Metric guide · Product

DAU/MAU ratio

Short answer

The DAU/MAU ratio, often called stickiness, is the share of monthly active users who use a product on a typical day. It is calculated as average daily active users over a month divided by monthly active users for that month. Both counts must use the same definition of active.

The formula

DAU/MAU = average daily active users in month ÷ monthly active users × 100 Unit: Percent. Better when it goes up.

How to calculate it

  1. Define what counts as active, such as opening the app or completing a core action, and use it for both counts.
  2. Average daily active users across every day of the month.
  3. Count unique users active at least once in the same month.
  4. Divide average DAU by MAU and multiply by 100.

Mistakes that distort it

Using different sources or definitions for DAU and MAU.

If DAU comes from one tool and MAU from another, differences in identity and event filtering distort the ratio. Take both from one source where you can.

Dividing a single day's DAU by MAU.

One day can be unusually high or low. Average DAU across the month.

Judging every product against daily use.

Products meant for weekly or occasional use will have a low ratio by design. For them, WAU/MAU or retention may be more informative.

Where Sondola reads it from

Sondola reads this metric from Adjust, Amplitude, Mixpanel and PostHog, with the source and period on every reading. Each reading keeps where it came from, the period and the date it was recorded, and you can download all of it at any time.

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Questions

What is a good DAU/MAU ratio?

It depends on how often your product is meant to be used. A ratio of 20% means the average monthly user is active on about 6 days a month, and 50% means about 15. Published figures each count active in their own way, so they rarely match yours. Set a baseline from a few closed months of your own and watch the trend, most of all after a launch or a push for new users.

Why can DAU/MAU fall while the product is growing?

A wave of new users often raises MAU faster than daily habits form. The ratio can dip during strong acquisition even if existing users are as engaged as before.

Related metrics

Written by the Sondola team. Benchmarks name their source, basis and date. Changes to how Sondola counts a number are on the corrections page.

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