DAU and MAU: Daily active users and monthly active users.

DAU and MAU are the two most common ways to count an audience. Each one on its own says how big the game is. Put together, they say how often players come back, which matters more.

What DAU and MAU mean

• DAU (daily active users): unique users who opened the app on a given day. Someone who plays five sessions counts once.
• MAU (monthly active users): unique users who opened the app at least once in a calendar month or a rolling 30-day window.

Decide what "active" means and keep it fixed. Most teams count anyone who opens the app. Some require a meaningful action, such as starting a level. A stricter definition gives smaller but more honest numbers.

The DAU/MAU ratio (stickiness)

Stickiness = average DAU ÷ MAU

Use the average DAU across the same period as the MAU, not a single day, so one busy Saturday does not skew the result.

Worked example. Over September, a word game averages 9,000 daily active users. 45,000 unique people opened it at least once during the month.

Stickiness = 9,000 ÷ 45,000 = 20%

Another way to read 20%: the average monthly player was active on about 0.20 × 30 = 6 days that month.

If an update lifts average DAU to 11,250 while MAU stays at 45,000, stickiness rises to 11,250 ÷ 45,000 = 25%. The audience did not grow, but the same players came back more often, roughly 7.5 days a month instead of 6. That usually shows up in revenue, because more active days mean more ad views and more chances to buy.

What is a good DAU/MAU ratio?

There is no single benchmark, because it depends on how often people naturally need the product.

Product type	What stickiness tends to look like
Messaging and social apps	Among the highest, because people check them many times a day
Casual and puzzle games with daily rewards	Moderate; daily habits are common but not universal
Games played in short bursts or seasons	Lower, with spikes around events
Utility apps used occasionally (travel, tax)	Low by design, and that is fine

A common rule of thumb in consumer apps treats around 20% as healthy and well above that as strong, but use it only as a rough guide. The best comparison is your own game last month, or games in the same genre.

What DAU and MAU are used for

• Revenue metrics. ARPDAU uses DAU as its denominator; monthly ARPU uses MAU.
• Event impact. A good LiveOps event should lift DAU while it runs. Check whether stickiness stays higher afterwards.
• Health checks. Falling DAU with stable MAU means players are coming back less often. Falling MAU means you are losing reach, often because new installs slowed.
• Partner reporting. Publishers, ad networks and investors ask for both.

Limits of DAU and MAU

• They mix new and old players. A big install campaign raises DAU and MAU even if the game is losing its long-term players. Use cohort analysis and retention to see what is happening underneath.
• The ratio hides intensity. Two games with 20% stickiness can have very different session lengths and revenue.
• Definitions vary. Calendar month vs rolling 30 days, app open vs real play, unique device vs account. Check before comparing with anyone else's numbers.

How to improve stickiness

• Give players a reason to return tomorrow: daily rewards, streaks, energy that refills, a visible next goal.
• Run short, regular events rather than rare big ones.
• Send one useful notification instead of several generic ones.
• Fix the drop-off points in the first week, when habits form.