Chrome Web Store permanently disabled paid extensions

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The Chrome Web Store has been launched for 11 years. For the safety of users, in March of this year, Google announced the temporary ban on new paid extensions. But now, this ban has become permanent.

Google stated that starting September 21, 2020, you will no longer be able to create new paid extensions or in-app payment extensions. This change, effective from March 2020, is now in effect permanently.

  • March 27, 2020 Publishing of paid items temporarily disabled.
  • September 21, 2020 You can no longer create new paid extensions or in-app items. This change, in effect since March 2020, is now permanent.
  • December 1, 2020 Free trials are disabled. The “Try Now” button in CWS will no longer be visible, and in-app free trials requests will result in an error.
  • Feb 1, 2021 Your existing items and in-app purchases can no longer charge money with Chrome Web Store payments. You can still query license information for previously paid purchases and subscriptions. (The licensing API will accurately reflect the status of active subscriptions, but these subscriptions won’t auto-renew.)
  • At some future time The licensing API will no longer allow you to determine license status for your users.

After disabling payment, developers can still use the licensing API to determine whether the user is currently licensed. However, this will also be closed at some point, so it is recommended to start migrating license tracking now.

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