Retention cohort

A retention cohort is a group of users or accounts who started using your product in the same time window, such as a week or month.

You track each cohort over time to see what percentage are still active at Day 7, Day 30, Day 90, and beyond.

Rows represent cohorts (e.g., users who signed up in January, February, etc.).

Columns represent time periods since signup (Week 1, Week 2, etc.).

Each cell shows the percentage of that cohort still active at that time.

Looking down a column shows whether newer cohorts retain better than older ones.

Cohort analysis helps you see whether newer groups are retaining better or worse than older groups, especially after you change onboarding or pricing.

Aggregate retention metrics can hide problems—if you are acquiring more users but they retain worse, aggregates might still look stable.

Cohorts reveal the true trajectory of your retention and whether you are improving over time.

Time-based cohorts: Grouped by when users signed up (most common).

Behavioral cohorts: Grouped by actions taken (e.g., users who completed onboarding vs. those who did not).

Acquisition cohorts: Grouped by how users were acquired (organic vs. paid, channel-specific).

By comparing cohorts before and after you change onboarding or pricing, you can see whether those changes improved or hurt retention.

You can also use cohorts to identify segments that retain especially well and design more targeted PLG programs for them.

Track cohort curves to understand when users typically churn—early drop-off indicates onboarding issues, later drop-off may indicate engagement problems.