Measurement
ARPU (average revenue per user)
ARPU is total revenue in a period divided by the number of active customers in that period.
For subscriptions it is a useful health check on pricing and mix, and it moves for two entirely different reasons: customers paying more, or cheaper customers churning out. The second looks identical to the first on a chart and is not good news.
Read it alongside customer count. Rising ARPU with falling customers is usually a shrinking business with a flattering average.
A worked example of how badly it can mislead: a brand with 10,000 subscribers at $30 and 5,000 at $60 has an ARPU of $40. Lose half the $30 cohort to churn and ARPU climbs to roughly $46 while monthly revenue falls by $150,000. The metric improved by 15% because the business got smaller, and any dashboard showing ARPU without the subscriber count beside it will report that as progress.