Monthly active users (MAU)
Engagement metric. How often and how deeply do they use it?
What is monthly active users?
Monthly active users (MAU) is the number of unique users who do a qualifying action in an app over a 30-day period or a calendar month.
Returning user: a user active this month who was acquired in an earlier month.
How to calculate MAU
MAU = Unique users active in the last 30 days (or the calendar month)- Unique users active
- each user counted once in the period
Where definitions differ
| Variant | Formula | When to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Rolling 30-day MAU | Unique users active in the 30 days up to today | Moves every day; smooth for trend charts. |
| Calendar-month MAU | Unique users active in the month | Easier for monthly reports, but months have different lengths. |
| MAU growth | (MAU this month − MAU last month) ÷ MAU last month × 100 | The month-on-month change. |
MAU calculator
Example inputs: change them to your own numbers. The examples only make the calculator show a worked answer; they are not benchmarks or targets. Runs in your browser; nothing you type is sent anywhere.
- MAU growth
- 15%
- Returning users this month
- 72,000
- Share of MAU that is new
- 21.7%
Why is MAU not the sum of DAU?
MAU counts each user once a month, while adding up DAU counts a user once for every day they were active. A user active on 10 days adds 10 to the sum but only 1 to MAU.
How MAU differs by vertical
| EdTech | Monthly learners is the usual board-level number. |
|---|---|
| Fintech | Monthly transacting users is often more useful than MAU on opens. |
| OTT and streaming | Monthly viewers or subscribers. |
| Gaming | Monthly players; read with DAU for stickiness. |
Common mistakes
- Reporting MAU growth driven mainly by new users without checking returning users.
- Comparing a February calendar MAU with a 31-day month.
Questions
How is MAU calculated?
Count every unique user who did your qualifying action in the last 30 days or the calendar month. Each user counts once however often they were active.
Should I use rolling or calendar-month MAU?
Rolling 30-day MAU is better for trend charts because it updates daily; calendar MAU suits monthly reporting. Pick one and label it.
What does falling returning-user MAU mean?
It means fewer people from earlier months are staying, even if total MAU grows on new users. That is a retention problem hidden by acquisition.
Does the calculator send my numbers anywhere?
No. It runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
Why do tools report different values for the same metric?
Because definitions differ: what counts as active, which attribution window applies, whether organic users are included and how days are cut by timezone. Align the definition before comparing numbers.
Which currency do the calculators use?
The calculators show US dollars, but every formula works in any currency: enter your own figures in the currency you report in and read the results in that currency.