Weekly Active Users (WAU)

WAU

Weekly Active Users (WAU) is the count of unique users who perform at least one qualifying action within a rolling 7-day window. It occupies the middle ground between daily habit metrics and monthly reach metrics, making it the most appropriate primary engagement metric for products built around weekly workflows — sprint planning, weekly reporting, or team standups.

formula.sh

WAU = unique users with ≥1 qualifying event in the last 7 days

> Unique users: deduplicated user IDs across the full 7-day window
> Qualifying event: same definition used for DAU and MAU — never change mid-series
> Rolling 7 days: window shifts daily, calculated on each UTC day boundary

example

example.sh

A sprint planning tool has 6,000 registered users. 2,100 created or commented on a ticket in the last 7 days.

Distinct user_ids with ticket_create or ticket_comment event in rolling 7-day window

→ WAU = 2,100 (35% WAU/registered ratio)

why it matters

For products whose natural use cadence is weekly rather than daily, WAU is a far more honest signal than DAU. If your product is a weekly OKR review tool and your DAU/MAU is 14%, that looks alarming by consumer benchmarks — but a 70% WAU/MAU ratio is excellent. Choosing the wrong frequency metric gives you systematically misleading health signals.

WAU also makes churn prediction more actionable than MAU. A user who misses one week of activity is a much earlier warning sign than one who misses a full month. Teams that alert on 2-week WAU drop-offs for paid accounts can trigger save campaigns weeks before that customer churns.

common mistakes

✗Using WAU for daily-use products where DAU is the appropriate frequency signal

✗Ignoring the WAU/MAU ratio — if it is below 25% for a weekly-workflow product, most monthly actives are barely engaged

✗Treating a drop in WAU during a holiday week as a product signal — seasonality adjustment is essential

pro tips

✓For B2B SaaS, plot WAU by day-of-week to confirm your product is used during the workweek — usage on Saturday signals either very engaged users or a bug in your event tracking

✓Set automated alerts when a paid account drops from WAU to bi-weekly active — that lag is your intervention window before churn

✓Use WAU cohorts (week 1, 2, 4, 8 post-signup) as your primary retention curve for weekly-workflow products instead of DAU cohorts

the mrrsucks take

Your WAU retention curve looks like a ski slope designed by someone who hates skiers. Ninety percent of your users finish their first week and politely never return, which is technically a form of product feedback.

faq

When should I use WAU instead of DAU or MAU?+

Use WAU as your primary engagement metric when your product's natural use frequency is weekly — project management, reporting tools, OKR software, scheduling tools. If users should open your app daily, track DAU. If monthly is the expected cadence, MAU is fine.

What is a good WAU/MAU ratio?+

For weekly-workflow products, 50–70% WAU/MAU is strong, meaning users who are monthly active are also weekly active. Below 30% suggests that most monthly actives visit rarely and infrequently.

How do I handle weekends in WAU calculations for B2B tools?+

Use a rolling 7-day window rather than a Mon–Sun calendar week. This smooths the weekend gap automatically. If you use calendar weeks, expect a systematic 15–25% WAU drop every Monday that reflects timing, not product health.

1,000 active users milestone›

related metrics

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