What is Average Sale Price?
Average Sale Price (ASP) is the average MRR earned per new subscription in a period. It divides new business MRR by the number of new paid subscriptions, excluding reactivations. ASP tracks deal-size trends — whether new customers are landing at higher or lower price points over time.
Stable or rising ASP means your pricing holds up as you grow. Declining ASP may indicate more aggressive discounting, a shift toward lower-tier plans, or a change in your customer mix from enterprise to SMB.
ASP is the new-customer counterpart to ARPA. ARPA reflects your entire paying base; ASP reflects only new sales. When ASP is consistently lower than ARPA, new customers are coming in at lower price points — an early warning that your base ARPA will eventually decline.
The ASP formula
Worked example
July 2026: Your company acquired 10 new paying subscriptions across three plans.
| Plan | Customers | MRR |
|---|---|---|
| Starter ($29/mo) | 5 | $145 |
| Pro ($79/mo) | 3 | $237 |
| Enterprise ($199/mo) | 2 | $398 |
| Total | 10 | $780 |
An ASP of $78 means new customers are landing between the Starter and Pro tiers on average. If your current ARPA is $50, the higher ASP suggests new cohorts are more valuable than the existing base — your ARPA should trend upward over time.
What the ASP-to-ARPA gap tells you
If last month’s ASP was $65 and this month’s is $78, the upward trend suggests your sales team is closing higher-value deals or customers are self-selecting into premium plans. If ASP drops from $78 to $45 next month, investigate whether discounting increased, the plan mix shifted, or a large enterprise deal inflated the prior month.
How it’s computed
ASP is a flow metric — it measures new business activity during a period, not a point-in-time state. Both the numerator and denominator come from the same MRR movement engine that powers all of North Metric’s revenue classification.
Three guards that keep ASP accurate
North Metric applies three checks to ensure ASP counts only genuine new paid sales:
- Paid-only filter: Subscriptions must have effective MRR > $0. Free signups are excluded from both the count and the MRR total.
- Reactivation check: Each new subscription is checked against previously churned customers. If the customer had a canceled subscription before the period, they’re classified as a reactivation, not new business.
- Consistent populations: Both numerator (new MRR) and denominator (new count) come from the same movement engine run. They always count the same set of subscriptions.
Flow vs snapshot
ASP is a flow metric that measures activity during a period. ARPA is a snapshot that captures state at a point in time. This distinction matters for interpretation: a high ASP in a single month could reflect one large enterprise deal, while ARPA smooths across the entire base. Use ASP for sales and pricing analysis; use ARPA for unit economics.
Cross-validation
ASP has been cross-validated against ChartMogul with 3 exact matches on clean months ($34, $34, $35.67). Differences on other months trace to a methodology choice: ChartMogul includes joined-and-churned reactivations in new business, while North Metric excludes them. A customer who reactivates and churns in the same month contributes to ChartMogul’s ASP but not North Metric’s.
ASP vs ARPA
ASP and ARPA both measure revenue per customer, but over different populations and time horizons. Together they reveal whether your pricing trajectory is improving or eroding.
| ASP | ARPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | Only new subscriptions this period | All active paying subscriptions |
| Time horizon | Flow — measures activity during a period | Snapshot — measures state at a point in time |
| Includes expansions | No — only the initial plan at signup | Yes — reflects upgrades, downgrades, and expansions |
| Best for | Sales efficiency, pricing trends, deal-size analysis | CLV calculation, monetization depth, pricing power |
| Volatility | Higher — one large deal can swing the average | Lower — large base absorbs individual changes |
Common ASP mistakes
- Including reactivations as new sales. A returning customer isn’t a new sale. Including reactivations inflates the new customer count and can either raise or lower ASP depending on their plan — either way, it misrepresents your acquisition deal size.
- Using invoice amounts instead of MRR. An annual customer paying $1,200 upfront shows as a $1,200 “sale” in invoice-based tools but contributes $100/mo in MRR. Using invoices makes ASP incomparable to ARPA and other MRR-based metrics.
- Drawing conclusions from one month. A single enterprise deal can double ASP for the month. Low-volume accounts (fewer than 10 new subs) should use a 3-month trailing average to smooth noise.
- Confusing ASP with ARPA. Reporting ASP as “average revenue per customer” misses the impact of upgrades, downgrades, and pricing changes on existing customers. ASP is the landing price; ARPA is the blended rate.
SaaS ASP benchmarks
ASP benchmarks are segmented by MRR tier. Higher is better. ASP is typically 75–80% of ARPA because new customers haven’t yet expanded through upgrades or add-ons. The Seed median is $30/mo; the Enterprise median reaches $750/mo.
| Stage · MRR | Bottom 25% | Median | Top 25% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed · < $10K | $11 | $30 | $80 |
| Early · $10K – $50K | $30 | $75 | $240 |
| Growth · $50K – $100K | $56 | $150 | $400 |
| Scale · $100K – $500K | $112 | $300 | $1,200 |
| Enterprise · $500K+ | $225 | $750 | $4,000 |
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ASP for a SaaS company?
It depends on your market and pricing model. SMB products typically see ASP from $11–$80/mo, mid-market from $56–$400/mo, and enterprise from $225–$4,000/mo. More important than the absolute number is ASP relative to your ARPA — if ASP is consistently lower, your monetization is eroding.
Why are reactivations excluded from ASP?
A returning customer isn’t a new sale — they’re coming back after previously churning. Including them would mix acquisition deal sizes with return deal sizes, making it impossible to evaluate your sales efficiency or pricing changes. Reactivation MRR is tracked separately in MRR Movement reporting.
How does ASP relate to ARPA?
ASP measures the landing price for new customers. ARPA measures the blended rate across all paying customers, including upgrades and expansions. ASP is typically 75–80% of ARPA because new customers haven’t yet expanded. The gap between them reveals whether new cohorts are raising or lowering your overall monetization.
Why does ASP show $0 in months with no new subscriptions?
When no new paying subscriptions arrive in a period, the formula has no denominator and returns $0. This isn’t an error — there genuinely was no new business to measure. It’s common for early-stage accounts with intermittent signups. Use a trailing average to smooth over zero-activity months.
Should I track ASP monthly or use a rolling average?
Both. Monthly ASP shows the raw trend and catches sudden shifts in deal size. A 3–6 month trailing average smooths the noise from single large deals. High-volume companies (50+ new subs/month) can rely on monthly figures. Low-volume companies should default to the trailing average for trend analysis.
From metric to action
North Metric estimates the money leaking to old prices and discounts on your Stripe account. See revenue leakage.