Revenue per user

What is revenue per user?

Average revenue per user (ARPU) is an app metric that calculates revenue from an app’s users. ARPU is calculated by dividing total revenue by the app’s active users.

A high revenue per user is an indication of success for a company, and can be used to compare performance against competitors, better evaluate the quality of your user acquisition channels, segment your users based on profitability, and more accurate forecasting.

Mobile ARPU

ARPU is one of the most useful metrics for mobile analytics and is a great way to measure and optimize app monetization and marketing. ARPU in mobile monetization allows you to track revenue from in-app advertising and in-app purchases, while beginning to understand overall value and the quality of your app’s experience.

ARPU in mobile marketing is also a valuable way to analyze the quality of your marketing channels. For instance, if users acquired through ironSource’s Aura have a high ARPU, you may want to reallocate your budget to spend more on that channel and take away budget from channels with a low ARPU. Ultimately, you will get more for your spend.

Ad revenue per user

As app developers focus on in-app ads in their monetization strategies, including ads in ARPU calculations is becoming a more valuable way to track the full picture of a user’s value - rather than simply relying on in-app purchases. Seeing the real value of each user can provide developers with new insights for monetization and user acquisition.