The DAU/MAU ratio is an important metric that measures user engagement and stickiness for digital products and platforms. As a product manager or marketer tracking this ratio can provide valuable insights into your user base and guide future product development and marketing strategies.
In this comprehensive guide we will cover everything you need to know about the DAU/MAU ratio
- What is DAU/MAU ratio?
- Why track DAU/MAU ratio?
- How to calculate DAU/MAU ratio
- What is a good DAU/MAU ratio?
- Tips to improve DAU/MAU ratio
- Limitations of DAU/MAU ratio
- Other key metrics to track with DAU/MAU
What is DAU/MAU Ratio?
DAU stands for Daily Active Users This metric represents the number of unique users who actively engage with your product on a daily basis
MAU stands for Monthly Active Users. This metric represents the number of unique users who actively engage with your product over the course of a month.
The DAU/MAU ratio is calculated by dividing your total number of daily active users (DAU) by your total number of monthly active users (MAU).
For example:
- Your product has 300,000 daily active users (DAU)
- Your product has 1,000,000 monthly active users (MAU)
- DAU/MAU = 300,000/1,000,000 = 30%
This ratio essentially measures the fraction of monthly users who use your product daily. A high ratio indicates your users are more “sticky” – they repeatedly come back day after day.
Why Track DAU/MAU Ratio?
Here are some key reasons why the DAU/MAU ratio is an important metric to monitor for digital products:
Measure User Loyalty
The DAU/MAU ratio shows how loyal and engaged your active user base is. If a large percentage of monthly users are using your product daily, it means they are deriving consistent value from it. This loyalty indicates they are less likely to churn and more likely to convert to paying customers.
Gauge Growth Potential
A high DAU/MAU ratio suggests you have a core base of committed users. This segment of super users represents a major growth opportunity through referrals and upsells. Focus marketing efforts on this loyal base to maximize revenue.
Prioritize New Features
Look at what highly engaged users are doing daily in your product analytics. This can inform what features to prioritize and where to devote more development resources.
Benchmark Performance
The DAU/MAU ratio allows you to benchmark your product’s engagement over time. You can set goals for increasing the ratio and evaluate the impact of product changes. Comparing to industry averages also provides context on your performance.
Identify Retention Issues
If your DAU/MAU ratio starts declining, it may signal problems retaining and re-engaging users. Analyzing changes in the ratio can highlight churn risks early and allow you to proactively address issues.
How to Calculate DAU/MAU Ratio
Follow these steps to accurately calculate your DAU/MAU ratio:
1. Define Daily Active User
First, determine what constitutes a daily active user for your product. This may be someone who logs in, makes a purchase, posts content, etc. The definition can vary across products.
2. Define Monthly Active User
Similarly, define what makes a monthly active user based on your product. Often this is a user who engages during a calendar month.
3. Track Daily Active Users
Use analytics to track daily active users based on your definition. Deduplicate users to count each only once per day.
4. Track Monthly Active Users
Track monthly active users based on your definition. Deduplicate users to count each only once per month.
5. Calculate DAU/MAU Ratio
Divide your total daily active users (DAU) by total monthly active users (MAU). Multiply result by 100 to get a percentage.
For example, if you have:
- 15,000 Daily Active Users
- 100,000 Monthly Active Users
Your DAU/MAU ratio would be:
- DAU/MAU = 15,000/100,000 = 15%
That’s the basics on how to calculate DAU/MAU ratio! Be sure to analyze the trend over time, not just a single snapshot.
What is a Good DAU/MAU Ratio?
There is no single benchmark for a “good” DAU/MAU ratio, since it varies widely by industry and product type.
However, here are some general guidelines on DAU/MAU ratio percentages:
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Above 40% – Very high, typically seen in social media and messaging platforms. Indicates extreme user loyalty.
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20-40% – Strong ratio, suggests you have a sticky product in a loyal niche.
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10-20% – Average for many digital products. Room for improvement but decent engagement.
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5-10% – Lower than average, signals possible retention issues. Requires further analysis.
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Below 5% – Very low, indicates most monthly users are not returning daily. Poor user loyalty.
Again, take your product type and business model into account when evaluating your DAU/MAU ratio. The key is tracking it over time and monitoring trends.
Tips to Improve Your DAU/MAU Ratio
Here are some tips to improve user loyalty and increase your DAU/MAU ratio:
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Personalize onboarding – Tailor onboarding to each user’s needs to accelerate habit formation.
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Segment users – Target re-engagement campaigns at inactive users to bring them back.
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Highlight new features – Educate users on new features to drive daily usage.
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Optimize key flows – Reduce friction in key processes that drive daily engagement.
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Promote social features – Build community and connections between users to increase retention.
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Reward loyalty – Offer incentives, gamification, and VIP access for power users.
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Gather feedback – Survey users to understand pain points impacting engagement.
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A/B test updates – Test product changes with active user segments before rolling out widely.
Limitations of DAU/MAU Ratio
While an invaluable metric, the DAU/MAU ratio does have some limitations to be aware of:
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Varies significantly by industry – Making direct comparisons between different product types can be misleading.
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No standard calculation – Definitions for DAU and MAU can differ across companies.
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Lagging indicator – Ratio reflects past user behavior, not a forward view.
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Can be manipulated – Changes to how DAU/MAU is calculated can inflate the ratio.
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Not applicable to all products – Provides limited value for infrequently used products.
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Ignores user value – Does not factor in revenue impact of losing different user segments.
Other Key Metrics to Track with DAU/MAU
To fully assess user engagement, retention and product growth, the DAU/MAU ratio should be analyzed in context with other metrics:
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Weekly active users – WAU/MAU measures engagement for non-daily products.
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Session length – Average session duration indicates engagement depth.
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Churn rate – Percentage of users who disengage over time.
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Stickiness – Repeated use of key product features.
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NPS Score – User satisfaction and loyalty.
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Conversion rate – Percentage of users who convert to paid plans or make purchases.
Tracking the DAU/MAU ratio provides invaluable insights into your product’s ability to drive daily user engagement and loyalty over time. This sticky factor indicates future revenue potential and growth opportunities.
Monitor the ratio closely, optimize to improve it, and analyze in context with other metrics to make informed product and marketing decisions. User engagement is a key competitive advantage, and the DAU/MAU ratio is your product’s sticky metric!
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As a business owner, you need key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to know how well your company is performing. This data helps you learn about your business and makes adjustments to ensure your goals are met.
One valuable metric is the DAU/MAU ratio, which measures user engagement on a daily and monthly basis. If youre looking to leverage the ratio, continue reading as we explain what it is, how it could benefit you, and what you need to do to calculate it.
What Companies Should Track Their DAU/MAU?
As you look into DAU/MAU, you may wonder which businesses this calculation impacts the most. That way, you can see if your industry falls into the categories, letting you know whether DAU/MAU will make a difference regarding your decisions.
If you are a game developer, you should track your DAU/MAU after you release it. You want to ensure people buy your game, though you need them to keep playing it, especially if you have an online game that requires players to get into matches.
If you dont have enough people playing the game, youll lose players and money since people dont want to sit in queues for too long, or your DAU/MAU will drop further. So that makes it a crucial metric for you to check and follow to maintain your game consistently.
If you create any app, you want consistent user engagement since it is essential for monetization. For instance, if your app runs ads, your profits will be greater with a more active user base.
The ratio will show you that people keep using your app and can let you know if your app still has staying power. If it starts to drop, or you want to boost it further, you learn to make changes to your app, so youll secure more sales and improve your business.
Software as a service (SaaS) means your company offers something that people pay monthly to use as often as they want. Some businesses do this through streaming services, others provide VPNs, and some offer marketing tools or website builders.
Many businesses like this model since it lets them get consistent money through monthly payments, so the more MAUs they have, the better. On the other hand, DAUs also matter since people may unsubscribe if they dont use the service regularly.
If SaaS companies keep track of these SaaS metrics, they can look for signs of people leaving and make changes to retain people while finding new customers.
Since social media sites also have ads and want consistent users to encourage more people to go online, theyll want to track DAU/MAU ratios. Since people typically use social media to post updates or share content, having daily users matters even more.
On top of that, social media sites may want their users to stay on for as long as possible. So if they can see that theyre boosting both metrics, they know that more people want to use their app, and it has a broader reach, allowing them to gain more traction and support.
When to Use DAU / MAU Ratio vs. Power User Curves | Eric Andrews Clips
What is a DAU/MAU ratio?
The DAU/MAU ratio is an acronym that stands for the daily active users to monthly active users ratio. This metric, also called “stickiness,” measures the number of days per month that users engage with an application. For example, if the DAU/MAU ratio is 75%, users are engaging with an app 75% of the time or 22.5 days per month, on average.
How do I find a good DAU/MAU ratio?
Try breaking down the metric by different user attributes, demographics, and types of device information. The goal is to uncover one or more segments of users where the DAU/MAU ratio is relatively high compared to the aggregate. These are the power users who come back and engage with your product most frequently.
What is a good DAU/MAU score?
For example, if the DAU/MAU ratio is 75%, users are engaging with an app 75% of the time or 22.5 days per month, on average. A high DAU/MAU score is ideal, as it indicates a high stickiness level and that users are returning to use an app over time. A 100% DAU/MAU score means users are visiting an app every day.
Does Facebook have a DAU/MAU ratio?
Facebook famously has a DAU/MAU ratio over 50%. At the other end of the spectrum, products in the ecommerce category attain an average stickiness of 9.8%, while finance products sit at 10.5%. The average DAU/MAU for SaaS products is 13%.
