Skip to main content
For digital features or content sold inside a store-distributed app, standard App Store and Google Play billing is the usual payment path. Physical goods and real-world services use a separate payment provider.
Exceptions, external links, alternative billing programs, and fees depend on the storefront, app category, and developer terms. Check Apple’s App Review Guidelines and Google Play’s Payments policy for your release. Connecting Bilt Payments does not enroll you in an alternative billing program.

​
What Bilt Payments supports

Payments maps native store purchase options to stable benefits such as pro. A benefit can be granted by more than one store or subscription plan; your screens check the benefit instead of a native product ID. For Google Play, the initial supported scope is:
  • Monthly and annual auto-renewing subscriptions, with an exact active base plan and optional supported subscription offer.
  • One-time permanent buy options at quantity one, mapped to a benefit you explicitly confirm is permanent.
Consumables or credit balances, prepaid/installment plans, rentals, preorders, multi-quantity purchases, and offer-only one-time options are outside this scope. Create draft products in Bilt or create them directly in Play Console. Finish regional pricing and activation in Play Console, then import the exact supported selections in Bilt. Retiring an option stops new sales while preserving its historical benefit mapping. Android projects can connect Google Play without an Apple account. App Store setup and product authoring remain separate. The backend must report Google checkout ready for the registered package before the generator includes Google sales; a prepared catalog alone is insufficient.

​
Build a clear paywall

Show what the user receives, the selected store price, and all subscription terms before purchase. Include the initial/trial period, recurring price and billing period, automatic renewal, cancellation guidance, and links to your terms and privacy policy. An annual plan should clearly explain the annual charge. Show only configured options that the native store currently offers to this user. Eligibility and pricing can change; update the displayed terms before retrying a purchase. Do not substitute a different base plan or offer merely because it is first in the store response. Provide Restore purchases and Manage subscriptions where appropriate. Android management opens Google Play for the connected package and subscription product; Apple uses its native subscription management flow. If your app creates accounts, implement the applicable account-deletion requirements and explain that deleting an app account is separate from canceling a store subscription.

​
Verification and Google acknowledgement

Bilt verifies purchase evidence against the store on the backend and projects benefits from that verified state. The native purchase callback is not proof that a benefit is active. Google acknowledgement belongs to the backend after durable delivery. A completed purchase must be acknowledged within Google’s production deadline to avoid an automatic refund; the clock begins when a pending payment becomes purchased. Pending payment grants no access and must not be acknowledged. See Google’s purchase processing guide. A cancellation can leave access until expiry. Grace period, hold, pause, expiry, and revocation require different access decisions. Subscription notifications and permanent-purchase refund reconciliation update the backend; the app should refresh its benefits rather than infer them from an order label.

​
Test the release, not just the preview

Mock previews let you test the paywall and benefit-gated screens without charging anyone. They cannot validate native store behavior. Before releasing Google payments, use a native Play test-track build and license testers. Verify purchases, pending approval/cancellation, server acknowledgement, restart recovery, restore, account switching, subscription lifecycle, and revoked permanent access. Test subscription offers with the account that is eligible for them. Follow Google’s testing guide; tester timelines differ from production. For Apple, use native StoreKit testing and verify restore and subscription lifecycle as well. Expo Go cannot run the in-app purchase module.

​
Further reading