arpu
Average revenue per user.
mrr
Also: monthly recurring revenue
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) is the sum of monthly subscription value across all active customers, normalized to a monthly basis. Annual subscriptions divide by 12; quarterly by 3. The foundation metric for SaaS finances; tracks growth, churn, expansion, and contraction over time.
In context.
PorchOps reads MRR from Stripe directly. Each customer's subscription contributes its monthly-equivalent value; the sum is the company's MRR. Dale's Monday brief shows MRR delta week-over-week.
MRR isn't revenue. A customer who paid annually contributed their full annual amount in cash, but their MRR contribution is 1/12 of that. Don't conflate the two.
Concrete instances.
10 customers paying $90/month + 5 customers paying $390/month = (10 × $90) + (5 × $390) = $2,850 MRR.
MRR delta: +$620 in a week. Net new MRR: $710. Churn: $90. Expansion: $0.
Annualized MRR is ARR (Annual Recurring Revenue) — multiply MRR by 12. ARR is what investors talk about; MRR is what operations track.
Common questions.
What's the difference between MRR and ARR?
MRR is monthly; ARR is annualized (MRR × 12). Investors talk in ARR; operations talk in MRR. Both are the same number, different time scale.
Is MRR the same as revenue?
No. Revenue is cash collected. MRR is monthly-normalized subscription value. An annual subscription brings revenue forward in cash but contributes 1/12 to MRR each month for the year.
Do one-time charges count toward MRR?
No. MRR is recurring only. Setup fees, one-time consulting, and annual upgrades that aren't subscription-based don't count. Only the renewable subscription portion contributes.