How MAU is counted
Each user is counted once however many times they return or however many devices they use. The definition of active is a choice: opening the app, signing in or playing video. Playback is the strictest and the most meaningful for a streaming service.
Decide whether anonymous visitors count. A free ad-supported service may have many viewers who never create an account; counting them needs device-level rather than account-level measurement.
MAU vs subscribers
Subscribers are people who pay. MAU is people who use the service. The two differ in both directions: a free tier adds active users who are not subscribers, and some subscribers pay without watching in a given month.
The share of subscribers who are active each month is an early warning. Subscribers who stop watching usually cancel within a few months.
Why MAU matters for platform pricing
Many platforms size their plans by monthly active users, because that figure drives load on sign-in, catalog and playback systems. When comparing vendors, check how each defines an active user and what happens when you exceed the allowance.
- DAU: daily active users, the same count over a single day
- DAU/MAU ratio: how habitual use is; a higher ratio means viewers return on more days
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