EngagementStickiness

Product Stickiness (DAU/MAU Ratio)

Stickiness measures how frequently your monthly active users engage with your product, calculated as DAU divided by MAU.

Key Takeaways
  • Stickiness (DAU/MAU ratio) shows what percentage of monthly users are active on any given day, indicating product engagement and habit formation.
  • Common Mistakes:
  • Using a single day's DAU instead of average DAU for the month.
  • Not accounting for weekday vs weekend patterns in DAU.
  • Comparing stickiness across products with different intended usage frequencies.
  • Optimizing for stickiness at the expense of user value (engagement theater).
  • Not segmenting stickiness by user type or use case.
  • Ignoring that some products naturally have lower stickiness (monthly reporting tools, etc.).

Definition

Stickiness (DAU/MAU ratio) shows what percentage of monthly users are active on any given day, indicating product engagement and habit formation.

High stickiness (>50%)

Daily habit product with strong engagement.

Medium stickiness (20-50%)

Regular usage; typical for many B2B tools.

Low stickiness (<20%)

Infrequent usage; consider increasing engagement hooks.

Formula

Stickiness (%) = DAU / MAU × 100

Variables

DAU

Average daily active users in the period.

MAU

Monthly active users.

Examples

Stickiness calculation for March

MetricValue
Average DAU in March5,000
MAU for March20,000
  1. 1Stickiness = 5,000 / 20,000 × 100
  2. 2Stickiness = 25%
→ Stickiness = 25%

Track in Daymark

Data Sources

CSVgoogle sheetspostgreSQL

Required Fields

Daily user activity
  • date
  • user_id
  • activity_event

Sample Questions

  • What is the current stickiness ratio?
  • Show stickiness trend over the last year
  • Calculate stickiness by user segment or persona
  • Compare stickiness for new vs existing users
  • What features drive higher stickiness?
  • Show stickiness by cohort (when users joined)
  • How does stickiness correlate with retention?
Measure stickiness

Dashboard Template

1. line
Stickiness over time

DAU/MAU ratio trend

2. bar
Stickiness by cohort

Compare user cohorts

3. histogram
Engagement distribution

Days active per month

4. table
Stickiness drivers

Features correlated with high stickiness

Common Mistakes

  • •Using a single day's DAU instead of average DAU for the month.
  • •Not accounting for weekday vs weekend patterns in DAU.
  • •Comparing stickiness across products with different intended usage frequencies.
  • •Optimizing for stickiness at the expense of user value (engagement theater).
  • •Not segmenting stickiness by user type or use case.
  • •Ignoring that some products naturally have lower stickiness (monthly reporting tools, etc.).

FAQ

Q: What's considered good stickiness?

Social/consumer apps target 50%+. B2B tools often see 15-30%. The key is improving over time and beating competitors.

Q: Can I calculate WAU/MAU stickiness?

Yes, WAU/MAU shows weekly engagement. It's useful for products with weekly rhythms.

Q: How do I improve stickiness?

Add habit-forming features, improve onboarding, add notifications/reminders, and increase product value density.

Start Tracking Product Stickiness (DAU/MAU Ratio)

Get Started Free