Daily Active Users

Daily Active Users (DAU) is a simple but powerful engagement metric. It counts unique users who perform a meaningful action -- not just open the app -- within a 24-hour window. The definition of 'active' should be tied to value-generating behavior, not passive page views.

DAU is most useful when expressed as a ratio with Monthly Active Users (MAU). The DAU/MAU ratio, sometimes called stickiness, reveals how habitually users return. A ratio above 0.2 is solid for most products; social platforms often target 0.5 or higher.

GenGrowth tracks how content-driven acquisition affects DAU trends, helping teams understand whether new visitors from organic search convert into habitual daily users or drop off after the first session.