Most app teams have the opposite of a measurement problem — they track too much and act on too little. The fix isn't more dashboards; it's a focused set of KPIs that map to the growth loop, each judged against a real benchmark. This guide is that set, grouped by where it sits in the loop, with catalog medians so you can tell whether your number is good or just familiar.
Start with a north-star
Above the KPI tree sits one number: the north-star metric — the single measure that best captures the value your product delivers (daily active users, workouts logged, tracks played). Everything below is a supporting input. Choose it first, because it decides which of the metrics below you optimize hardest.
Acquisition KPIs
How efficiently you bring users in.
- Cost per install / CAC — what a user costs, measured always against LTV.
- ROAS — return on ad spend, by cohort and channel.
- Organic-install share — catalog median 61.6%; organic is the larger channel for most non-game apps.
- IPM and install attribution — creative efficiency and channel truth. (See the user acquisition playbook.)
Activation & retention KPIs
Whether the users you got stick around — the foundation everything else multiplies on.
- Activation rate — share of new users who reach the core-value milestone in session one.
- N-day retention — catalog medians: D1 27.3%, D7 9.2%, D30 3.9%. The top decile reaches ~10.9% D30.
- Churn — the inverse; median D30 engagement churn is 96.1%. (See the retention playbook.)
Engagement KPIs
How deeply and often active users use the product — the leading indicator of retention.
- DAU/MAU stickiness — catalog median 14.1%; a good bar is 20%+.
- Sessions per user per day — catalog median 2.94.
- Session length and time per user — median session 1m 22s, median ~4m 18s per day (but read this against category — utilities are healthy short, games long). (See the engagement playbook.)
Monetization KPIs
How much value you capture from the users you keep.
- Conversion to paying — for most consumer apps a low-single-digit conversion rate; a blended ~6% is a planning anchor.
- ARPU — catalog median $0.15 (30-day), top decile $4.64.
- ARPPU — revenue per paying user; median modeled $1.88/month.
- ARPDAU — median ~$0.01 IAP (excludes ad revenue).
- LTV — the integral of ARPDAU over the retention curve. (See the monetization playbook.)
The one ratio that ties it all together
LTV ÷ CAC. It connects every group above — retention and monetization build LTV, acquisition spends CAC — and a ratio of 3+ is the bar for a healthy, scalable business. Most KPI work is ultimately in service of moving this single ratio.
The benchmark sheet
| KPI | Catalog median | Strong (top decile) |
|---|---|---|
| D1 / D7 / D30 retention | 27.3% / 9.2% / 3.9% | ~10.9% D30 |
| DAU/MAU stickiness | 14.1% | 31% |
| Sessions / user / day | 2.94 | 5.28 |
| ARPU (30-day) | $0.15 | $4.64 |
| ARPDAU (IAP) | $0.01 | $0.04 |
| Organic-install share | 61.6% | 77% |
Vanity vs actionable
A metric earns a place on the dashboard only if a change in it changes what you'd do. Cumulative downloads and total registered users always rise and signal nothing; cohort retention, trial-to-paid conversion, stickiness, and viral coefficient move with specific levers and tell you which one worked. Track the rates and cohorts, not the running totals — few enough that the team can actually act on every one.