What is average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU)?

Average revenue per daily active user (ARPDAU) is a KPI that tells you how much revenue each active user, on average, is spending a day on your app.

ARPDAU calculation: ARPDAU = The day’s revenue ÷ number of active users that day

ARPDAU is useful in showing you how effective your monetization strategies actually are in generating revenue on a given day. It’s a powerful KPI because it can:

• Calculate revenue from multiple platforms and channels like in-app purchases, ads, and subscriptions
• Measure whether changes to the app impact monetization
• Give a real-time overview of how revenue fluctuates after changes
• Provide quick insights to help you pivot your strategy quickly when needed

ARPDAU does have its limitations, however, and should not be used as your only measurement of monetization. It only considers daily active users, so one user missing one day of use on your app can quickly skew the average daily revenue. Plus, it can be quite volatile in terms of timing (day of week, holidays throughout the year) and external advertising campaigns.

Ultimately, ARPDAU is more valuable as a short-term metric. Longer-term, you’ll get a more accurate picture of your monetization by using LTV and ARPU.

Adjust does the calculation for you so you can spend more time focusing on perfecting your monetization strategy. Under the cohorts section of the Adjust dashboard you can view ARPDAU by ad, IAP, or overall.

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