--- title: "What Is In-App Billing? Definition and Examples | RentAnOTT" description: "In-app billing is the payment system an app store provides for purchases inside apps. See how it handles subscriptions and how to reconcile it with web sales." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/in-app-billing" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/in-app-billing.md" category: "Pricing & billing" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is in-app billing? In-app billing is the payment system that an app store, such as Apple's App Store, Google Play or the Amazon Appstore, provides for buying digital goods inside apps. It charges the payment method on the user's store account and manages renewals, refunds and cancellations for subscriptions bought that way. ## How in-app billing works Products and prices are defined in the store's console. When a viewer buys, the store takes payment and gives the app a signed receipt. The service validates the receipt with the store and grants access. For subscriptions, the store charges each renewal itself and sends the service a notification when a subscription renews, lapses, is refunded or is cancelled. ## What the store controls - The checkout screen and the payment methods offered - Renewal dates, retries of failed payments and grace periods - Refunds, which the customer requests from the store - Cancellation, done in the store's subscription settings - Price points available in each country ## Running store and web billing together A service usually has subscribers from several sources: its website, Apple, Google and perhaps a TV store. The account system must treat all of them as one kind of entitlement, so a viewer who subscribed on an iPhone can watch on the web and on a television. Reporting needs the same care. Revenue from stores arrives net of commission and on the store's payout schedule, so combine it with web revenue before reading totals. ## In-app billing on RentAnOTT RentAnOTT apps for Android ($149/month) and iOS ($169/month) include store submission. Which purchases run through store billing in your apps is settled at launch; RentAnOTT itself takes no cut of any sale. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [In-app purchase](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/in-app-purchase) — An in-app purchase (IAP) is a payment made inside a mobile or TV app using the app store's own billing system, such as Apple's App Store or Google Play. The store collects the money, keeps a commission and pays the rest to the app's publisher. - [App store commission](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/app-store-commission) — App store commission is the percentage an app store, such as Apple's App Store, Google Play or a TV platform's store, keeps from each payment made through its in-app billing. It typically ranges from 15% to 30%. - [Recurring billing](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/recurring-billing) — Recurring billing is charging a customer's saved payment method automatically at a fixed interval, such as every month or year, until they cancel. It is the billing mechanism behind every streaming subscription. - [Payment gateway](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/payment-gateway) — A payment gateway is the service that securely collects a customer's payment details, sends the transaction to the banks and card networks for approval, and reports the result back to the business. A streaming service uses one to sell subscriptions, rentals and purchases on the web. - [Merchant of record](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/merchant-of-record) — The merchant of record (MoR) is the legal entity that sells a product to the customer. Its name appears on the customer's statement, and it is responsible for processing the payment, collecting and remitting sales tax, and handling refunds and disputes. - [App store submission](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/app-store-submission) — App store submission is the process of preparing a streaming app, sending it to a store such as Apple's App Store, Google Play, the Amazon Appstore or a smart TV store for review, and publishing it once approved. - [Dunning](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/dunning) — Dunning is the process of recovering a subscription payment that has failed. It combines automatic retries of the charge with messages asking the subscriber to update their payment details, over a set period before the subscription is cancelled. ## Further reading - [OTT subscription plans and tiers](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/ott-subscription-plans) - [How to start a streaming service](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/how-to-start-a-streaming-service) - [OTT revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is in-app billing the same as an in-app purchase? In-app billing is the system. An in-app purchase is a single transaction made through it. ### Can I refund a subscriber who paid through an app store? Not directly. The store is the seller, so the customer requests the refund from the store. ### Is in-app billing mandatory? Store rules on this differ by store, app category and country, and have changed several times. Check the current policy for each store and market before deciding. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt