Apple mandates Patreon creators to transition to subscription billing by November.

Patreon is set to push creators away from older billing methods this fall in response to Apple’s reintroduced subscription requirements. This change will affect about four percent of creators still using first-of-the-month and per-creation billing, as Apple has mandated a switch to subscription billing by November 1, 2026. According to Patreon’s support page, any creators who haven’t made the switch by this deadline will be transitioned automatically.

This situation may sound familiar, as Apple has previously introduced and then reversed similar mandates. Back in 2024, Apple instructed Patreon to shift its creators to the App Store’s in-app purchase system, which would subject purchases and renewals to Apple’s 30 percent commission, with a deadline of November 2025. However, in May, Patreon announced that this deadline was lifted after Apple approved an update allowing iOS users in the US to access alternative checkout options, following the Epic Games v. Apple ruling that prevents Apple from charging fees on purchases made outside of apps.

Now, Apple has reinstated the mandate with a new deadline. iOS users can still avoid Apple’s 30 percent fees by signing up through mobile web, but subscription billing will incur those fees and is the only method compatible with Apple’s in-app purchase system.

In their announcement, Patreon expressed strong disagreement with this decision, stating, “Creators need consistency and clarity in order to build healthy, long-term businesses. Instead, creators using legacy billing will now have to endure the whiplash of another policy reversal – the third such change from Apple in the past 18 months.”

We have reached out to Apple for comment.