Retention Curve
Definition
A graph showing the percentage of users who remain active over time after signup.
What is a Retention Curve? | early.tools Glossary
The retention curve is the single most important chart for product-market fit. Plot cohorts of users (by signup week) and track what % return on Day 1, Week 1, Month 1, etc. A healthy curve flattens — churn slows and a stable base of retained users emerges. A bad curve trends toward zero, meaning you're churning everyone eventually. The shape tells the story: steep drop in first week = onboarding problem, steady decline = weak core value, flat after Month 3 = you've found retention. Retention curves also reveal cohort quality: users from organic search often retain better than paid ads. Top products (Slack, Notion, Figma) flatten around 60-80% retention at Month 6.
Related Terms
Churn Rate
Churn rate is the percentage of customers who cancel their subscription in a given period. It's the silent killer of SaaS businesses—you can't grow faster than you're losing customers.
Product-Market Fit (PMF)
Product-market fit happens when your product solves a real problem for a specific market so well that people actively seek it out, use it regularly, and tell others about it.