Schools and companies can buy app subscriptions by the seat through Apple from 22 October. Apple's pricing example cuts the average seat price by about 21% for a 50-seat purchase.
A school or company can now buy an app subscription by the seat from Apple. A developer who has changed nothing in App Store Connect, Apple's dashboard for managing apps, already has subscriptions available for purchase. The exceptions are older subscriptions that use Family Sharing or are not on StoreKit 2, Apple's in-app purchase framework.
Developers set the discount. The volume channel sells only multiseat subscriptions. Unless a developer chooses bulk price bands, every seat sells at the current per-seat price.
What launched on 22 October
Apple opened the buying side on 22 October. Multiseat purchasing lets one customer buy a subscription in quantities greater than one. Apple Developer News said "Starting today, organizations and educational institutions can purchase subscriptions to apps in volume with multiseat purchasing."
Multiseat is switched on by default in App Store Connect. Apple's 16 September developer news said "Starting today, multiseat purchases are enabled by default". It added that "Volume Purchasing launches on October 22, 2026."
Apple described group purchases and volume pricing at its WWDC26 developer conference, before switching on the default from 16 September.
The 22 October launch opened purchasing to buyers. Organisations can buy now through Apple Business and Apple School Manager, and there is an App Store Connect API for multiseat configuration.
An organisation buys the seats it needs through a single Apple In-App Purchase. It then assigns the seats with its existing device management tools and can add and remove seats at any time.
According to the WWDC26 session on the feature, the organisation assigns seats "the same way they assign apps today, through a device management service". The developer receives one transaction for each member and can give that member access. The buyer sees a single purchase covering many seat holders.
Who is opted in and what opting out changes
The default has exceptions. Apple's App Store Connect Help says multiseat purchasing is enabled "unless you've previously adjusted this setting". Subscriptions created before 14 September 2026 that do not use StoreKit 2, or that have Family Sharing turned on, are opted out by default.
Family Sharing changes once multiseat is on. The same Help page says only the group purchaser's access includes Family Sharing, and all other seats are for individual use only. The group purchaser is the customer who manages the shared subscription.
Custom-app subscriptions are always available to organisations on Apple Business and Apple School Manager. Their developers cannot opt out.
Opting out also removes access to the volume sales channel. Apple Business and Apple School Manager "support multiseat purchases only", so switching multiseat off removes the subscription from both. Existing customers keep renewing until the group purchaser cancels, but "New seats cannot be added".
Removing an approved subscription from Apple Business or Apple School Manager has a greater effect on existing customers. Apple says existing subscribers "won't renew automatically and will be canceled at the end of their next renewal." Only the Account Holder can make that change.
The default setting determines whether a subscription is listed. An unlisted subscription is invisible to every organisation that buys through Apple, because the volume channel sells only multiseat.
How volume discounts work
Price is the second choice. The session says that "By default, every seat of your subscription is sold at the current price in App Store Connect."
Discounts come from volume pricing, which allows up to five price bands. Apple's example charges $19.99 a month per seat up to 20 seats. The next band, seats 21 to 40, costs $13.99 a seat, and from seat 41 each seat costs $10.99.
A purchase of 50 seats shows the effect. It costs $789.50, against $999.50 at the base price. Every extra seat after the first 20 pulls the average seat price further down.
The average seat costs $15.79. That is 21% below $19.99, and Apple rounds it to "about 20%". Apple's bands are an illustration, not a market price. Even so, every seat from number 41 sells 45% below the base price.
In Apple's example, seats 1 to 20 cost 19.99 dollars, seats 21 to 40 cost 13.99 dollars and seat 41 onwards costs 10.99 dollars, so a 50 seat purchase averages 15.79 dollars a seat, about 21 percent below the base price.
View data
| Price band | Dollars per seat per month |
|---|---|
| Seats 1 to 20 | 19.99 |
| Seats 21 to 40 | 13.99 |
| Seat 41 and above | 10.99 |
| Average for 50 seats | 15.79 |
The discount reduces what the developer earns. On the same bands, average revenue per seat falls by about a fifth before any commission.
The buyer gets a reason to cover more people and consolidate purchasing. The seller gets volume at a lower unit price, and chooses how steep the bands run.
Commission and the choice of sales channel
The commission treatment remains unclear. Apple's 13 October license agreement update adds Group Purchase terms to Schedule 2 and Schedule 3. Schedule 2 section 3.4 sets Apple's commission at 30% of all prices payable by each end user. Renewals after one year of paid subscription carry 15%. The schedule counts group members as end users and states no separate rate for volume or group purchases. How the rate applies to discounted bands is not spelled out.
The Small Business Program charges "a reduced commission rate of 15% on paid apps and Apple In-App Purchases" for developers with up to $1 million in proceeds in the prior calendar year. Whether that rate carries over to multiseat sales is unanswered.
Developers need to weigh that uncertainty when choosing a sales channel. A subscription app with team or classroom customers can take them through Apple's channel. That means one purchase, seats pushed through the customer's own device management and a transaction for each member.
Developers can also sell through direct contracts and negotiated invoices. Apple's channel gives a developer reach and easy procurement. It costs a bulk discount and a commission whose treatment of discounted seats Apple has not spelled out.
A school app has a further option. Apple lets a developer sell a subscription only through Apple School Manager. That allows plans priced for verified educational institutions, apart from what a company pays.
Group purchases arrive this winter
Group purchases come later. Apple says that "This winter, group purchases will be available on the App Store, letting people buy multiple seats for your subscription and invite others to access it."
Group buyers get an included seat management system by default. A developer can instead build its own flow through the App Store Server API group endpoints.
Volume purchasing for organisations is live today. The consumer and small team version is not. Developers can start testing group purchases in the sandbox on 28 October, and Apple says they reach the App Store this winter.