The ultimate guide to Monthly Active Users (MAU) for apps

Definition of Monthly Active Users (MAU): MAU is a metric that measures the total number of unique users who interacted with an app over a 30-day period. It is a critical measure of an app's health and performance.

Calculation of MAU: MAU can be calculated by adding the number of unique users who used the app in a specific month. Average MAU is calculated by summing each month's unique users and dividing it by 12.

Advantages of tracking MAU:

• Track user engagement: MAU indicates how often users interact with an app, making it a strong indicator of user engagement and retention.
• Compare MAUs to Weekly Active Users (WAUs) or Daily Active Users (DAUs) to measure the quality of user engagement.
• Measure the success of Product-Led Growth (PLG) strategies by analyzing the impact of improvements on MAU.
• Assess the effectiveness of app changes and features by comparing MAU and user engagement.

Importance of defining active users: The criteria for defining an active user can vary depending on the app's features and purpose. It could be as simple as app opening or logging in, or require a higher level of active engagement.

Potential limitations of MAU: MAU alone may not provide a complete picture of user engagement if users are not actively engaging with key features. Monitoring additional metrics alongside MAU can provide a more comprehensive understanding of app performance.