What Is a Monthly Active User (MAU)?

Monthly Active Users (MAUs) are the number of unique users who visit any page where Hopscotch's script is installed during a given month.

What counts as an MAU?

A Monthly Active User is any unique visitor who loads a page containing the Hopscotch script within a calendar month. We don't charge for inactive users who might exist in your database but don't sign in or visit your website during that month.

How we identify unique users

Hopscotch uses two methods to identify unique users:

With user identification (recommended)

When your app identifies users to Hopscotch, we can accurately track individual users. This is the most reliable method because:

• The same user is counted once, even if they log in from multiple devices or browsers
• Clearing cookies doesn't create duplicate user counts
• You get accurate analytics on how users interact with your content

Without user identification (cookie-based)

If users aren't identified, Hopscotch uses browser cookies to track unique visitors. This approach is less reliable because:

• Users can clear their browser cookies, creating a new "user" on their next visit
• The same person using different browsers or devices will be counted as multiple users
• Each new device or browser counts toward your MAU total

Why we use MAU-based pricing

Our infrastructure costs scale with the number of users we track and serve content to. MAU-based pricing keeps costs fair: you only pay for the users who actually use your product.

Why you're billed on total MAUs, not content views

You may have tours, surveys, or tooltips configured to display only to a specific segment of your users. It might seem like you should only be charged for users who actually see your content, but Hopscotch bills based on your total MAU count.

This is because Hopscotch tracks activity and evaluates targeting rules for all of your users in real-time. Even users who don't see content today are being monitored so you can target them later based on their behavior, page visits, or custom properties.

For example, if you have 10,000 MAUs but your tours are configured to show to only 10% of them, you'll still be billed for all 10,000 MAUs.

Best practices for accurate MAU tracking

1. Identify your users: Share the How to Identify Users page with your development team to ensure accurate counting across devices.
2. Use consistent identifiers: Work with your team to use the same identifier format (e.g., email or internal user ID) across your application.

Related

• How to reduce your MAU count
• What happens if I exceed my plan?