Cohort Retention Curves

How retention changes over time for groups of users who joined together. The gold standard for retention analysis.

Plot % of cohort still active at Week 1, 2, 3... through Week N

What it measures

Retention tracked by user cohorts (typically grouped by signup week or month) over their entire lifecycle. The curve shape matters more than any single number: healthy products flatten into a horizontal line; struggling products decline continuously toward zero.

Benchmarks

Consumer Social: Good: 25% | Great: 45% (6-month)
Consumer Transactional: Good: 30% | Great: 50% (6-month)
Consumer SaaS: Good: 40% | Great: 70% (6-month)
SMB/Mid-market SaaS: Good: 60% | Great: 80% (6-month)
Enterprise SaaS: Good: 75% | Great: 90% (6-month)

What to watch

Curve flattens: Healthy sign — you have a stable user base that finds ongoing value.
Curve never flattens: Every cohort eventually churns to zero. Your product isn't creating lasting value.

In practice

A fitness app saw overall retention of 15% at 6 months but noticed cohort curves never flattened, just declined more slowly. When they segmented by workout type, users who tried strength training in week 1 had curves that flattened at 35%, while cardio-only users declined to 5%. They redesigned onboarding to introduce strength training earlier.