Keywords · Product · Retention · Updated 2026-07-21

What is Daily Active Users (DAU)?

Short answer: The count of unique users who take a meaningful action in a product on a given day.

Definition

The count of unique users who take a meaningful action in a product on a given day.

Why it matters for growth

DAU is the base unit for measuring daily engagement and is most meaningful for products designed to be used every day.

Example

A messaging app reports 2 million DAU, meaning 2 million unique accounts sent or read a message that day.

FAQ

What is Daily Active Users (DAU)?
The count of unique users who take a meaningful action in a product on a given day.
Why does Daily Active Users (DAU) matter for growth?
DAU is the base unit for measuring daily engagement and is most meaningful for products designed to be used every day.
What is an example of Daily Active Users (DAU)?
A messaging app reports 2 million DAU, meaning 2 million unique accounts sent or read a message that day.
What is Daily Active Users (DAU)? Definition and growth use · Cofounderbase