ARPU Calculator
Calculate average revenue per user — and see how ARPU differs from ARPPU.
ARPU
$0.400
ARPPU
$13.33
Average revenue per paying user.
Paying share of actives
3.00%
ARPU (average revenue per user) is the density of your monetization: total revenue in a period divided by the users active in that period. It is the number that connects audience size to income — double ARPU and you double revenue without acquiring a single new user. This calculator computes ARPU from revenue and active users, and ARPPU if you also enter your paying-user count.
The ARPU/ARPPU distinction matters more in apps than almost anywhere else, because most app users pay nothing. An app with $50,000 monthly revenue, 100,000 active users, and 2,000 payers has a $0.50 ARPU but a $25 ARPPU — two very different stories about the same business.
How to calculate ARPU
- 1
Enter total revenue for the period — monthly is the standard convention (net of store commission for a realistic figure).
- 2
Enter the number of active users in the same period (MAU for monthly ARPU).
- 3
Optionally enter paying users to also get ARPPU (revenue ÷ payers) and your paying-user share.
- 4
Track the result monthly: rising ARPU means monetization is deepening; falling ARPU during user growth usually just means new users haven’t started paying yet.
ARPU vs ARPPU — same revenue, different lens
ARPU = revenue ÷ all active users; ARPPU = revenue ÷ paying users. The two are linked by your paying share: ARPU = ARPPU × (payers ÷ actives). Since typical freemium apps convert only 1–5% of users to paying, ARPPU routinely runs 20–100× ARPU. Each answers a different question: ARPU tells you what an average install is worth (crucial for UA bidding), while ARPPU tells you how much value each customer delivers (crucial for pricing and offer design).
The linkage also diagnoses growth problems. If revenue stalls, decompose it: flat ARPPU with a falling paying share means your conversion funnel weakened; flat paying share with falling ARPPU means customers are downgrading or big spenders churned. Watching ARPU alone hides which lever broke.
Reading and benchmarking your ARPU
ARPU varies wildly by category and geography, so cross-app comparisons mislead more than they inform. Ad-monetized casual games often live in the $0.05–0.30 monthly ARPU range, freemium subscription apps in the $0.50–3 range, and B2B or professional tools far higher. Geography can swing it 10× — the same app typically earns several times more per US user than per user in emerging markets — so a shifting country mix will move ARPU with no product change at all.
The most useful benchmark is your own trend, segmented. Compute ARPU by cohort month, by platform, and by acquisition channel: paid cohorts with an ARPU below their CPI-implied requirement are unprofitable no matter how the blended number looks. And remember ARPU denominates on actives — a purge of dormant accounts will “raise” ARPU without a single extra dollar earned.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate ARPU?
ARPU = total revenue in a period ÷ active users in the same period. Monthly ARPU with MAU as the denominator is the standard convention for apps. Use net revenue (after the app store’s 15–30% commission) if you want a figure that reflects actual proceeds.
What is the difference between ARPU and ARPPU?
ARPU divides revenue by all active users; ARPPU divides it by paying users only. With freemium conversion typically at 1–5%, ARPPU is often 20–100× larger. ARPU drives UA bid math; ARPPU drives pricing and offer strategy.
What is a good ARPU for a mobile app?
It is heavily category-dependent: ad-supported casual games often see $0.05–0.30 per month, freemium subscription apps $0.50–3, and niche professional tools well above that. Geography matters as much as category — US and Japanese users typically monetize several times higher than emerging-market users. Benchmark against your own trend, not other apps.
Should ARPU use downloads or active users as the denominator?
Active users. Revenue per download is a different (also useful) metric, usually called revenue per install, and it’s what you compare against CPI. ARPU over MAU measures ongoing monetization of your live audience and is the input to LTV formulas.
Why did my ARPU drop while revenue grew?
Almost always denominator growth: a wave of new users who haven’t monetized yet dilutes ARPU even as absolute revenue rises. Check cohort-level ARPU — if each cohort monetizes like previous ones did at the same age, the drop is healthy dilution, not a monetization problem.
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