Which locations cannot register as a Google Play merchant?
Google’s Play Console Help page “Supported locations for developer and merchant registration” has one column for developer registration and one for merchant registration. Five locations have a ✔ for developers and a ✘ for merchants. Their neighbours Albania, N. Macedonia and Serbia have both.
| Location (Google’s label) | Developer registration | Merchant registration | Currency |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | ✔ | ✘ | ☆ |
| Montenegro | ✔ | ✘ | ☆ |
| Kosovo | ✔ | ✘ | ☆ |
| Georgia | ✔ | ✘ | ☆ |
| Nepal | ✔ | ✘ | ☆ |
| Albania | ✔ | ✔ | USD |
| North Macedonia | ✔ | ✔ | USD |
| Serbia | ✔ | ✔ | USD |
Source: Play Console Help, supported locations, no date shown on the page, read 13 Nov 2026. The same page says: “If your location supports merchant registration, Google Play customers must be in a supported location to purchase apps.”
A ✘ in the merchant column means you can publish free apps, but Google Play will not be the merchant for your paid apps, in-app purchases or subscriptions. The table changes over time, so check it again before you plan anything.
What are my options without a Google Play merchant account?
| Route | Who decides | What you need | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Play billing | Google, by the location in your merchant registration | A location with ✔ in the merchant column | Not open to you if your location has ✘ |
| Free app, no paid plan | You | Nothing extra | Your app is listed, but you earn nothing from it in the app |
| Paid plan on your website, consumption-only app | You set the price; AgentaOS is the seller of each web sale | A website, user login, a checkout and a webhook | The app must not link to the checkout or invite users to buy outside the app |
| Company in a merchant location | Google, plus that country’s company rules | A real business in that country | Only honest if your business is actually there; it brings company upkeep |
Google also has regional programs (EEA, US and others) that change what developers may do inside the app in those regions. They are described in Google’s Payments policy page. Read the Payments policy yourself, this is not legal advice.
What does Google allow for apps sold on the web?
Google’s “Understanding Google Play’s Payments policy” page answers the question “Can I offer a consumption-only (reader) app on Google Play?” like this:
“Yes. Google Play allows any app to be consumption-only, even if it is part of a paid service. For example, a user could log in when the app opens and access content paid for somewhere else. Remember, consumption-only means that any product(s) or service(s), whether digital or physical, cannot be purchased from within the app.”
The same page limits what the app may say about paying elsewhere:
“Within an app, developers may not lead users to a payment method other than Google Play’s billing system unless Section 3, 8, or 9 of Payments policy applies. This includes directly linking to a webpage that could lead to an alternate payment method or using language that encourages a user to purchase the digital item outside of the app.”
Outside the app you have more room. Google says: “Outside of your app, you are free to communicate with your users about alternative purchase options. You can use email marketing and other channels outside of the app to provide subscription offers and even special pricing.”
So the split is simple. Your website sells. Your emails and your other channels tell people about the website. Your app only lets signed-in users use what they bought.
How do I sell a paid plan for my Android app, step by step?
- Check Google’s table for your location. Open the supported locations page. If your location now has a ✔ in the merchant column, Google Play billing is the simple route and you can stop here.
- Build a pricing page on your website. Put your plans, prices and what each plan unlocks on a page of your own site, with a sign up or log in step. This page is where all selling happens. Nothing in the app points to it.
- Create your plan in AgentaOS and a checkout per user. Make a free account, use test mode first and create the product (monthly, yearly or one-time). When a signed-in user clicks Subscribe on your website, your backend creates a checkout for that user with the user’s id in
metadataand sends them to the returned checkout URL (paywall demo). - Let a webhook set the plan on the user’s account. Your backend receives the AgentaOS webhook, verifies the
X-AgentaOS-Signatureheader on the raw request body, and oncheckout.session.completedsets the plan on the user inmetadata. Onsubscription.canceledit sets the plan back to free (webhooks docs, event reference). - Make the app read the plan after login. The user logs in to the app with the same account. The app asks your backend for the user’s plan and unlocks the paid features. Users must not be able to change their plan field themselves.
- Keep the app free of buy buttons, prices and checkout links. No Subscribe button, no price list, no link to your pricing page or checkout, and no text such as “Subscribe on our website”. A user without a plan sees the free version. Links to an account page, privacy policy or help center must not lead on to the checkout either.
- Tell users about your plans outside the app, then go live. Use email, your website and your other channels, as Google’s page allows. Test the full loop in test mode first: pay with a test card, log in to the app, check the paid features turn on, cancel and check they turn off. Then switch to your live key.
The FlutterFlow guide and the Lovable guide show the same checkout and webhook pieces with code. For plan design, see sell subscriptions without Stripe.
This page covers Google Play only. Apple’s App Store has its own rules for apps that sell outside the store, and they are not covered here.
What should I check before I ship? A checklist
- ✓Your location checked on Google’s supported locations table, with the date you read it
- ✓Google’s Payments policy page read by you, including any regional program that applies to you
- ✓A pricing page on your website, with sign up and log in
- ✓One user account that works on the website and in the app
- ✓A checkout created per user with their id in
metadata, not one shared link - ✓Webhook signature verified on the raw body
- ✓A plan field on each user that only your backend can change
- ✓Cancellations move the user back to the free plan
- ✓No buy buttons, prices, checkout links or “buy on our website” text inside the app
- ✓Account, privacy and help links in the app that do not lead on to the checkout
- ✓An email list or other channel outside the app to tell users about your plans
- ✓What you sell is software, a subscription or a digital product, not physical goods or custom work for one client
- ✓A bank account in your name that takes EUR or USD
- ✓Room for the 15% reserve held on each sale for 120 days on new accounts
When is this the wrong choice?
- Putting a “Subscribe on our website” link in the app.Google’s page says the app may not link “to a webpage that could lead to an alternate payment method” or use “language that encourages a user to purchase the digital item outside of the app.” Keep that message in email and on your site.
- Using someone else’s merchant account.If a friend abroad registers for you, the account, the app’s earnings and the tax are in their name, not yours, and you depend on them for every payout.
- Expecting approval to be guaranteed.AgentaOS checks each seller and what they sell when they apply. Nobody can promise either outcome, and anyone who does is guessing.
- Selling physical goods or custom work.AgentaOS does not sell anything shipped or work made for one client (Terms).
- Selling only inside the app.If your users only ever open the app and you have no website or email list, a consumption-only app leaves them no allowed way to hear about your plans.
Where does AgentaOS fit?
If Google Play cannot be your merchant and your app sells a subscription, software or a digital product, AgentaOS can be the official seller of the plan on your website. The buyer pays by card on the AgentaOS checkout, AgentaOS handles the buyer’s VAT and invoice, and you get paid to your own bank in EUR or USD, twice a month. AgentaOS pays out in 86 countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. You can start as an individual, with no company abroad. It costs 4.5% + 50 cents per sale, no monthly subscription (pricing). Your app keeps the login and the paid features; the selling stays on the web.
Related questions
Can I sell a paid Android app from Bosnia and Herzegovina?
Not through Google Play billing today. Google’s table, read 13 Nov 2026, shows ✔ for developer registration and ✘ for merchant registration. You can publish a free, consumption-only app and sell the plan on your own website.
Is a consumption-only app allowed on Google Play?
Yes. Google’s Payments policy page says “Google Play allows any app to be consumption-only, even if it is part of a paid service.” Users log in and use what they paid for elsewhere. Nothing can be bought inside the app.
Can I tell users about my website prices?
Outside the app, yes: Google says you can use “email marketing and other channels outside of the app.” Inside the app, no link to the checkout and no wording that encourages buying outside the app. Read the policy yourself, this is not legal advice.
When will Google add Montenegro as a merchant location?
Google’s page gives no date. The table shows no dates at all, so check it again from time to time. Until it changes, the web plan with a consumption-only app is the route that follows Google’s published policy.
What does AgentaOS charge?
4.5% + 50 cents per sale, no monthly subscription, as listed on our pricing page.
Related
Sources: Play Console Help, Supported locations for developer and merchant registration (read 13 Nov 2026) · Play Console Help, Understanding Google Play’s Payments policy (read 13 Nov 2026) · AgentaOS paywall demo · AgentaOS webhooks · AgentaOS webhook events · AgentaOS Terms · AgentaOS pricing · AgentaOS facts
General information, not financial, tax or legal advice. Ask a local accountant about your own registration.