ARPDAU

Formula

Daily revenue (IAP + ads + subs) / DAU

Unit

$/DAU/day

Models

Gaming, Media

What it is

ARPDAU (Average Revenue Per Daily Active User) measures total daily revenue — from in-app purchases, advertising, and subscriptions — divided by the number of daily active users. It is the primary daily monetization KPI for gaming and ad-supported media products.

How to calculate it

Sum all revenue sources for a given day (IAP, ad revenue, subscription revenue attributable to that day) and divide by the count of daily active users on that day. For blended products with both IAP and ad revenue, track each component separately alongside the blended figure, as shifts in revenue mix can mask underlying monetization trends.

Why it matters

ARPDAU directly determines whether a game or media product's monetization covers its cost-per-daily-active-user and informs UA budget decisions. It is multiplied by expected retention to estimate LTV, making it a foundational input to payback period modeling. Genre benchmarks matter enormously — a midcore game at $0.10 ARPDAU is underperforming, while a hypercasual game at the same figure is exceptional.

Benchmarks & pitfalls

According to Juego/AppsFlyer aggregation (2025), ARPDAU benchmarks vary widely by genre: hypercasual $0.01–0.05, casual $0.03–0.10, hybrid-casual $0.15–0.50, midcore $0.08–0.20, and social casino $0.20–0.80+. The data is blended across IAP and ad revenue, so the mix within each genre differs. The most important pitfall is benchmarking against the wrong genre — a midcore game should never compare itself to a hypercasual baseline. Additionally, "active" definitions (any session vs. minimum session length) affect the denominator and should be standardized.