In-app purchase or third party payment vendor for app subscription model for a physical device? We are developing an application which allows user to synchronize fitness band data, such as step count and sleep tracker with mobile device. we give the hardware (fitness band) free to users with premium subscriptions.

We also have several other premium features such as expert consultation, goals tracker etc. all this feature are available with premium subscription. We also have plans to sell few fitness products in the future.

My question is, whether apple allows us to integrate third party payment vendor or It is mandatory to stick with In-app purchase. I went through App Store Review Guidelines. and It does not seem clear enough on the policy with respect to our model.

https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#payments

Thank you.
late but may be useful for new people


for unlocking features/content you shall use in-app purchase
for products/consumables (that not implies the previous item) you can use external payments like Stripe
if you want to avoid in-app purchase, you can do the netflix way, give the app without register/guest, just login with an account previously purchased in the web or android device. But for this your app should have a known brand, otherwise no one will go to your web, make a purchase, come back to your app and login.


source: https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#payments