ARPU

ARPU vs ARPDAU

Marsh

ARPDAU and ARPU look really similar. What's the actual difference?

Mallow

Whether the window is fixed. ARPDAU has "Daily" baked in — always per day. ARPU's window is your choice — usually monthly, sometimes lifetime. Same "revenue per user," different lens.

Marsh

So if my Monthly ARPU is $1.20, does that just mean my ARPDAU is $0.04?

Mallow

No. Different denominators. Monthly ARPU divides by MAU. ARPDAU divides by DAU. MAU is much larger than DAU. So Monthly ARPU and 30 × ARPDAU are not the same number — even though both describe "a month of revenue."

Marsh

Which one should I track?

Mallow

Both, for different purposes. Short-term effect of a change — read ARPDAU. Business-scale picture — read Monthly ARPU. Exec reviews tend to lean on Monthly ARPU; tactical post-mortems lean on daily ARPDAU.

Marsh

So when I say "ARPU" I have to spell out the window?

Mallow

Yes. "ARPU $3" and "Monthly ARPU $3" are not the same number to a careful reader. In any document, write the window explicitly. Saves you from a lot of confused execs later.

Formula & benchmarks

• Under $0.50 Monthly ARPU: Undermonetized for the audience size
• $1–$2 Monthly ARPU: Roblox median range for mid-tier titles
• $3–$5 Monthly ARPU: Strong (deep economy, healthy payer mix)
• Over $5 Monthly ARPU: Top tier — usually Simulator, gacha, or season-pass models

Worked example

Marsh

Our brand world had MAU of 15,000 last month and $1,800 in revenue. What's our Monthly ARPU?

Mallow

$1,800 ÷ 15,000 = $0.12 Monthly ARPU. Well below median for Roblox.

Marsh

DAU is 2,000. So ARPDAU is $1,800 ÷ 30 ÷ 2,000 = $0.03. Why is Monthly ARPU so different from ARPDAU × 30?

Mallow

DAU 2,000 vs MAU 15,000. Most of your monthly audience only shows up once or twice. Spreading $1,800 across all 15,000 of them gives a small per-head number. Spreading across the 2,000 daily regulars gives a different one. Same money, different denominators.

Marsh

So which one do I show the CMO?

Mallow

Show both, labeled. Monthly ARPU is the marketing comparable — same shape as web/app metrics they already know. ARPDAU is the design-tuning number.

Reading it in Roblox

Roblox Creator Hub doesn’t surface ARPU directly. Pull monthly revenue (Robux) and MAU from the Analytics tab, then divide. As with ARPDAU, fix the Robux-to-USD basis up front: developer payout ($0.0035/R$) or consumer spend ($0.0125/R$). The benchmarks in this entry use the consumer-spend basis. If you’re modeling revenue for a P&L, switch to developer payout and re-state.

Common misconceptions

• "ARPU = ARPDAU × 30" is wrong: Different denominators (MAU vs DAU). Don't translate between them with multiplication.
• "Higher ARPU is always better" misses depth vs width: Two titles can have the same ARPU but one is "lots of small payers" and the other is "a few whales." Always pair with Conversion Rate.
• Comparing ARPU across genres can mislead: Simulators vs Roleplay vs Obby have different monetization shapes. Compare within a genre cohort.

Related metrics

• ARPDAU: Locked to daily. Use for short-term tactical reads
• LTV: Conceptually close to lifetime ARPU
• Conversion Rate: The split point for "share who paid × spend per payer"
• ARPPU: ARPU restricted to payers only — the depth view alongside ARPU's width