To make this clear: Patreon is a platform mainly used by creators, artists, musicians to get a reliable income directly from their fans. Apple is trying to steal 30% of the income of our favorite artists.
this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2026
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Good thing none of us have iPhones here, right, guys? Right?
Honestly I wouldn't touch Apple products with a bargepole. I dislike closed ecosystems
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Been locked in this ecosystem for a while guys. I'm not proud of it.
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Why does Apple feel they deserve a 30% cut? In cases like this, Apple aren't providing any value at all.
- Apple aren't providing the content - the creator is.
- Apple aren't providing a platform for the content - Patreon is.
- Apple aren't providing a platform for discovery - people aren't finding Patreon creators solely via Apple products.
Sure, Apple are providing a payments platform, but why do they deserve 10x what Stripe charges?
It's just platform-milking, just like Meetup.com's latest antics; there isn't deep analysis needed to everything, haha. "Capitalism" is totally a legitimate answer despite being just one word.
Meetup is now owned by Bending Spoons, who have also enshittified wetransfer, Evernote, eventbrite, AOL, vimeo. They buy decent products that never exploded to ipo status, fire everyone and milk the rest for whatever they can charge.
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They were sued by Epic Games for the same shit and Epic won on one count which allows them to put links to alternative payment methods and go around Apple.
So couldn't patreon just argue in court that this precedent was already set with epic?
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They provide the payment system. They also mandate it.
If you subscribe on the website you don't have to pay the extra. It's only for subscriptions initiated via the app
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I hope Patreon will just switch off the ability to pay through the iOS app, along with a nice fuck you-message to Apple that pops up when you first open the app
Last time this came up Patreon simply allowed the creators to charge the commission directly on top of the price for non apple users, or eat the 30% loss. So everyone not using iOS would pay, say, $5/month, iOS users would pay $5+30%. Hope they retain that option.
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What exactly does Apple think that they're brining to the equation in order to deserve that 30? Is it simply that they're hosting an app on their store, so therefore they're entitled to a cut?
So if I write a novel, and get it published, Microsoft can say "We deserve 30% because you used our product to produce your product?
I'm so fucking tired of corporations. It's well past guillotine-o-clock.
What exactly does Apple think that they’re brining to the equation in order to deserve that 30?
Because Valve can and Tim wants his yachts. No one is gonna stop em either. The App Store and Steam are the same thing: Store fronts that sell other peoples goods. You may say that Steam is just an app—don't tell me, tell your representatives
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To follow this logic: if you use an e-banking app, Apple will soon claim to be entitled to 30% of all transactions. Same for paypal, ebay, you name it
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That’s how the system works. You don’t expect Walmart to not get a commission when you sell something at their store.
30% is reasonable. DEAL WITH IT.
Don’t like it? Make your own phone and platform.
Opening up the comments on macrumors never disappoints me :)
its also not how it works... at all. walmart would buy wholesale from a supplier not directly from the seller
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Why isn't Apple trying to take 30% of all purchases through the Amazon app? Or eBay? Or your local grocery delivery? It's the same exact thing. Such a stupid greedy fucking attempt
Next they'll take 30% on every transaction through my banking app.
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If I was on Patreon I'd tell them to pull the app. Fuck em they have a website.
Right? You'd think Patreon would throw their weight against Apple, as this is clearly not in their best interest. Threaten to pull the app, and if Apple follows through, they get nothing. Alternatively, move payments entirely outside of the app and force Apple to either do something which is guaranteed to be extremely unpopular, or call their bluff. But they won't do these things or even try to negotiate Apple's cut.
Apple may appear to swing the biggest dick here, but I am so disgusted by these weak companies just immediately bending over without a fight.
As always, it's the creators who will be faced with hardship, but neither entity seems to give a shit.
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Tim Cook needs more money to forge golden offerings for his good pal Donald trump.
I fucking hate mega corps. It's never fucking enough... Ever... Apple has more money than some countries yet these assholes want ever more....
Tax all these assholes into oblivion!
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It's wild that Steam is getting a class action lawsuit for charging 30% right now, and Apple doing shit like this at the same percentage and legally is getting a free pass.
I'll throw a hat in the ring here. It's because Steam has a grip on the gaming market that others want instead of them. That's it, they want that money instead of Valve. Apple is getting a pass on this because it's just fucking over the common guy which businesses couldn't care less about.
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Just crank all iOS user payments up by 30%, explain why, and let nature sort itself out.
Apple doesn't allow this - they expect your price to be the same everywhere or they'll remove the app from their store or decline version updates. There have historically been a few high profile exceptions privately negotiated, and I think they were forced to relax this in the last year or two, but here they are again trying to claw away money they did literally nothing to earn.
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Patreon gives creators the option to either increase their prices in the iOS app only, or absorb the fee themselves, keeping prices the same across platforms.
It's already an option and if you read the article, only 4% are still on the legacy billing system (no Apple tax at all)
iOS users using a browser don't pay the Apple Tax. And the only reason to pay through the app is if you specifically want to use Apple Pay (e.g to pay with your phone bill instead of your credit card).
At this point it's a "stupid tax" more than anything.
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Terribly need degoogled android to become popular and/or a normal Linux distribution phone to become popular so that normal Linux market share couldn’t be ignored
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Fuck patron. Fuck you Tim Apple. Fuck you both
What's wrong with Patreon? They advertise a 10% fee. It may be a little more complicated than that but 10% seems pretty reasonable considering the services they offer.
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Luckily I’m about to switch to graphene OS soon. I’ll be forced to make a bunch of changes to choices I made out of convenience in the past
Gotta recoup all those fascist donations
Technofeudalism.
I didn't even know there was a Patreon app. I signed up through the website. On a computer. Old school.
These Silicon Valley parasites are taking way more than a fair share. Every industry is Consolidated and the few gatekeeping corporations left take more than their fair share that is the entire problem. Capitalism does not work without controls. Never has, I never will. This absolute free market talk has always been ad hoc, to further the business interests of those making the arguments.
"Walled garden initiates universal tollbooth policy overhaul."
Makes me think why ever since Photoshop was first created, Apple became the go-to for creatives for decades, and now Apple thinks it wants more money than just the fanatics going after their latest product.
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Timmy Cook is just a bean counter. He's got nothing to innovate or build. That's Apple has been buying back shares non stop. Their lead designer jumped ship a while ago. It's only a matter of time.
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Apple App Store and Google Play stores have a market duopoly. They should be forced to forfeit all or most of its fees.
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