How does the DAU/MAU ratio differ from stickiness?

Stickiness is the general idea of how often people come back, and DAU/MAU is its most common measurement. Some teams measure the same idea with a weekly to monthly ratio or with average active days per user, so a figure without its method is misleading.

What is a good DAU/MAU ratio?

There is no general number. The right baseline is the frequency the product itself needs: if its value is daily, a low ratio is a problem; if its value is monthly or seasonal, a low ratio is normal. The meaningful comparison is against your own trend and across your own cohorts, not against a figure published by another product.

DAU / MAU Ratio

Intermediate

Updated Jul 11, 2026 Shahin editorial 2 min read

PronunciationEN/ˌdiː eɪ ˈjuː ˌɛm eɪ ˈjuː ˈreɪʃioʊ/

The DAU/MAU ratio is daily active users divided by monthly active users, showing what share of a month's users are present on an average day.

The ratio reads as an average number of active days per month: 20 percent means the typical monthly user showed up on about six days out of thirty. Both sides must use the same definition of active, otherwise the ratio measures the gap between two definitions rather than habit. For products that are not meant to be used daily, such as a tax filing service or a travel booking site, a low ratio is the correct outcome rather than a symptom. Imported benchmarks do not transfer either: what counts as healthy depends on the product's natural usage frequency, the sector, and whether active means a plain visit or a meaningful action.

How it is calculated

DAU/MAU ratio = daily active users ÷ monthly active users

The numerator is the unique active users of a single day and the denominator the unique active users of the thirty-day window containing that day, both counted with the same qualifying action. The result is a share, usually shown as a percentage; it is not additive, and a monthly figure comes from averaging the daily ratios rather than dividing sums.

How it is calculated

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