What is Daily Active Users (DAU) and Monthly Active Users (MAU)?
Short Answer
DAU is the number of unique users active on a given day; MAU is monthly unique users. The DAU:MAU ratio indicates engagement intensity — higher ratios suggest stickier products.
Full Explanation
For a messaging app with 100M MAU and 30M DAU, the DAU:MAU ratio is 30%. This means on any given day, 30% of monthly active users engage with the app — suggesting high engagement and stickiness. A ratio of 20% would indicate lower engagement; one of 50%+ suggests an exceptionally sticky product. DAU and MAU are most relevant for user-acquisition-driven businesses (mobile apps, social networks, gaming). They signal whether the product creates habit-forming behaviour. High DAU:MAU indicates users find the product indispensable; low ratios suggest a 'visit occasionally' product. For SaaS, analogous metrics are weekly/monthly active accounts and depth of engagement (features used, data exported, etc.). Investors care about DAU:MAU because it indicates competitive moat — if users visit daily, switching costs are high. Conversely, if users visit once monthly, churn risk is high. Declining DAU or DAU:MAU often signals product fatigue or emerging competition. For founders, understanding what drives DAU (onboarding quality, feature adoption, notification strategy) is critical for growth.
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