Value Metric
Monthly Active Users (MAU)
Monthly Active Users (MAU) is the number of unique users who engage with your product over a 30-day window.
What is Monthly Active Users (MAU)?
Monthly Active Users counts the unique people who take a meaningful action in your product across a rolling or calendar 30-day window. It is the broadest common measure of an active user base and the natural denominator for stickiness and monetization ratios.
MAU smooths out day-to-day noise and suits products used less than daily. As with DAU, its usefulness depends entirely on a solid definition of "active."
How to calculate it
MAU = Count of Unique Users Performing a Qualifying Action in the Past 30 Days
- Qualifying Action
- The action that defines "active" for your product
Worked example
If 120,000 unique users perform a qualifying action within a 30-day window, MAU is 120,000.
What good looks like
- Pair with stickinessUse with DAU/MAU
MAU alone hides engagement depth. Combined with DAU as a DAU/MAU ratio, it reveals how habitual your active base really is.
Why it matters
MAU is the standard measure of active reach and the base for key ratios like DAU/MAU stickiness and ARPU. Because it is broad, it can mask shallow engagement — a growing MAU with a falling DAU/MAU ratio means you are adding users who do not stick. It is most powerful read in context, not in isolation.
How to improve Monthly Active Users (MAU)
Convert new users into habitual ones
Strengthen activation and re-engagement so more of the users you acquire keep coming back within each month.
Win back dormant users
Identify lapsing users and test targeted re-engagement; interview them to learn what would bring them back.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between DAU and MAU?
DAU counts unique active users in a single day; MAU counts them over a 30-day window. Comparing the two (DAU ÷ MAU) yields the stickiness ratio, which shows how many of your monthly users engage on a typical day.
Can MAU be misleading?
Yes. A rising MAU can hide shallow engagement if those users rarely return within the month. Always read MAU alongside the DAU/MAU ratio and retention curves to understand engagement depth, not just reach.