Monthly active user (MAU)
A monthly active user (MAU) is a unique user who is active in a product at least once during a calendar month. Products that price by MAU define what counts as active, such as signing in or being authenticated, and the scope it is counted over, such as one app or a whole account. It is a common billing unit for sign-in and messaging services.
How it works
A service records an event that marks a user as active, removes duplicates using a stable user identifier, and counts the distinct users in each month. The definition decides the bill: whether a person counts once per app or once per account, which events count, and which time zone bounds the month.
A user who appears once counts the same as one who appears every day, so MAU measures reach rather than volume. Services that also meter volume, such as messages or events, price that separately.
Why it matters
MAU pricing ties cost to the number of people a product serves, which is easy to forecast for consumer and field apps. The fine print matters when comparing vendors: counting per app can count one person several times, and some services count only users who touch a particular feature.
Free tiers are often set in MAU as well, so the definition decides when a growing app moves from free to paid.
How it relates to Offline Protocol
A monthly active user (MAU) is a unique end user who signs in to any app in your organization at least once in a calendar month (UTC). Each person counts once per month per organization, however many apps, devices or sessions they use, and a guest counts once per install.
OfflineID sign-in is metered by MAU: Free includes 1,000 a month, Pro 10,000, and Scale 50,000, and with a card on file each additional MAU is $0.02. The hosted relay accepts only signed-in OfflineID accounts, not guests, so relay users are counted through their OfflineID sign-ins. Local mesh traffic between devices is never metered. See pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a monthly active user?
A monthly active user is a unique user who is active in a product at least once in a calendar month. Each product defines what counts as active and whether a person is counted per app or per account.
How does Offline Protocol count monthly active users?
A monthly active user (MAU) is a unique end user who signs in to any app in your organization at least once in a calendar month (UTC). Each person counts once per month per organization, however many apps, devices or sessions they use, and a guest counts once per install.
Do hosted relay users count as monthly active users?
Yes, through sign-in. The hosted relay accepts only signed-in OfflineID accounts, not guests, so everyone who uses it has an account and counts once in each month they sign in. Messages between devices on the local mesh are never metered.
