What is MAU (Monthly Active Users)?
Monthly active users (MAU) counts the distinct people who used a product at least once during a month. Software vendors use it as a usage metric and, increasingly, as a billing unit: instead of paying for every account created, the customer pays for the people who actually signed in that month. Each vendor defines what counts as active.
How Personal Academy handles it
Personal Academy publishes one price per active user per month, counts a person as active when they sign in that month on any channel, and has no minimum bill and no setup fee.
A worked example
Suppose a 300-person manufacturer has 300 accounts on its learning platform. In a quiet month, 120 people sign in to take courses or answer review questions; in the month of annual compliance training, almost everyone does. Under active-user billing, the quiet month is billed for 120 people and the busy month for the number who signed in, rather than paying for all 300 accounts every month.
Traditional learning platforms are usually sold by seat or by registered user: the customer commits to a number of accounts and pays for them whether or not anyone signs in. That model is predictable but often wasteful, because training activity is uneven. Many employees only sign in during onboarding or annual compliance cycles.
Active-user billing ties cost to use. The vendor counts each distinct person who was active in the billing month and charges for that number. A person counts once however many times they sign in.
The definition of active matters more than the price. Some vendors count anyone who signs in, others only people who start or complete content, and some count any login including administrators. Chat channels, mobile apps and single sign-on can each create activity, so it helps to know whether activity in those channels counts.
Active-user billing changes behaviour on both sides. Customers can invite everyone without paying for dormant accounts, which makes it easier to offer learning to contractors, partners or seasonal staff. Vendors are rewarded for products people actually return to.
There are trade-offs. Monthly cost varies with activity, so finance teams need a forecast and, ideally, visibility of the count during the month. Contracts should state how activity is counted, whether there is a minimum, how volume discounts apply and how disputes are handled. When comparing vendors, convert each offer into an expected annual cost using your own realistic activity pattern, not the best-case figure. Ask also whether the vendor shows the active count by month so it can be checked against the invoice.