Monthly active users
What a Monthly Active User (MAU) is on Apple Messages for Business — a unique customer who exchanges at least one message with a brand in a calendar month.
Pricing is per monthly active user (MAU): a unique customer who exchanges at least one message with a brand in a calendar month.
One exchange is enough. A customer who sends a single emoji and a customer who talks every day are the same MAU for that month.
How a customer becomes an MAU
A customer can only enter a conversation in two ways. Both are an exchange of at least one message, so both count:
- They start the conversation. They tap a Messages entry point on your website, in Apple Maps, Spotlight, Siri, the App Store, or a QR code, and the thread opens. See How a conversation starts.
- They accept a business invitation. You send an invitation to their phone number and they tap Yes. Accepting is the exchange. From then on they are a customer who has exchanged at least one message with your brand.
Sending the invitation is not enough. If they ignore it or tap No, no conversation opens and they are not an MAU.
What counts as an exchange
Any of the following counts. The customer only has to do one of them in the calendar month.
The customer sends or does something
- A text message, of any length
- An emoji, including a message that is only an emoji
- A reaction or tapback on any message — love, like, dislike, laugh, emphasize, or question — adding one or changing one
- A reply to an interactive message: a quick reply, a list picker selection, a time picker selection, or a form submission
- Completing sign-in
- Paying with Apple Pay
- A photo, video, voice message, or file
- Accepting a business invitation
Your brand sends something they receive
- A text reply
- A rich link, image, video, or file
- An interactive message, an Apple Pay request, or a sign-in request
A reply from your brand only exists after the customer has started the conversation or accepted an invitation, so it is the same customer already counted above. It still counts as an exchange on its own: a customer who receives a message in that month is an MAU even if they never type back.
These do not count
- An invitation the customer has not accepted, including one they declined
- A typing indicator
- A read receipt by itself
Counted once per calendar month
| Rule | What it means |
|---|---|
| One customer, one brand, one month | The same person is one MAU of your brand for that calendar month, whether they exchange once or a thousand times. |
| The day does not matter | A message on the 1st and a reaction on the last day of the month are the same MAU. There is no partial month. |
| A new month starts a new count | A customer who exchanges on March 31 and again on April 1 is an MAU in March and an MAU in April. |
| Identity is the customer, not the device | Apple scopes a customer to your brand with an opaque id. That id — not a phone, a browser, or a session — is the customer you count. Accepting an invitation is what creates it for a conversation you started. |
| Brands are separate | The same person talking to two of your brands is an MAU of each brand. |