SaaS metrics

What is ARPU (Average Revenue Per User)?

ARPU is how much, on average, each active user pays per month or year — useful for products with many plans.

ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) divides total revenue by active users. Unlike ACV, which is per contract, ARPU averages by individual user — the natural metric for SaaS with per-seat or freemium pricing.

Raising ARPU is the lowest-risk monetization lever (vs acquisition): pricing, upsell and cross-sell move the number directly without affecting churn.

Formula

ARPU = receita do período ÷ usuários ativos no período

Use it in practice

SaaS Simulator

Frequently asked questions

Is ARPU the same as ACV?
No. ARPU is per user; ACV is per contract (which may have many users). For self-serve per-seat products they converge.
Do free users count in ARPU?
It depends: "blended" ARPU includes free and shows total efficiency; "paid-only" ARPU measures payers and is more useful for pricing.