MAU / DAU
Monthly / Daily Active Users
In one line
MAU and DAU (Monthly and Daily Active Users) count the unique users who actually engaged with your product in a given window — the standard size and stickiness metric for digital products.
Going deeper
MAU and DAU count unique users who took at least one action in a window — a month or a day. Because they measure use rather than registration, they remain the cleanest read on product activity.
The DAU/MAU ratio is usually called the 'stickiness' index. Higher means people return daily; messaging and social products often sit above 50%, while general SaaS commonly lands around 20%.
Watch the definition. 'Active' can mean a login, a session over X minutes or a core action — and the same product can publish wildly different MAU figures depending on which one you pick. Tighten the definition before sharing externally.
Related terms
Retention
Retention is the share of users who continue to use or purchase from your product over time after their first touch — a primary signal of long-term product health.
MarketingChurn Rate
Churn rate is the percentage of customers who leave or cancel during a given period — effectively the mirror image of retention.
MarketingNorth Star Metric
A north star metric (NSM) is the single number that best captures the core value your product delivers to customers, used to align decisions across the whole company.
MarketingAARRR
AARRR — Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue — is the five-stage growth metrics framework popularised by Dave McClure and used as the default scaffolding for growth teams.
MarketingCohort Analysis
Cohort analysis groups users by a shared starting characteristic — usually signup week — and tracks their behaviour over time so you can see how each cohort evolves.
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