Cohort Retention Calculator
Calculate cohort retention rates across time periods. Visualize user retention curves, identify drop-off points, and benchmark retention by cohort size.
DAU/MAU Ratio Calculator
Calculate your DAU/MAU stickiness ratio to measure user engagement. Benchmark against industry standards and model the impact on growth metrics.
Optional
DAU/MAU Stickiness Ratio
20.00%
Healthy
Stickiness⧉
20.00%
15,000 DAU / 75,000 MAU
Implied Days Active⧉
6 / 30 days
avg user engagement
WAU/MAU Ratio⧉
46.67%
3.3 days/week active
Non-DAU Users⧉
60,000
80.00% of MAU not daily active
Industry Benchmarks
| Industry | Range | Average | Your Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Media | 40–65% | 50% | |
| Messaging | 50–75% | 60% | |
| SaaS (B2B) | 13–25% | 18% | |
| Productivity | 15–30% | 22% | |
| E-commerce | 5–15% | 8% | |
| Gaming (Mobile) | 10–30% | 18% | |
| Fintech | 15–35% | 25% | |
| Media/News | 10–25% | 15% |
DAU Needed at Target Stickiness
| Target % | DAU Needed | Gap |
|---|---|---|
| 10% | 7,500 | 7,500 above |
| 15% | 11,250 | 3,750 above |
| 20% | 15,000 | — |
| 25% | 18,750 | +3,750 needed |
| 30% | 22,500 | +7,500 needed |
| 40% | 30,000 | +15,000 needed |
| 50% | 37,500 | +22,500 needed |
| 60% | 45,000 | +30,000 needed |
Planning notes, formulas, and examples
About the DAU/MAU Ratio Calculator
The DAU/MAU ratio, also known as the stickiness ratio, measures what percentage of your monthly active users engage with your product every day. It's one of the most widely used engagement metrics in the tech industry, telling you how embedded your product is in users' daily routines. A ratio of 50% means half of all monthly users come back every single day — a sign of strong habitual usage.
This metric was popularized by Facebook, where a high DAU/MAU ratio indicated that users weren't just signing up but were making the platform part of their daily lives. Today, it's a core KPI for social media platforms, SaaS products, mobile apps, and any product where frequent engagement drives value. Investors and analysts use it as a proxy for product-market fit and long-term retention potential.
This calculator computes your stickiness ratio, compares it to industry benchmarks, and helps you understand what different ratios mean for user behavior patterns and product health.
When This Page Helps
The DAU/MAU ratio tells you at a glance how habit-forming your product is. A high ratio means users return frequently, reducing churn risk and increasing lifetime value. A low ratio suggests users find periodic value but haven't formed a daily habit. This calculator benchmarks your ratio against industry standards, estimates implied engagement frequency, and shows how stickiness improvements affect your active user metrics.
How to Use the Inputs
- Enter your Daily Active Users (DAU) — unique users who engaged today or an average over recent days.
- Enter your Monthly Active Users (MAU) — unique users who engaged at least once in the past 30 days.
- Review the stickiness ratio and how it compares to industry benchmarks.
- Check the implied engagement frequency to understand average user behavior.
- Model different DAU/MAU targets to set engagement goals for your team.
Formula used
Stickiness (DAU/MAU Ratio) = (Daily Active Users ÷ Monthly Active Users) × 100
Implied Days Active per Month = DAU/MAU Ratio × 30
WAU/MAU Ratio = Weekly Active Users ÷ Monthly Active Users × 100Example Calculation
Result: Stickiness = 20.0%
With 15,000 daily active users and 75,000 monthly active users, the stickiness ratio is 15,000 ÷ 75,000 = 20.0%. This means on any given day, 20% of monthly users are active. The implied average usage is 6 days per month (20% × 30). This is at the industry median for SaaS but below top-tier engagement products like Slack (>50%).
Tips & Best Practices
- A DAU/MAU ratio above 20% is considered healthy for most SaaS products; above 50% indicates exceptional stickiness.
- Social and communication apps typically achieve 40–60% stickiness; productivity tools average 15–25%.
- Improve stickiness by building daily-use features, notifications, and habit loops into the product.
- Track DAU/MAU trends over time rather than focusing on a single snapshot — trending up signals improving engagement.
- Segment DAU/MAU by user cohort, plan tier, or acquisition channel to find your most engaged segments.
- Don't inflate DAU with automated pings or passive sessions; measure meaningful engagement actions.
- WAU/MAU (weekly stickiness) is better for products that aren't designed for daily use.
The Engagement Spectrum
DAU/MAU exists on a spectrum. At 3% (about 1 day per month), users barely engage. At 20% (6 days), they're regular but not habitual. At 50% (15 days), the product is part of their daily routine. At 80%+ (24 days), it's essential infrastructure like email or messaging. Understanding where your product sits on this spectrum helps set realistic goals.
Improving Your Stickiness Ratio
To increase DAU/MAU, focus on daily use cases: notifications that drive re-engagement, content feeds that refresh regularly, collaboration features that require responses, and integrations with daily workflows. The most effective approach is identifying your power users (those with personal DAU/MAU > 70%) and understanding what features drive their daily usage.
DAU/MAU in Investor Conversations
Venture investors closely watch DAU/MAU as a proxy for product-market fit. Consumer apps typically need 25%+ to attract Series A interest. B2B products get more latitude but should show month-over-month improvement. A rising DAU/MAU trend is often more impressive than a high absolute number, as it signals that the product is becoming progressively more essential to users.
Sources & Methodology
Last updated:
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends on your product type. Social media and messaging apps target 50%+. SaaS tools like Slack achieve 40 –60%. Most B2B SaaS products consider 13–20% healthy. E-commerce apps may have 5–10%. The key is to benchmark against your product category and track improvement over time rather than chase arbitrary targets.
DAU counts unique users who performed a meaningful action in a single day. MAU counts unique users who performed at least one meaningful action in the past 30 days. Define "meaningful action" carefully — it should reflect genuine engagement, not passive page loads or automated background pings.
A product is "sticky" when users keep coming back regularly without needing to be prompted. The DAU/MAU ratio quantifies this: a high ratio means a large portion of users return daily, indicating habitual usage. The term reflects how well the product "sticks" as part of users' daily routines.
Yes. A small, highly engaged user base can show high DAU/MAU while total users remain low. Rapid MAU growth can temporarily depress the ratio even if engagement is strong. Seasonal products may have wildly different ratios throughout the year. Always interpret DAU/MAU alongside total user counts and retention curves.
DAU/MAU measures engagement frequency among active users, while retention measures whether users come back at all over time. Both are complementary: high retention with low stickiness means users return monthly but not daily. High stickiness with poor retention means daily users eventually churn. The best products excel at both.
If your product isn't designed for daily use (e.g., project management, HR tools, analytics dashboards), WAU/MAU may be more relevant. Weekly active user ratios better capture products with 2–3 day-per-week usage patterns. Use whichever metric aligns with your product's natural engagement cadence.
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