DAU is the number of unique users who open and engage with an app on any given day, a primary metric for measuring app health and engagement.
Daily Active Users (DAU) counts the number of unique users who open and interact with an app within a 24-hour period. It's the most fundamental engagement health metric for mobile apps, more important than total installs because it reflects actual ongoing usage rather than historical downloads.
DAU is typically presented alongside MAU (Monthly Active Users) and their ratio (DAU/MAU), called the stickiness ratio, which measures how frequently monthly users engage daily. A DAU/MAU ratio above 20% is generally considered healthy; above 50% indicates strong daily habit formation (common in messaging and gaming apps).
UA teams care about DAU because campaigns that grow DAU efficiently, not just installs, indicate that acquired users are engaging and retaining. A UA campaign that drives installs but doesn't move DAU is acquiring non-retaining users, a warning sign for both product-market fit and creative authenticity.
DAU is the north star engagement metric for most mobile apps because it reflects the current size of the actively engaged user base. These are the users who drive revenue, reviews, and organic growth. UA strategy should be evaluated not just by install volume but by how efficiently it moves DAU, which requires combining retention data with acquisition data.
MAU measures the number of unique users who engage with an app at least once in a 30-day period, providing a broader engagement baseline than DAU.
Learn moreMobile User AcquisitionRetention rate measures the percentage of users who return to an app on a specific day after install, with D1, D7, and D30 retention being the most critical benchmarks.
Learn moreMobile User AcquisitionLTV is the total net revenue a user is expected to generate over the full course of their relationship with your app, used to determine how much you can profitably spend to acquire them.
Learn moreAnalytics & StrategyUser acquisition is the process of attracting new users to a mobile app through paid advertising, organic marketing, and app store optimization.
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