A raíz de una sentencia judicial de mayo de 2025, Apple cambió sus pautas y ahora permite que los desarrolladores incluir enlaces fuera de sus aplicaciones para cobrar pagos en sitios web externos. Esto significa que, por primera vez, puedes usar un proceso de compra basado en la web para bienes o servicios digitales, lo que permite ahorrar hasta un 90 % en comisiones y transformar ese ahorro en ingresos adicionales para su empresa. Un proceso de compra basado en la web también ofrece mayor flexibilidad en precios y promociones, relaciones más cercanas con sus clientes, una mejor comprensión de sus datos y la posibilidad de cumplir con las expectativas de los usuarios mediante métodos de pago adicionales (como las opciones de “compra ahora, paga después”) que no están disponibles en el sistema de compras dentro de la aplicación (In-App Purchase, IAP) de Apple.

Para aprovechar esta oportunidad, los desarrolladores de aplicaciones nos cuentan que están explorando cómo realizar rápidamente la transición hacia un proceso de compra basado en la web para las aplicaciones de iOS. Sin embargo, quieren asegurarse de mantener la conversión de los clientes, incluso si deben redirigirlos fuera de su aplicación.

Si decides seguir este camino, Stripe puede ayudarte. Stripe es una suite totalmente integrada de productos financieros y de pagos que te permite gestionar todo el ciclo de vida de los ingresos en un solo lugar. Con Stripe, puedes procesar pagos, crear flujos de compra personalizables basados en la web, lanzar nuevos modelos de precios, automatizar el cumplimiento de la normativa fiscal internacional y acceder a informes unificados.

Stripe ha ayudado a docenas de aplicaciones a empezar a procesar pagos externos en los últimos meses, y muchas de ellas reportan ahorros de dos dígitos en las tarifas de procesamiento. En esta guía, hemos resumido las lecciones que aprendimos durante este tiempo para ayudarte a crear tu propia experiencia de pagos sin complicaciones, tanto en la aplicación como en la web. Estas prácticas recomendadas te ayudarán a hacer lo siguiente:

• Redirigir las compras desde la aplicación a la web conforme a la normativa.
  
• Crear una experiencia coherente para el usuario cuando pasas de la aplicación a la web.
  
• Crear un proceso de compra de alta conversión.
  
• Probar qué estrategias funcionan mejor para tus clientes.
  
• Administrar las actividades posteriores a la compra, como impuestos, reembolsos y disputas.
  

También veremos cómo Stripe puede ayudarte y destacaremos cómo Stripe Checkout para pagos desde la aplicación a la web aplica las prácticas recomendadas que se indican en esta guía. Vamos a ello.

Prácticas recomendadas para crear un proceso de compra optimizado basado en la web

Para crear una experiencia de pago en la web para los pagos de tu aplicación, te recomendamos seguir estas prácticas recomendadas.

Redirige el proceso de pago desde la aplicación a la web mediante el cumplimiento de la normativa

• Enlace a un navegador externo: es poco probable que los desarrolladores que intenten usar una WebView en su aplicación pasen la revisión de la App Store de iOS. En su lugar, redirige siempre a un navegador externo para cumplir con la normativa.
  
• Comprueba tu país de distribución: actualmente, las pautas actualizadas de Apple solo se aplican a las aplicaciones descargadas desde el “Storefront de Estados Unidos”. Usa la propiedad “Storefront” de StoreKit para detectar de qué storefront se descargó tu aplicación. Si tu aplicación no está en la tienda de EE. UU., es posible que estas pautas no se apliquen.
  
• Usa una solución prediseñada para garantizar el cumplimiento de las normativas: además de seguir las pautas de Apple, es importante cumplir con las normativas gubernamentales, bancarias y de red aplicables. Entre ellas se incluyen normas de seguridad como PCI, normas de privacidad como el Reglamento General de Protección de Datos (General Data Protection Regulation, RGPD) de la UE y la Ley de Privacidad del Consumidor de California (California Consumer Privacy Act, CCPA), y las divulgaciones exigidas por bancos y emisores de tarjetas de crédito. Tu procesador de pagos externo debería poder orientarte sobre todas ellas.
  

Crea una experiencia de usuario coherente cuando pases de tu aplicación a la web

• Mantén la selección de productos dentro de tu aplicación: permite que los clientes elijan sus productos dentro de tu aplicación y redirígelos a la web solo para el pago. Esto conserva la experiencia familiar dentro de la aplicación y evita enviar a los clientes a un carrito web tradicional, lo que puede afectar la conversión.
  
• Redirige a la web solo en el momento de pago: envía a los clientes a la web únicamente cuando sea hora de pagar. Esto mantiene la coherencia de tu flujo de pago y facilita cualquier prueba que quieras hacer en tu página de confirmación de compra, ya que solo modificarías una parte del flujo.
  
• Conserva la autenticación durante los redireccionamientos: si un cliente ha iniciado sesión en tu aplicación, debe permanecer conectado también en la web. Para una experiencia fluida, usa un servicio de autenticación de terceros (como Sign in with Apple o Firebase Authentication) que genere tokens de corta duración que tu aplicación pueda pasar mediante parámetros de URL. Sin esto, pedir a los clientes que inicien sesión de nuevo en la web genera fricción innecesaria.
  
• Redirige a los clientes de vuelta a tu aplicación automáticamente: usa los enlaces universales para que los clientes regresen a tu aplicación después del pago en la web. Los enlaces universales funcionan mejor en Safari; en Chrome, se abren en el navegador en lugar de redirigir a la aplicación. Si quieres usar enlaces universales en Chrome, asegúrate de que la primera página tras la redirección incluya un botón que lleve a los clientes de vuelta a tu aplicación mediante deep linking. Además, incluye siempre el resultado del pago en el enlace para que tu aplicación muestre la pantalla correcta. Esta doble estrategia, con enlaces universales y deep linking como respaldo, garantiza una redirección fiable.
  
• Asegura la continuidad al redirigir a la web: los clientes pueden sorprenderse cuando tu aplicación abre un navegador en lugar de Apple Pay dentro de la aplicación. Para que comprendan que la redirección es intencionada, agrega un icono o mensaje de redirección en tu aplicación y coloca de forma destacada el logotipo de tu aplicación, el nombre y una imagen del producto en tu página de proceso de compra web.
  

Design best practices: Button layout and checkout design

Moving payments to the web can reduce fees, but conversion depends on how smoothly you guide customers from the app to checkout. This section covers how to design the in-app button that initiates the flow, the preredirect transition screen, and the web checkout page itself, with layouts and principles that reduce friction and protect conversion.

Choosing a button layout

How you present the option to pay on the web depends on your pricing strategy and whether web checkout is the only purchase path or one option alongside in-app purchase. In practice, three layouts tend to work well:

Layout 1: Web checkout as the primary call to action

Best for apps moving entirely to web checkout for US customers. Place a prominent CTA button in your paywall or pricing screen that clearly states the destination and price. Effective button copy includes phrases like: “Subscribe on [yourdomain.com]” or “Get Premium — $7.99/month.” Avoid vague labels like “More options” or “Continue,” which don’t set clear expectations that the customer is leaving the app to complete payment.

Layout 2: Web checkout alongside in-app purchase

Best for apps that want to offer both web checkout and native in-app purchase. You can present web checkout as a secondary option beneath the native IAP button, or give both options equal visual weight if that better fits your pricing strategy. In either case, lead with the customer outcome. Straightforward language like “Buy now” tends to perform better than technical phrasing like “External purchase option.”

Layout 3: Web checkout as an upgrade path

Best for apps that want to offer annual or premium plans on the web while keeping monthly plans available through in-app purchase. Surface annual or discounted plans as the web-based option. This layout often performs well because it anchors the web checkout path to a clear value difference, rather than simply asking customers to choose between two payment methods.

Example layouts:

Web checkout page design

Once the customer is in the browser, the goal is to help them complete the purchase as quickly as possible. Mobile customers are on a smaller screen and in a new context, so the checkout experience should prioritize speed, clarity, and trust. Five principles consistently improve mobile checkout conversion:

• Lead with wallets. On mobile, wallet buttons placed above the card form often outperform form-first layouts. Customers who have just left a native app expect a fast, one-tap checkout experience.
  
• Show your brand. Include your app logo and product visuals at the top of the checkout page. Customers should feel like they are still in your ecosystem, not on a generic payment page.
  
• Prefill what you know. If the customer is authenticated in your app, pass their email address into the checkout session when possible. Removing even one required field can meaningfully improve completion rates.
  
• Keep the purchase summary visible. Make sure the product name, price, and billing cadence are easy to see near the payment form, so customers can quickly confirm what they’re buying.
  
• Make the return path explicit. After a successful payment, automatically redirect customers back to your app.
  

Measuring the funnel: Track click-through rate and conversion rate separately. Click-through rate measures how many customers tap from the paywall to the checkout link, while checkout conversion rate measures how many customers complete payment after the checkout page loads. A low click-through rate typically points to issues with button placement or copy needs work. A low checkout conversion rate typically indicates that the web checkout experience itself needs improvement. These are distinct problems, and they usually require different fixes.

Test which strategies work best for your customers

• Test with new customers first: Start by A/B testing your web-based checkout with new customers, redirecting a portion of them to an external web page while you monitor key business metrics. Once you’re happy with performance, consider prompting existing customers to purchase on the web.
  
• Choose the right payment strategy: With Apple’s updated guidelines, you’re no longer required to offer Apple’s IAP system. Developers have seen success with different strategies:
  
  • Offer both IAP and web checkout: Some developers offer both options, sometimes offering a discount for choosing the web to encourage cost-effective transactions.
    
  • Web-only checkout: Other developers remove IAP entirely and only accept payments through the web for maximum savings on fees.
    
• Plan for existing subscriptions: Apple does not allow exporting of IAP payment data, so you can’t automatically migrate active subscriptions to third-party providers such as Stripe. To transition customers, consider prompting them to resubscribe via your web checkout after their current in-app subscription ends, rather than offering a renewal option in-app.
  

For Android developers, a third, hybrid model is also available: Integrate Stripe’s in-app payment element as the primary payment path, while keeping Google Play Billing as a fallback feature for customers who prefer it. This approach gives Android customers a seamless, native Stripe experience while preserving flexibility during the transition.

When testing, prioritize high-intent cohorts in your initial rollout, such as customers purchasing annual plans, returning customers, and customers who have already started the purchase flow. Web checkout tends to perform most competitively with these groups relative to in-app purchase, and the per-transaction fee savings are often most meaningful to them.

Manage your customer journey post-purchase

• Offer subscription management on the web: If you sell subscriptions, give customers a way to manage them outside the app. A common approach is to show the customer’s current subscription tier in the app and include a button that links to a web-based subscription management portal. Ideally, that portal should allow customers to update their payment method, cancel their subscription, or upgrade to a different plan. This improves the customer experience and also reduces support requests. If you are using Stripe’s in-app payment element directly in your Android app, post-purchase subscription management works more like a traditional web subscription. You can manage the full subscription lifecycle through Stripe Billing and the Stripe customer portal.
  
• Prepare for taxes, disputes, and refunds: When using Apple’s IAP system, Apple is the merchant of record, handling taxes, refunds, and disputes. When you transition to web-based payments, your business becomes the merchant of record and assumes these responsibilities, or you can use a payment provider that also operates as the merchant of record for your business. Look for a payment provider that can manage the following on your behalf:
  
  • Global tax compliance: Calculating, collecting, and remitting the correct taxes across multiple jurisdictions
    
  • Fraud management: Implementing systems to detect and prevent fraudulent transactions
    
  • Dispute resolution: Responding to and managing customer disputes and chargebacks
    
  • Financial liabilities: Taking on legal and financial responsibilities for every transaction
    
  • Customer support: Handling payment-related inquiries and refund requests
    

If your company already manages web payments, you might have these systems in place. If not, consider a solution such as Stripe Managed Payments, which acts as your merchant of record.

How Stripe can help you take advantage of this opportunity

Implementing all these best practices can be daunting, especially if you need to replace the comprehensive infrastructure Apple previously provided. Stripe offers a holistic solution that helps you make the transition to web-based payments quickly and with confidence:

• Stripe Checkout for app-to-web payments: A prebuilt, highly customizable payment page designed for accepting app-to-web payments.
  
• Stripe Managed Payments: Our merchant of record solution uses Link to manage all of the complexity involved in operating as the merchant of record. Stripe handles the behind-the-scenes intricacies—such as global tax compliance, dispute management, fraud prevention, and customer support—for you, maintaining the operational simplicity you’re accustomed to.
  
• Stripe Billing: Manage and bill customers however you want. Stripe supports recurring, usage-based billing and negotiated contracts to automate your revenue management workflows. Stripe also supports online subscription management with a dedicated customer portal.
  

Here’s more detail on each of these solutions.

Stripe Checkout for app-to-web payments

With Checkout, you can create a seamless and trusted checkout experience that feels native to your app while gaining greater flexibility, control, and payment method coverage on the web. Stripe Checkout for app-to-web payments is a prebuilt, highly customizable payment page designed specifically for mobile apps. It helps you implement best practices right away and handles many of the best practices covered in this guide.

Stripe Checkout features a mobile-optimized UI tailored for app customers, along with secure authentication and redirect handling to ensure a smooth flow from your app to the web. It also includes built-in support for promo codes and subscription upgrades, enabling more flexible and conversion-friendly purchasing options.

With support for more than 75 global payment methods—including Apple Pay, Link, and Cash App Pay—Checkout allows you to meet customer preferences across geographies. Returning customers benefit from saved payment methods, which speed up the checkout process and boost repeat conversions.

Stripe Checkout also enables global privacy, security, and network compliance, and it automatically manages cart state, authentication, and redirects. It supports both one-time and subscription billing models, and it comes with a prebuilt billing portal—allowing customers to manage their subscriptions on the web.

All of this is backed by Stripe’s powerful billing and tax engines, giving you global tax compliance and reliable recurring billing that are ready to use. With Checkout, you can start accepting web payments in just a few days—without having to build everything from scratch.

Stripe Managed Payments

Selling digital products such as SaaS, software, content, or downloads through web payments offers more flexibility and control. But it also introduces new responsibilities that were previously handled by Apple, such as tax compliance and customer support.

Stripe Managed Payments is a merchant of record solution that handles these complexities for you, so you can simplify your operations while expanding your reach.

A merchant of record is the legal entity responsible for selling products to customers. When you use Managed Payments, Stripe becomes the merchant of record on your behalf—taking on the key responsibilities associated with digital sales. This includes:

• Global tax compliance (VAT, GST, sales tax), including calculation, collection, and remittance
  
• Fraud prevention and risk management
  
• Dispute and chargeback handling
  
• Customer support and subscription management
  

Stripe Managed Payments supports your customers with a Link-branded customer portal. If your customers use Link, they can view their purchase history, manage payment methods, and update or cancel subscriptions. Additionally, Managed Payments includes transaction-level customer support through Link. By handling these complex tasks, Stripe allows you to retain the operational simplicity provided through in-app purchases, while giving you the flexibility and control of web-based payments.

For businesses that want to offload the operational burden of selling digital products globally, Managed Payments is the fastest path forward. It enables you to go to market quickly without building intricate backend systems, while offering a seamless app-to-web checkout experience. With built-in compliance for global tax regulations, you can focus on growing your business without needing to become your own merchant of record.

Stripe Billing

Now that you can collect payments through an external website, you have the ability to fully control pricing. Stripe Billing allows you to easily customize pricing models such as subscriptions, usage-based, pay-as-you-go, or one-time charges to match your business needs.

If you do not use Managed Payments but are using Billing, your customers can easily manage their subscriptions on the web using Stripe’s customer portal. This portal lets customers self-manage their payment details, view invoices, and update subscriptions—all in one convenient place. If you use Managed Payments, a comprehensive subscription management experience is automatically included as part of the service.

You can also give customers a discounted introductory rate, so they can try your product without paying full price, or you can give subscribers a discount if they upgrade from a monthly plan to an annual one. Stripe Billing also helps you maximize revenue and reduce churn with AI-powered Smart Retries and recovery workflow automations. Stripe recovery tools helped businesses recover $8.2 billion in failed payments in 2025.

Other benefits of using Stripe

Offer a fast checkout with Link

With Link, you can maintain a fast, frictionless payments experience by autofilling customers’ payment information—enabling them to check out in seconds. In fact, customers using Link check out three times faster than non-Link customers.

Reduce processing cost with Instant Bank Payments

In addition to a faster checkout, you can also save on payment processing with Instant Bank Payments through Link. With Instant Bank Payments, your customers can check out with Link and pay with their US bank account in just a few clicks. Payments are then confirmed instantly, and they settle in two business days—just like card payments—with Stripe guaranteeing the risk of bank-initiated returns.

Instantly transfer funds to your bank account or debit card

Access to cash is a challenge for all businesses, but it can be particularly hard for app developers who have to wait at least 30 days to access their earnings. This lack of cash flow can limit your ability to scale your app, making it harder to invest in new marketing campaigns or features. Stripe’s Instant Payouts solves this challenge by allowing you to transfer funds to an eligible debit card or bank account within minutes of a transaction. You can request an instant payout any day or time, including weekends and holidays, and funds typically arrive in the associated bank account within 30 minutes.

For more information about how Stripe can help you create a web-based checkout, read our guide or contact our sales team. To start accepting payments right away, sign up for an account.