Kotlin or a cross-platform framework with a billing plugin, a Play Console account and a merchant profile set up for payouts.

Common questions

Can I use RevenueCat? Yes. It wraps Play Billing and StoreKit so one backend tracks entitlements for both.

Can I use my own payment system? Only where Google's programmes allow it, which depends on the market. Check the current policy.

Sources: developer.android.com/google/play/billing and the Play Console Help pages on service fees, registration and app testing requirements, checked 2026-09.