Garmin Connect IQ Store paid apps vs your own payments

Garmin's Connect IQ Store sells paid apps and watch faces through Garmin Pay for 15% of the price before tax, plus $100 a year, and Garmin pays the card fees and adds the sales tax. Selling with your own payments through WearCheckout costs a yearly plan from $9 plus your processor's card fees, and reaches watches and countries Garmin's program leaves out. Garmin's store is the least work. Your own payments usually cost less, and add trials and subscriptions.

How much does Garmin take from a sale?

Garmin takes 15% of the price before tax, and charges a $100 program fee every year. Garmin adds sales tax on top of your price and pays the card fees. Digital service taxes, where they apply, and the cost of converting to your payout currency come out of your payouts.

Checked 23 October 2026, on each company's own pages (see Sources).

15% of $2.99 is $0.45, and 15% of $4.99 is $0.75. With WearCheckout you pay your processor's card fee. We use Stripe's US rate, 2.9% + 30¢: $0.09 + $0.30 = $0.39, and $0.14 + $0.30 = $0.44. The examples assume a US buyer paying by card, before sales tax. Garmin's $100 and WearCheckout's plan are yearly, so they are in the next section.

Garmin works out its 15% on its own price points. In the US store, $2.99 and $4.99 are its $3.00 and $5.00 points, so Garmin's own figures can differ by about a cent a sale.

At low prices the gap is small. On a $2.99 sale, Stripe's $0.39 is close to Garmin's $0.45.

What does a year of sales cost?

At 1,000 sales of $4.99, Garmin costs $850 and WearCheckout costs $528.80.

• Garmin: 1,000 × $0.75 = $750, plus $100, is $850. You keep $4,140.
• WearCheckout, Starter plan: Stripe takes 1,000 × $0.44 = $440. The plan is $9 and includes $1,000 of sales. 2% of the other $3,990 is $79.80. In all, $528.80. You keep $4,461.20.

At 100 sales of $4.99, Garmin costs $75 + $100 = $175, and WearCheckout costs $44 + $9 = $53. See the home page's fee comparison for more.

What does Garmin's store do better?

• It is built into the store. Buyers pay with Garmin Pay where they already find your app.
• No payment code. You pick a price from a list when you upload the app.
• Garmin handles the money. It adds the sales tax and pays the card fees, so you set up no processor.
• A path for past buyers. If you move to Garmin's system, you can ask Garmin for one-time promotion codes, so earlier buyers don't pay twice. You hand the codes out yourself.

What are the limits of Garmin's store?

These come from Garmin's own monetization pages.

• Countries. Only developers in 37 countries and territories can join: the US, Canada, Australia, Singapore, the UK, Switzerland, Norway and most of the EU. Japan, India, Brazil and Nigeria are not on the list.
• Watches. Paid apps are offered only on the models Garmin lists, from API level 3.4. The Forerunner 55, 245 and 945 and the vívoactive 4 are not on it. WearCheckout works on every watch on Connect IQ 3.0 or newer, 127 models.
• Prices. Garmin's lowest price point is $2.00, shown as $1.99 in the US store. WearCheckout's lowest price is $0.99.
• Trials and subscriptions. Garmin's pages describe neither. WearCheckout has trials of up to 30 days, subscriptions, passes and offers.
• Refunds and payouts. Buyers have a 48-hour return window, and Garmin takes their money only after it. Payouts come monthly from a $10 balance. Sales from a month's last five days can wait one more month.
• Reviews. Setting a price on an approved app takes it out of the store until Garmin reviews it again.

What do you take on with your own payments?

You become the seller, so a few jobs move from Garmin to you.

• You need your own Stripe, PayPal, Polar, Razorpay or Paystack account. Buyers pay into it directly.
• Sales tax, VAT, refunds and buyer support are yours. Your processor may offer tax tools.
• Before an app takes live payments, you complete Garmin's trader verification and mark the store listing as needing payment.
• You pay your processor's card fees. Garmin's 15% includes them.

WearCheckout is not affiliated with Garmin. See the plans or the FAQ.

Sources

Competitor facts come from each company's own pages, checked on 23 October 2026. Where a page didn't say something, we left it out.

• Garmin: App Sales (15% split, sales tax, card fees, payouts, the 48-hour return window, supported watches)
• Garmin: Merchant Onboarding (developer countries, the $100 yearly program fee)
• Garmin: Price Points (from $2.00; $2.99 and $4.99 in the US store)
• Garmin: premium app purchases in the Connect IQ Store, 7 August 2024
• Stripe: US pricing (2.9% + 30¢ per domestic card payment)
• WearCheckout: plans and fees
• WearCheckout: terms of service (you are the seller, taxes, moving from another service)