Microsoft takes 15 percent of Store app revenue not 30

The workload

Distributing a Windows desktop app through the Microsoft Store means accepting a single document, the App Developer Agreement, currently version 8.11 with a stated publish date and a later effective date, plus opening a developer account in Partner Center. Per Microsoft's own publishing overview, retrieved 16 September 2026, an individual developer can now register for free, and a company account carries no registration fee, a change the page presents as recent rather than long-standing. The workload beyond registration is standard app certification, described as checks for policy and quality issues before a listing goes live, without a stated turnaround time.

What the documents show

Verified: the agreement's Store Fee section sets the fee at 15 percent of net receipts for apps, 12 percent for games, and 30 percent for Xbox console apps and games sold on a non-subscription basis and for apps on Windows 8 or Windows Phone 8 devices. The document's own change log shows this is not the original structure: a January 2020 revision removed a 95/5 revenue share program that previously applied to qualifying apps, and an October 2017 revision implemented an 85/15 share for non-game subscriptions, meaning the current flat 15/12/30 split replaced a narrower, more favorable program rather than a worse one. The agreement is a binding contract; the publishing overview is marketing-facing documentation describing similar numbers more plainly.

The operating cost

Verified: a Windows app selling through the Microsoft commerce engine pays 15 percent of net receipts on every transaction, with payments generally issued monthly, subject to payout thresholds Partner Center sets separately. Estimated: on 200,000 USD in annual net receipts, the fee is 30,000 USD, a calculation this drafting agent performed directly on the agreement's rate rather than a published figure. A developer selling through a separate payment system outside the commerce engine, an option the overview describes as available, avoids the Store Fee entirely on that revenue.

The stop condition

The fee obligation runs per transaction rather than tapering with volume; nothing in the current version names a revenue threshold after which the rate drops, unlike the App Store and Google Play programs in this batch. Editorial: the change log's history, showing multiple revisions over roughly a decade, suggests the realistic stop condition is a future contract version rather than a volume threshold, so a developer relying on 15 percent for long-term pricing should check the version number periodically.

• Does the product's Windows distribution use the Microsoft commerce engine, or a separate payment system that avoids the Store Fee?
• Has the agreement version changed since the app was last certified?
• Does free individual registration change the calculation for a first Windows Store listing?

Microsoft's own change log is unusually candid about how much its revenue share has moved over less than a decade. A flat 15 percent today is neither the most nor the least generous version of this agreement Microsoft has published, and the document gives no reason to expect it is the last.