DMA and Alternative App Stores: What Founders Need to Know

The EU Digital Markets Act went into full enforcement in March 2024, and the ripple effects are still accelerating. For the first time in the iPhone's history, Apple is legally required to allow alternative app stores and sideloading in the European Union. Google, already more open by default, is making additional concessions under regulatory pressure. The walled garden is not gone, but a door has been cut into the wall, and it is getting wider every quarter.

If you are building a mobile product today, this is not abstract policy news. It directly affects how much commission you pay, where your users can find your app, how you handle payments, and what your technical architecture looks like. The founders who understand these changes early will have a real distribution advantage. The ones who ignore them will keep paying 30% and competing in a single storefront while their competitors diversify.

This guide covers the regulatory landscape as of mid-2027, the practical implications for your app business, and the specific technical and strategic decisions you need to make now.

The DMA designates Apple and Google as "gatekeepers" for their respective app stores. Under Articles 5 and 6, gatekeepers must allow third-party app stores to operate on their platforms, permit developers to use alternative payment systems, and stop forcing developers to use the gatekeeper's own in-app purchase system as the only option. The law is enforced by the European Commission, with fines of up to 10% of global annual revenue for non-compliance, escalating to 20% for repeat violations.

The enforcement timeline matters. The initial compliance deadline was March 6, 2024. Apple released iOS 17.4 with support for alternative app marketplaces in the EU. Google made changes to Play Store policies allowing third-party billing. Since then, the Commission has opened multiple investigations into whether Apple's compliance is genuine or designed to be so burdensome that nobody uses it. That ongoing pressure is why the rules keep shifting in developers' favor.

Key Requirements for Gatekeepers

• Alternative app stores: Gatekeepers must allow users to install apps from third-party marketplaces without unreasonable barriers.
• Sideloading: Users must be able to install apps directly from developers, outside of any store.
• Third-party payments: Developers can use their own payment processors or link to external payment pages without the gatekeeper taking a cut on those transactions.
• No self-preferencing: Gatekeepers cannot rank their own apps or services above competitors in search results or default settings.
• Data portability: Users and developers must be able to export their data from the platform.

The practical effect is that the EU has become a testing ground for a more open mobile ecosystem. What works there will likely spread to other jurisdictions. Japan, South Korea, and the UK are all moving in the same direction with their own legislation.

Apple's DMA compliance is the most significant change to the iOS ecosystem since the App Store launched in 2008. In the EU, developers now have two business options. The first is the traditional App Store model: 30% commission (15% for small businesses under $1M revenue), Apple's payment system, and the familiar App Store distribution. The second is the new "alternative terms" for EU distribution.

Under the alternative terms, the commission drops to either 10% or 17% depending on whether you qualify for the small business program. But Apple introduced the Core Technology Fee (CTF): 0.50 EUR per first annual install above 1 million installs. This means free and ad-supported apps with massive user bases face a bill that did not exist before. If your app gets 10 million installs in a year, that is 4.5 million EUR in CTF alone, on top of the reduced commission. For most startups and mid-stage companies, this fee is irrelevant because you will not hit 1 million installs. But for consumer apps with viral growth trajectories, the math matters a lot.

Alternative App Marketplaces on iOS

Apple now allows approved "marketplace" apps to distribute other apps in the EU. To become an approved marketplace, you need a developer account in good standing, a letter of credit from a recognized financial institution for 1 million EUR, and you must agree to Apple's marketplace terms. The marketplace app itself goes through Apple's notarization process, which checks for malware and basic safety, but is less restrictive than the full App Store review.

For most founders, the question is not whether to build your own marketplace. It is whether to distribute through an existing alternative marketplace. AltStore PAL was one of the first to launch under this framework. Epic Games Store is available on iOS in the EU. The number of options is growing, and each one represents a distribution channel with different audiences, fee structures, and discovery mechanics.

Google has always been more permissive about sideloading on Android. You could install APKs from unknown sources long before the DMA existed. But the DMA forced Google to go further: reducing friction for installing third-party app stores, allowing alternative billing systems inside Play Store apps, and loosening restrictions on how developers communicate pricing to users.

Google's User Choice Billing program lets developers offer their own payment system alongside Google Play Billing. If a user pays through the developer's system, Google's commission drops from 30% to 26% (or from 15% to 11% for the small business tier). That 4% reduction is Google's way of accounting for the "value" of its billing infrastructure. Whether a 4% discount justifies the engineering work of integrating a second payment system is a question every founder needs to answer for their specific situation.

The Major Alternative Stores

• Epic Games Store (iOS and Android): Epic takes a 12% commission with no additional fees. They have been aggressively recruiting developers, especially games. Their audience skews younger and gaming-oriented, but they are expanding into general apps.
• Samsung Galaxy Store: Pre-installed on every Samsung device, which is roughly 25% of the global Android market. Commission is 30% standard, but Samsung has been offering promotional reductions to 15% for select categories. The Galaxy Store audience is largely in Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
• Amazon Appstore: Primarily relevant if you are targeting Fire tablets or want distribution through Amazon's ecosystem. Commission is 30% standard, 20% for certain categories. The user base is smaller but highly concentrated among Amazon hardware owners.
• AltStore PAL (iOS, EU only): A sideloading-focused marketplace. Users pay an annual subscription to AltStore itself, and developers pay the Apple CTF if above 1M installs, but AltStore does not take a separate commission. Good for niche apps that would struggle with App Store review.
• Setapp Mobile (iOS, EU only): MacPaw's subscription bundle model brought to iOS. Users pay one monthly fee and get access to a curated library. Developers get paid based on usage. Interesting if your app fits a productivity or utility category.

The important thing to internalize is that multi-store distribution is no longer theoretical. It is a real option with real tradeoffs. Each store has a different user base, different commission structure, and different review process. Your app store optimization strategy now needs to account for multiple storefronts, not just one.

Commission rates are the most visible change, but the math is more nuanced than "lower percentage equals more money." Here is how the major options compare for a typical SaaS app charging $9.99/month.

Apple App Store (Traditional Terms)

• Year 1 commission: 30% ($3.00 per subscription per month)
• Year 2+ commission: 15% ($1.50 per subscription per month)
• Small Business Program (under $1M revenue): 15% from day one
• Your net per subscriber: $6.99 to $8.49/month depending on tenure and program

Apple Alternative Terms (EU Only)

• Commission: 10% (Small Business) or 17% (standard)
• Core Technology Fee: 0.50 EUR per first annual install above 1M
• Third-party payment processing costs: typically 2.9% + $0.30 (Stripe) or similar
• Your net per subscriber: $7.69 to $8.71/month, minus payment processing, minus CTF if applicable

Epic Games Store

• Commission: 12% ($1.20 per subscription per month)
• Payment processing: included in the 12%
• Your net per subscriber: $8.79/month

Direct Distribution (Your Own Website)

• Commission: 0%
• Payment processing: 2.9% + $0.30 (Stripe)
• Your net per subscriber: approximately $9.40/month
• Tradeoff: no organic store discovery, you drive all traffic yourself

The takeaway: for apps under 1 million installs, Apple's alternative EU terms save you 8 to 13 percentage points in commission. That is significant. On $500K in annual revenue, switching from 30% to 17% saves you $65,000 per year. But you also need to factor in the cost of integrating a third-party payment processor, handling refunds yourself, and managing compliance across multiple billing systems. For most startups doing under $1M in revenue, the Small Business Program at 15% on the traditional App Store is still the simplest option.

Distributing across multiple stores is not just a business decision. It is an engineering project. Each store has its own SDK requirements, review processes, update mechanisms, and payment integrations. If you do not architect for this from the start, retrofitting multi-store support later is painful and expensive.

Build and Signing

On iOS, apps distributed through alternative marketplaces still need to be notarized by Apple. Notarization checks for malware and validates that the app meets baseline safety requirements, but it does not apply the full App Store Review Guidelines. You will need to manage separate provisioning profiles and entitlements for marketplace distribution versus App Store distribution. Your CI/CD pipeline needs to produce multiple build variants.

On Android, the situation is simpler. You can use the same APK or AAB across Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, and Amazon Appstore with minimal changes. The main differences are in the billing SDK: Google Play Billing, Samsung In-App Purchase SDK, and Amazon IAP are all different libraries with different APIs. Abstract your billing layer behind an interface so you can swap implementations without touching your business logic.

Payment Abstraction Layer

This is the most important architectural decision. Build a payment abstraction layer that sits between your app's purchase logic and the store-specific billing SDKs. At minimum, this layer should handle purchase initiation, receipt validation, subscription status tracking, and refund processing. Libraries like RevenueCat support multi-store billing out of the box and can save you months of integration work. Their SDK supports Apple StoreKit, Google Play Billing, Amazon IAP, and Stripe for web, all behind a single API. The cost is 1% of tracked revenue on their paid plans, which is a bargain compared to building and maintaining this yourself.

Analytics and Attribution

When you distribute across multiple stores, your attribution becomes fragmented. A user who discovers your app on the Epic Games Store and later upgrades through your website looks like two different users unless your analytics are unified. Use a single user identity system (your own account system, not store-specific IDs) and map store-specific transaction IDs to your internal user records. Tools like Adjust, AppsFlyer, or Singular can help with cross-store attribution, but none of them have perfect coverage of every alternative marketplace yet.

Read our app store rejection guide to make sure you are not tripping over review issues while managing multiple store submissions simultaneously.

The EU moved first, but the US is not standing still. The Epic v. Apple verdict in 2023 forced Apple to allow external payment links in US iOS apps, though Apple's implementation was deliberately restrictive (requiring a separate entitlement application and Apple-approved disclosure language). The Open App Markets Act has been introduced in Congress multiple times and would mandate sideloading and alternative payment systems in the US. It has not passed yet, but bipartisan support has grown with each session.

At the state level, several bills modeled on the DMA have been introduced in California, New York, and Arizona. Japan passed its own version, the Smartphone Software Competition Promotion Act, which takes effect in late 2027 and closely mirrors the DMA's requirements. South Korea's Telecommunications Business Act amendments have been in force since 2022 and already require alternative payment options. The UK's Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act gives the Competition and Markets Authority powers similar to the European Commission's.

What This Means for Your Strategy

The direction is clear: every major market is moving toward requiring more openness from platform gatekeepers. The specific timelines vary, but if you build your app architecture assuming that multi-store distribution and alternative payments will eventually be available globally, you will be positioned to move fast when each market opens up.

Practically, this means three things. First, do not hard-code App Store or Play Store assumptions into your billing logic. Use an abstraction layer from day one. Second, keep your app's core functionality independent of any single store's proprietary APIs. Third, build your user acquisition strategy around channels you control, such as your website, email list, and content, not just store search rankings. When new stores open in new markets, you want to be able to list your app in days, not months.

If you are still figuring out how to build your initial user base before worrying about multi-store distribution, start with our guide on getting your first 1,000 users. The fundamentals of user acquisition do not change just because the distribution landscape is shifting.

Not every app should rush to distribute across five stores. The right strategy depends on your stage, your audience, and your revenue model. Here is a framework for thinking about it clearly.

Stage 1: Pre-Launch to $10K MRR

Stick with the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Use the Small Business Program on both platforms to get the 15% commission rate. Your priority is product-market fit, not distribution optimization. The engineering overhead of multi-store support is not worth it at this stage. Focus on building something people want and getting your first paying users.

Stage 2: $10K to $100K MRR

Start evaluating alternative distribution if you have meaningful EU traffic. If more than 20% of your users are in the EU, the math on Apple's alternative terms starts to work. Consider adding a web-based payment option for your highest-value plans. Integrate RevenueCat or a similar abstraction layer so you are technically ready to add stores later without a major refactor.

Stage 3: $100K+ MRR

You should be actively pursuing multi-store distribution. At this revenue level, saving 10 to 15 percentage points on commission translates to $120K to $180K per year in additional margin. That is a senior engineer's salary. List on the Epic Games Store if your app has any gaming or entertainment angle. Explore Samsung Galaxy Store if your Android analytics show significant Samsung device share. Build a web checkout flow for direct subscriptions and actively promote it through your onboarding experience.

Stage 4: 1M+ Installs

Apple's Core Technology Fee starts to matter. Run the numbers carefully. For free apps with large user bases, the CTF can exceed what you would have paid in commission under the traditional terms. For paid apps with strong per-user revenue, the alternative terms almost always win. At this scale, you should also be exploring direct distribution through your own website and considering whether a dedicated marketplace partnership makes sense for your category.

The bottom line: the DMA has created optionality that did not exist two years ago. Smart founders treat this as a strategic lever, not just a cost-saving exercise. The commission savings are real, but the bigger opportunity is reaching users in places your competitors have not thought to look yet.

Ready to build a mobile app that is architected for multi-store distribution from the start? Book a free strategy call and we will map out the right distribution plan for your product and market.