Activation Rate
IntermediateActivation rate is the share of new users in a signup cohort who recorded the activation event within a defined window after signing up.
The denominator is a signup cohort, not everyone active in the month. That single point causes most miscalculations: once older users enter the denominator the figure moves with traffic volume and says nothing about onboarding quality. The window is part of the definition rather than a filter applied afterwards, and the same product reports very different numbers at 24 hours and at 30 days. A further reporting trap is that recent cohorts have not finished their window, so their rate looks artificially low next to mature cohorts. Comparing this rate across two companies is meaningless because each picked its own event and window; the valid comparison is cohort against cohort inside one product.
How it is calculated
Activation rate = new users who recorded the activation event ÷ all new users in the same signup cohort
The numerator counts only occurrences inside the window, and the window starts at each user's own signup moment rather than at the start of the reporting range. Each user contributes at most once to the numerator and the unit is a percentage.