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Google Play adding Usage-Based Billing subscriptions aimed at AI apps

Google Play is adding Usage-Based Billing, a prepaid metered billing option that automatically tops up a user's balance when it falls below a set threshold, aimed at generative AI apps and other usage-based services, Google announced. The Android developer blog post also introduced Multi-Quantity Subscription Purchase for businesses and schools, Mixed Carts for selling auto-renewing subscriptions alongside one-time products, and Cross-Developer Bundling for selling two or more complementary subscriptions as a discounted hard bundle. Google said the features are currently available or rolling out through its Early Access Program.

by read1 min views1 publishedSep 29, 2026
Google Play adding Usage-Based Billing subscriptions aimed at AI apps
Image: 9To5Google (auto-discovered)

Google Play today is giving Android developers more payment options around subscriptions, including Usage-Based Billing.

Google says the “subscription landscape is evolving rapidly” due to generative AI and “increasingly sophisticated app experiences.”

End users should be on the lookout for Usage-Based Billing to support generative AI apps and other usage-based services. This “prepaid metered billing” works by letting users “automatically top up their balance whenever it falls below a set threshold.”

For large groups like businesses and schools, there’s Multi-Quantity Subscription Purchase. Organizations can “make multiple subscription purchases in a single transaction and easily assign those as seats or subscriptions to team members or students.” Mixed Carts allow developers to sell auto-renewing subscriptions and one-time products at the same time. For example:

This unified experience also opens up powerful upsell opportunities for your business—such as offering targeted discounts if an end user purchases a complete bundle of a subscription and complementary in-app items together.

Cross-Developer Bundling lets developers “create and sell a hard bundle of two or more complementary subscriptions in your own catalog.” The example Google gives is bundling a language-learning app with a travel guide service for a “combined subscription at a discounted rate.”

This capability allows you to team up with other developers—or combine offerings across your own portfolio of apps—to deliver massive value through a single purchase.

These Play Store features are “currently available or rolling out through [Google’s] Early Access Program.”

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