Offering an alternative billing system for users in the United States

As part of our compliance with the US District Court’s order, we allow developers selling digital content or services the option of offering their users in the United States an alternative billing system, in lieu of or alongside Google Play Billing.

Availability

This program is available in the US in connection with the US District Court's order . Google reserves the right to modify or terminate this program, including as a result of any changes to or termination of the US District Court's order.

Requirements

Developers participating in this program must comply with the following requirements:

• Only offer alternative billing systems within the app by implementing and enrolling in this program
• Comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) (if handling credit and debit card data).
• Comply with all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to those related to payments and the protection of minors and children.
• Provide customer support for users of the alternative billing system (including any products sold using the alternative billing system), and the alternative billing system must provide a process to dispute unauthorized transactions.
• Provide link(s) that allows users to see their order history, manage any subscriptions sold via alternative billing systems, and initiate customer service and refund requests.
• If using Google Play Billing with this program, all users must be able to access Google Play Billing in a consistent and reliable manner.
• Once required , pay Google the applicable service fees. When a consumer purchases through an alternative billing system, the service fee will be 10% for auto-renewing subscriptions and 25% for other offers of in-app digital features and services. Transactions for the first $1M (USD) of total developer earnings annually will be charged at 10%.
• Integrate the alternative billing APIs , which surface the one-time information screen, enable parental controls, and facilitate transaction reporting.
• Notify us in advance of intended changes to your app enrollment preferences in Play Console.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for this program, your app must be an app or game on the mobile or tablet form factors offering alternative billing to users in the United States and its territories.

Please note that eligibility and requirements are subject to change.

Integrating with alternative billing APIs

If you would like to offer alternative billing, you must complete the following steps:

1. Review the requirements on this page to determine if your app(s) meets the eligibility criteria.
2. Open Play Console , go to the Alternative billing page (Settings > Alternative billing) and complete any onboarding steps required to enroll in the program.
3. Complete the integration of the alternative billing APIs as described in this API integration guide .
4. Manage your Play Console alternative billing settings to opt in/out each of your apps and provide subscription management URLs.
5. Once required , report to Google Play all authorized transactions from users in the United States within 24 hours using alternative billing APIs.

If you have any additional questions, you can contact our support team here .

Frequently asked questions