Apple waives AI cloud fees for small app developers

Apple moved to lower one of the biggest barriers to AI development for smaller app makers, saying developers in its App Store Small Business Program with fewer than 2 million total first-time App Store downloads can use the next generation of Apple Foundation Models on Private Cloud Compute at no cloud API cost.

The announcement, made at WWDC26 in Cupertino, California, was framed as part of Apple’s push to make apps faster, more adaptive, and easier to build. Apple said the Foundation Models framework is designed to make large language model development more accessible for developers just getting started with AI, and that the tools can be used with as few as three lines of code.

The waiver lands inside a program Apple already uses to court smaller businesses. The App Store Small Business Program cuts commission to 15% for qualifying developers with up to $1 million in annual proceeds, and Apple says the vast majority of developers selling digital goods and services are eligible. Apple also said the App Store ecosystem facilitated more than $1.4 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2025, with more than 90% of that revenue not paying commission to Apple.

Apple is trying to turn that scale into an AI advantage. The company said apps with consumer-facing AI capabilities saw 4x more growth in billings in 2025, and that the App Store reached more than 850 million average weekly users across 175 countries and regions. For smaller developers, the combination of distribution, a reduced commission structure and free access to Apple’s own AI cloud layer could narrow some of the cost gap with larger, better-funded rivals.

Private Cloud Compute is central to the pitch. Apple has said the system is designed so personal user data sent to it is not accessible to anyone other than the user, not even Apple, a privacy claim that may matter as more app features shift from on-device software to cloud-backed AI. At WWDC26, Apple also said developers can use its AI frameworks alongside models from other providers such as Claude and Gemini, positioning the company both as a low-cost AI platform and as a gateway to outside models.

Apple’s developer conference runs June 8-12, 2026, with more than 100 video sessions and in-person attendance for more than 1,000 developers, designers and students at Apple Park. The question now is whether waiving AI cloud fees is enough to change who can build on Apple’s platforms, or whether the biggest AI app builders will keep the edge that money, staff and compute still buy.