Retention Cohort
A group of users defined by a shared start date, tracked over time to measure return rates.
Definition
A retention cohort is a set of users who all share a common starting event - typically installing the app or signing up - on the same date or within the same date range. By tracking each cohort's behavior over time independently, you can see how changes to your product affect different groups of users without the results being contaminated by new cohorts joining continuously. Cohort analysis is the correct way to measure retention because it isolates the effect of time from the effect of user mix.
→ In practice
"The January cohort has 18% day-30 retention, but the February cohort (after we shipped the new onboarding) has 27%. That confirms the change worked."
Common questions
Why do I need cohorts instead of just looking at daily active users?
DAU mixes users from different sign-up dates together. If you acquire more users in a month, DAU rises even if your product is retaining worse. Cohort analysis isolates the performance of each group, so you see the true retention trend.
What is a funnel-split retention cohort?
A funnel-split retention cohort separates users into two groups - those who completed your onboarding funnel and those who did not - and plots their retention curves separately. The gap between the two curves tells you how much improving funnel completion would move overall retention.
Related terms
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