DAU/MAU Ratio: Measuring Product Stickiness
The DAU/MAU ratio measures product stickiness by comparing daily to monthly users. Social media apps aim for high ratios (50%+), while e-commerce expects lower ones. The footgun is comparing ratios without context; a 'good' number varies by product type.
The mental model
The DAU/MAU ratio is a percentage that tells you how many of your monthly users return on a daily basis. Think of it as a "habit score" for your product. A high score means users are deeply engaged and returning frequently, while a low score indicates more sporadic, infrequent use.
How it works
DAU stands for Daily Active Users, the count of unique users who perform a key action on a given day. MAU is the Monthly Active Users, the unique count over a 30-day period. The ratio is calculated as (Average DAU over 30 days) / (MAU for that same 30 days). For example, if you have 10,000 MAU and an average of 1,500 DAU, your ratio is 1,500 / 10,000 = 15%. This means on an average day, 15% of your monthly user base is active.
When to use it
This metric is most valuable for products where high-frequency engagement is a primary goal. Three key areas are: first, social media and communication platforms where daily check-ins are the core loop; second, mobile games with daily rewards; and third, news apps that aim to be part of a user's daily routine. It helps product teams gauge if feature changes are making the product stickier.
When not to use it
The DAU/MAU ratio is misleading for products with naturally low-frequency use cases. For example, an app for filing annual taxes, B2B software for quarterly reporting, or an e-commerce site for large appliance purchases. For these, metrics like conversion rate or task completion rate are more relevant. Focusing on DAU/MAU here would lead to poor product decisions.
One canonical example
A social media app has 1 million monthly active users (MAU). Over that same 30-day period, it averages 500,000 daily active users (DAU). Its DAU/MAU ratio is 500,000 / 1,000,000 = 50%. This is a very sticky product. In contrast, a travel booking site might have 1 million MAU but only 50,000 DAU, for a ratio of 5%. This simply reflects that people book travel infrequently.
Interview question
Which product type would find the DAU/MAU ratio least effective for measuring its core success?
- a.A daily news aggregator app
- b.A mobile game with daily bonuses
- c.A social media application
- d.An online store for annual tax softwareCorrect
Why? this is the answer
The DAU/MAU ratio is designed for products aiming for high-frequency engagement. An online store for annual tax software is an inherently low-frequency use case, making the ratio a misleading indicator of its success, which would be better measured by metrics like conversion rate.
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