Android apps can soon charge you by usage—here's how it works

Credit: Joe Fedewa / How-To Geek Published Sep 29, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT Jon is a seasoned journalist who has written definitive coverage of consumer tech at publications like Engadget, Android Authority, and BetaKit. He's an expert on making tech accessible ranging from mobile and PCs to emerging platforms like wearables. When he's not writing, he's going on adventures with ihis family and is an avid photographer. Sign in to your How-To Geek account Android apps will soon get to charge you based on how often you need them. Google is rolling out usage-based billing in the Play Store, letting developers meter your access to services. Instead of a conventional subscription, the new approach sets up a prepaid balance. You can have that balance automatically top up when it falls below a certain amount, so you're never at risk of running out as long as you have the money. Google pitches this as a way to pay for generative AI features that frequently rely on paid credits. While it's not necessarily going to use this system, Adobe Firefly is an example: you pay based on what you're creating, such as 100 credits for making a 1080p video. However, this could also be useful in any situation where you only want to pay for what you need. You could use it for a prepaid mass transit service when you don't travel enough to justify a monthly pass. This could lead to app producers gating features behind usage-based billing, but it also allows for more flexibility. Other Play Store improvements: Multi-developer bundles and more One-stop Android app shopping is that much easier Google is also offering a few tools that could save you time and money when shopping for Android apps. Most notably, developers can bundle subscriptions from different developers at a discount. You could buy a collection of games from multiple studios, or get a suite of productivity tools that complement each other. You can also put both subscriptions and one-time purchases in your cart, while business and classrooms can buy multiple subscriptions at once. All of the new Play Store features are currently available in the Early Access Program reserved for "select" developers, Google says. It will be a while before you see app makers embrace the changes, but don't be surprised if usage-based billing becomes commonplace in the near future.