--- title: "What Is ARPPU? Average Revenue per Paying User Explained" description: "ARPPU is revenue divided by the users who actually paid in a period. See the formula, how it differs from ARPU and when each one is the right measure." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/arppu" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/arppu.md" category: "Metrics" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is ARPPU? ARPPU (average revenue per paying user) is the revenue a service earns in a period divided by the number of users who made at least one payment in that period. Unlike ARPU, it leaves out everyone who used the service for free. ## How to calculate ARPPU Divide the period's revenue from paying users by the number of paying users. If 2,000 payers spent $18,000 in a month, ARPPU is $9. ## ARPPU vs ARPU ARPU divides by all active users. If those 2,000 payers were part of 20,000 active users, ARPU is $0.90 while ARPPU is $9. The gap between the two is the paying share: here, 10%. ARPPU tells you how much a customer spends once they decide to pay. ARPU tells you what the whole audience is worth. A service can raise ARPU either by raising ARPPU or by converting more free users into payers. ## Where ARPPU is most useful In coin-based apps the average hides a wide spread: a small group of heavy spenders usually accounts for a large part of revenue. Look at the distribution as well as the mean. - Freemium services, where most users never pay - Coin-based apps, where spending varies enormously between payers - Transactional services, to see how many rentals or purchases a buyer makes - Comparing tiers and regions on spending per customer ## ARPPU on RentAnOTT RentAnOTT analytics report revenue from subscriptions, transactions and ads on every plan. The revenue calculator compares SVOD, AVOD, TVOD and hybrid income for the same audience. [Try the revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator). ## Related terms - [ARPU](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/arpu) — ARPU (average revenue per user) is a service's total revenue in a period divided by the number of users in that period. It shows how much each user is worth on average, across subscriptions, advertising and one-time sales. - [LTV](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/ltv) — LTV (customer lifetime value) is the total revenue, or margin, a service expects to earn from one subscriber over the whole time they stay. It tells you how much you can afford to spend to acquire a customer. - [MRR](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/mrr) — MRR (monthly recurring revenue) is the subscription income a service can expect every month from its active subscribers, with all plans normalized to a monthly amount. It excludes one-time sales and other irregular income. - [Freemium streaming](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/freemium) — Freemium streaming is a model in which a service offers part of its catalog or features for free, with or without ads, and charges a subscription for the full experience. The free tier exists to bring viewers in; the paid tier is where most revenue comes from. - [Coins and virtual currency](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/virtual-currency) — Coins, or virtual currency, are units of in-app credit that viewers buy in packs with real money and then spend inside a streaming app, most often to unlock individual episodes of a short-form series. - [Episode unlock](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/episode-unlock) — Episode unlock is a pay-per-episode model in which the first episodes of a series are free and each later episode is unlocked individually, usually with in-app coins, by watching an ad or with a pass. - [Trial conversion rate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/trial-conversion-rate) — Trial conversion rate is the percentage of people who start a free trial and go on to make their first payment. It measures how well a trial turns interest into paying subscribers. - [MAU](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/mau) — MAU (monthly active users) is the number of unique users who were active on a service at least once during a month. On a streaming service, active usually means signing in or starting playback. ## Further reading - [Microdrama and short-form streaming platforms](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/microdrama-short-form-streaming-platforms) - [OTT subscription plans and tiers](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/ott-subscription-plans) - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features) ## Frequently asked questions ### What does ARPPU stand for? ARPPU stands for average revenue per paying user. ### Does ARPPU include advertising revenue? Normally not. Ad revenue comes from all viewers, paying or not, so it is counted in ARPU. ARPPU covers what payers spent directly. ### Is ARPPU the same as the subscription price? Only if every payer is on one plan and buys nothing else. Tier mix, discounts, annual plans and one-time purchases all move it away from the list price. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt