Record #002 · Regional pricing
One subscription.
Five landing prices.
The same plan, sold in five markets, differs by more than a currency symbol. Here is exactly which variables move it — and which ones are marketing rather than economics.
Strip out the currency and the promotional layer, and the largest single driver of price difference is tax — which ranges from 0% in Hong Kong to 20% in the United Kingdom on the identical pre-tax subscription.
Regional pricing is usually described as a mystery, or as an insult. It is neither. Most of the gap between what a subscriber pays in Seoul and what a subscriber pays in London comes down to four measurable variables, and only one of them is discretionary.
| Market | Currency | VAT / sales tax | Tax on a $100 pre-tax plan | Record status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | USD | 0–10% state-dependent | $0–$10 | Baseline recorded |
| United Kingdom | GBP | 20% | $20 | In progress |
| Germany | EUR | 19% | $19 | In progress |
| South Korea | KRW | 10% | $10 | In progress |
| Hong Kong | HKD | 0% | $0 | In progress |
Pre-tax benchmark of $100 is illustrative, used to isolate the tax variable. Record status reflects our own verification progress, not the provider's.
The four variables
1. Tax, applied after the price you were shown. This is the big one, and the most frequently omitted. A displayed price in US advertising is habitually pre-tax; the same style of page in Germany or the UK typically shows a VAT-inclusive figure because the law requires it. That single difference makes a US plan look cheaper than it is and a German plan look more expensive than it is — before you even reach the currency.
2. Currency, and where the rounding happens. Prices are set per market, not converted at checkout. The result is that a plan can be genuinely cheaper in one country and more expensive in another, and the difference is not proportional to the exchange rate. This is normal commercial practice, not a scam — but it means any cross-border comparison has to be done in the local currency, not by converting the dollar figure.
3. Purchasing power, applied quietly. Providers price to what a market will bear. A two-year plan in a high-income market and the same plan in a lower-income market are not the same number, and the lower one is usually not advertised outside that market.
4. Channel, which is the only one you control. Buying through an app store adds a platform commission that the provider passes on. It also removes you from the standard refund path. The difference between the direct price and the in-app price is the only part of this list that changes based on a decision you make at checkout.
the five markets
has no VAT
the landing price
actually control
One extra variable in the US
Beyond tax and exchange rate, the United States has a variable worth naming: sales tax is added at checkout and never appears in the advertised price. The figure on the landing page is pre-tax by convention, not by concealment.
It matters for comparison because two providers can quote the same $3.49 and bill different totals to the same address, depending on how they register in that state. Wherever we can reach it, we record the checkout total rather than the headline.
So the table separates the advertised rate, the tax line and the amount actually charged. A number that only exists before tax is not the number you pay.
What this record will contain
The finished version of this page will hold the recorded checkout total for one identical plan in all five markets, in local currency, with the tax line separated out. It is not finished, and we are not going to fill the gaps with converted estimates.
Two markets are straightforward to record: prices are published and tax is stated. Three require a checkout session in the local currency, which is slower and has to be repeated when promotions change. Until each one is confirmed, the row stays marked.
Sources
- Published VAT and indirect tax rates for the United Kingdom, Germany, South Korea and Hong Kong, as in force November 2026.
- US state and local sales tax variability, applied to digital services in a subset of states.
- Provider pricing pages for each market, read 05 Nov 2026. Local-currency checkout totals pending.
- App-store commission structures as published by the respective platforms.
Current price · verified 05 Nov 2026
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