Paying user conversion rate (Payer conversion)
Monetisation metric. Do they pay, and is it worth what they cost?
What is paying user conversion rate?
Paying user conversion rate is the share of users who make at least one payment, measured over a period or within a set number of days from install.
Cost per payer: ad spend divided by the paying users it brought in; a form of CPA.
How to calculate Payer conversion
Paying user conversion = Paying users ÷ Users × 100- Paying users
- unique users with at least one payment
- Users
- active users in the period, or installs in the cohort
Where definitions differ
| Variant | Formula | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Period conversion | Payers in the month ÷ MAU × 100 | The share of the active base that pays. |
| Cohort conversion | Payers by day n ÷ Cohort installs × 100 | The acquisition view, used with CPI. |
Payer conversion calculator
Example inputs: change them to your own numbers. The examples only make the calculator show a worked answer; they are not benchmarks or targets. Runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- D7 payer conversion
- 2%
- D30 payer conversion
- 3.5%
- Cost per payer (D30)
- $57.14
How do you turn CPI into a cost per payer?
Divide CPI by the cohort payer conversion rate. At a $2 CPI and 3.5% of installs paying by day 30, each payer costs about $57 in media.
How Payer conversion differs by vertical
| EdTech | Free-to-paid conversion is the central monetisation number. |
|---|---|
| Fintech | The equivalent is the first transaction rate. |
| OTT and streaming | Covered by subscription conversion. |
| Gaming | Usually low, which is why ad revenue and ARPPU matter so much. |
Common mistakes
- Comparing a D7 cohort rate with a monthly period rate.
- Counting refunded or test purchases as payers.
Questions
How do you calculate paying user conversion?
Divide the users who paid by the users in the base and multiply by 100. 350 payers from 10k installs by day 30 is 3.5%.
Should I measure payer conversion from installs or active users?
From installs when judging acquisition, because it joins up with CPI; from active users when judging the product's monetisation.
Why does payer conversion keep rising for older cohorts?
Cohort conversion is cumulative: users can make their first payment weeks after install. Compare cohorts at the same age.
Which currency do the calculators use?
The calculators show US dollars, but every formula works in any currency: enter your own figures in the currency you report in and read the results in that currency.
What is the difference between a metric and a KPI?
A metric is any measured quantity; a KPI is a metric a team has chosen as a target for judging performance. Most metrics here become KPIs only for the teams whose work moves them.
Do I need an MMP to measure these metrics?
Not for all of them. Engagement and monetisation metrics come from product analytics and billing data, while metrics split by ad channel, such as CPI, ROAS or retention by source, need installs attributed to campaigns.