In March 2021, we announced a change to our service fee to help boost developer success on Google Play. Starting July 1, 2021, the service fee for each developer will be 15% for the first $1M (USD) of earnings you make each year when you sell digital goods or services.

This article explains how the 15% service fee tier will be applied and how to enroll.

Enrollment

To officially enroll for the 15% service fee tier, you must: 

• Have a payments profile;
• create an Account Group (of which your Developer Account is the Primary Developer Account) and let us know whether or not you have any Associated Developer Accounts (ADAs); and
• accept the Terms of Service for the 15% service fee tier.

To enroll for the 15% service fee:

1. Open Play Console and go to the Associated developer accounts page.
2. Follow these instructions to create an Account Group and let us know whether or not you have any ADAs.
3. When you've finished setting up your Account Group, you can enroll for the 15% service fee on the Associated developer accounts page. You'll see a banner on the page with the heading, "When you've finished setting up your account group, enroll for the 15% service fee." Underneath, click Review and enroll.
   • Important: Your account group must include all of your ADAs before you enroll. You won't be able to enroll if you have requests that you haven't responded to or if some Developer Accounts haven't responded to your request to add them to your account group. Learn more about managing requests here. 
4. Read and accept the 15% service fee Terms of Service.
5. Click Accept and enroll. 

After enrolling, you can see your enrollment status any time at the bottom of the Associated developer accounts page. If you enroll before July 1, 2021, note that the 15% service fee will apply as of July 1, 2021. If you enroll after July 1,  the 15% service fee will apply as of the date you complete enrollment.

15% service fee for the first $1M (USD) of earnings

Starting July 1, 2021, the service fee will be 15% for the first $1M (USD) of earnings you make each year when you sell digital goods or services.

If you have multiple Associated Developer Accounts (ADAs) in your Account Group, the 15% service fee tier will be applied as long as the total earnings of all ADAs in the group are under $1M (USD), and every ADA will receive the benefit of the 15% service fee tier. Once the total earnings exceed $1M (USD), the service fee is 30% for all ADAs for the rest of the year.

Earnings will be calculated on a calendar year basis (January 1–December 31). As the program starts halfway through the year (July 1, 2021), the 2021 earning limit will be prorated to $500,000 (USD).

Note: The 15% service fee tier will go into effect on July 1, 2021 for all developers who have completed enrollment before this date. For developers who complete enrollment after July 1, 2021 the 15% will be applied starting from the date when enrollment is completed.

Understanding Associated Developer Accounts (ADAs)

Account Groups are a new feature in Play Console that help us understand which Developer Accounts you’re associated with. Providing this information helps us make sure you’re eligible for the 15% service fee tier and for other Google Play developer programs and Play Console features, and to provide future benefits.

All ADAs are part of an Account Group, which represents a single enrollment in the 15% service fee tier. The group’s Primary Developer Account will apply on behalf of all ADAs in the group.

Forming a group will not create or allow any additional access to individual Developer Accounts in the group. The Primary Developer Account Holder will not have permission to view or manage any content (including apps) for any ADAs added to the Account Group, unless the admins of the individual Developer Accounts explicitly add or adjust the account users or permissions.

Creating your Account Group

Go to Create and manage your Account Group to learn more about Account Groups .