--- title: "What Is an In-App Purchase (IAP)? Streaming Apps Explained" description: "An in-app purchase is a payment made inside an app through the app store's billing. See the types, the commission and how streaming apps handle it." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/in-app-purchase" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/in-app-purchase.md" category: "Monetization" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is an in-app purchase (IAP)? 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. ## How in-app purchases work The app shows a product, the viewer confirms with the payment method already saved in their store account, and the store sends the app a receipt. The service verifies the receipt on its server and grants access. Because there is no card form, in-app purchases convert well on phones and televisions. The cost is the store's commission and less direct control over billing and refunds. ## Types of in-app purchase - Auto-renewable subscription: a plan billed by the store each period - Consumable: something used up, such as a pack of coins - Non-consumable: a permanent unlock, such as a purchased film - Non-renewing subscription: access for a fixed period, such as a season pass ## In-app purchase vs web payment A payment taken on your own website goes through your payment gateway and avoids store commission. Store rules on whether an app may link to web checkout differ by store and region and have changed several times, so check the current rules for each market. Most services offer both: store billing for viewers who discover them in the app, and web checkout for everyone else. An account bought on the web works in the apps. ## In-app purchase on RentAnOTT RentAnOTT apps are priced per platform with store submission included: Android $149/month, iOS $169/month, or both for $299/month. Coins and virtual purchases are a $119/month add-on. [See pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing). ## Related terms - [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%. - [In-app billing](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/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. - [Coins and virtual currency](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/virtual-currency) — Coins, or virtual currency, are units of in-app credit that viewers buy in packs with real money and then spend inside a streaming app, most often to unlock individual episodes of a short-form series. - [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. - [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. - [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. - [Episode unlock](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/episode-unlock) — Episode unlock is a pay-per-episode model in which the first episodes of a series are free and each later episode is unlocked individually, usually with in-app coins, by watching an ad or with a pass. ## 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 ### What does IAP stand for? IAP stands for in-app purchase. ### How much do app stores take from an in-app purchase? Commission is typically between 15% and 30%, depending on the store, the publisher's size, the product type and the region. Check each store's current terms, as they change. ### Can a subscription bought on the web be used in the app? Yes. The viewer signs in to the app with the same account and the service recognizes the subscription, wherever it was bought. 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