What’s left after the App Store cut? (Free estimate)

List price is not your income. The App Store (and Google Play) take a cut first. Tax handling, refunds, and settlement FX can move the number again. Many people stare at the sticker price and only notice the gap when the statement lands.

Indie teams feel this most when they set a launch tier from gut feel. You pick a round number because it looks clean on the storefront. Weeks later the payout row is thinner than you expected. That gap is normal—but you should see it before you lock marketing copy.

Storecut helps you estimate list price → rough net proceeds. Free to use. Illustrative—not a replacement for the store console or your bank feed.

1. List price ≠ income

You set a list price. Shoppers pay that. What lands in your account is usually less: store commission, possible tax treatment, refunds, and settlement currency effects.

If you compare price tiers, subscription periods, or one-time vs subscription, separate “what the user pays” from “what you roughly keep.” Mixing them makes bad pricing calls.

A useful habit: keep two columns in your notes. Column A is the shopper-facing list. Column B is an estimated net under a store preset. When you debate “should we go up one tier?” look at both columns. Raising list by a little may not raise net by the same feel if tax display or tier rules sit between you and the cash.

Indie solo founders often price from competitor screenshots. That only copies list digits. It does not copy their contracted tier, tax setup, or refund history. Treat competitor stickers as market context—not as your net.

2. How to estimate net with Storecut (multi-currency)

Open Storecut, pick a store/region preset, enter a list price or a net target, and read the estimate. Multi-currency switching helps you sanity-check different storefront prices.

Typical use: “At this price, what’s the ballpark net?” or “I want about this net—where should list land?” Good for a pre-launch glance, not a formal finance model.

A simple workflow many indie apps use:

Decide a minimum monthly net you need for the product to feel worth shipping.
Convert that into a rough per-sale or per-subscriber net target.
Run Storecut until list price and estimated net sit in a range you can live with.
Only then write the store listing and ads around that list number.

If a custom domain fails, try the published Storecut host. Questions: [email protected].

3. Commission tiers are illustrative—not your contract

Percentages, small-business tiers, first-year vs renewal subscription treatment inside the tool are illustrative of public rules. They build intuition for order of magnitude.

They are not the agreement you signed with Apple or Google. Entity type, whether you qualify for a given tier, region, and tax setup can all make real deductions diverge from the preset. Your console and contract win.

When the estimate and your last payout disagree, do not “fix” the tool by inventing a new percent. Open the console: check which tier you are on, how tax appears on the storefront, and whether refunds or FX timing moved the period. Then adjust your mental model. Storecut stays a sketch pad for structure—not a second ledger.

4. One-time vs subscription: what changes

One-time: one list price, one commission sketch—fine for a “sell once” rough pass.

Subscription: period (monthly/yearly) and renewal treatment change how net arrives over time. The same sticker price can feel very different when you think in “about how much hits per month.”

Storecut makes it easy to scan both structures side by side. It does not choose your product model for you.

Indie tip: if you offer both a lifetime unlock and a subscription, run two separate estimates. Do not average them into one fake “blended” net unless you also know the mix of buyers. Launch week mix is rarely the same as month six. Label each scenario clearly so you do not price the lifetime SKU from subscription folklore—or the reverse.

5. Tax, FX, refunds—common traps

Tax: presets often omit your full local tax picture; some storefronts show tax-inclusive prices while settlement treats tax differently.
FX: list currency and settlement currency may differ; the tool’s currency switch is for estimating convenience, not a bank quote.
Refunds: how commission and net reverse after a refund follows store rules and console history; estimate screens usually assume a completed, non-refunded sale.

So Storecut is about structure and magnitude, not penny-perfect reconciliation.

Two more traps indie teams hit:

Pricing every country storefront from one home-currency spreadsheet without re-checking estimated net in that storefront’s currency.
Treating a promo list price as if it still produced the same net as full price—then wondering why the month looks soft.

When in doubt, re-run the estimate at the promo list and at the regular list. Keep both numbers next to your launch checklist.

6. Next: Play / side-by-side

After an App Store pass, run the same list-price thinking on Google Play (SC-2). For a locked currency comparison, see SC-3.

Card processor fees (Stripe/PayPal, etc.) are a different line item—use Feecut and don’t mix them into store commission.

If you sell both in-app and on the open web, keep three mental buckets: App Store net, Play net, and processor net. Mixing those into one “fee percent” story is how pricing docs go wrong.

FAQ

Is this for tax or reconciliation?
No. Use the store console, bank statements, and local compliance rules.

Why doesn’t this match my console?
Tier, tax handling, refunds, FX timing—common. Console wins.

Is currency switching a live FX rate?
No—estimate convenience only.

What about Google Play?
See SC-2 and SC-3.

Tool: Storecut
SC-2 · Google Play net · SC-3 · side-by-side
Processor fees: Feecut

Disclaimer

Storecut is not an Apple or Google official tool. Illustrative rates and rules change. This page is not tax, legal, or contract advice. Your store agreements and console are authoritative. [email protected]