Understanding Monthly Active Users

To fully understand how to manage your Altar live community, it is essential to know how many Monthly Active Users you have. This will determine your Altar Live plan, attendance management, and billing. ‍

What are Monthly Active Users?

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A Monthly Active User (MAU) is defined as a unique, logged-in user who attended at least one meeting or event in the same month. Anonymous visitors and attendees are not counted as monthly active users.

‍How do I estimate my average Monthly Active Users?

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Here’s a suggested way to average your expected MAUs:

• 40-60% of online viewers (not all viewers will create accounts, anonymous viewers are not included in your MAU)
• All church staff & volunteers (who might attend or lead meetings or events on the platform)
• Online small group unique attendees (some of these might overlap with your event attendees)

Do I have to pay for anonymous visitors?

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No – there is no limit to the number of anonymous visitors or people who join your events. Altar prioritizes accessibility, growth, and reach. Only when someone logs in or creates an account are they considered a monthly active user.

‍What happens if I exceed my plan’s number of Monthly Active Users?

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If you have more users than your plan allows, don't worry, no one will be blocked. Instead you will be charged a small overage fee per user (you can learn more about how we calculate overage charges here).

‍What happens if someone joins once and doesn’t come back?

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Your MAU will be re-calculated at the start of each new monthly billing period. You don’t need to clean out contacts. If someone attends once but doesn’t come back they are not counted in your next month’s MAU count. They won’t be deleted from your contacts, you just don’t pay for them. If they come back in the future, they will still have full access.

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