---
title: Retention Guides: Cohorts, Curves and Channels
description: Guides to app retention: classic vs rolling vs cumulative, reading retention curves, paid vs organic Day 1, retention by channel and turning it into decisions.
url: https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/
---

[Home](https://retentioncohorts.com/) / Guides

# Retention guides

Working guides for growth and product teams reading cohort retention.

**Short answer**

Seven guides that go past the definitions: comparing the three types, reading a retention curve, why paid Day 1 trails organic, cutting retention by channel, choosing the cohort start event, weekly-use apps, and turning retention into budget decisions.

## Which guide do you need?

- [01 **Classic vs rolling vs cumulative retention** Classic, rolling and cumulative retention count different users on the same day. See the definitions, a ten-user worked example and when to use each one.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/classic-vs-rolling-vs-cumulative/)
- [02 **How to read a retention curve** A retention curve plots one cohort's retention against Day N. Read the early drop, the flattening point and smile curves, and why shape depends on definition.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/read-a-retention-curve/)
- [03 **Why paid D1 retention is lower than organic** Paid D1 retention below organic is partly normal, as organic users arrive with intent. See the causes, from targeting to measurement errors, and how to check.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/paid-d1-lower-than-organic/)
- [04 **Retention by channel and campaign** Blended retention hides what each channel does. Learn to cut a cohort table by channel, campaign and creative, keep naming clean and spot a channel mix shift.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/retention-by-channel/)
- [05 **Choosing the cohort start event: install or first purchase** How to define cohorts by choosing a start event: install, first open, sign-up or first purchase, what each answers, survivorship bias, day boundaries, channels.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/cohort-start-event/)
- [06 **Retention for weekly-use vs daily-use apps** Why classic Day N retention undercounts apps people use weekly, and how cumulative windows, weekly cohorts and DAU/MAU give a fairer read of weekly-use apps.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/weekly-vs-daily-use-apps/)
- [07 **Turning retention into decisions: LTV, payback and budget** How to turn app retention into decisions: which definition feeds LTV and forecasts, a simple LTV from a retention curve, cost per retained user and payback.](https://retentioncohorts.com/learn/retention-to-decisions/)

See this on your own app

The Linkrunner blog covers retention, cohorts and channel measurement in more depth, and Linkrunner reports all three retention views for your own app.

- [Linkrunner blog](https://linkrunner.io/blog?utm_source=retentioncohorts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=learn&utm_content=panel)
- [Retention in the Linkrunner docs](https://docs.linkrunner.io/features/retention?utm_source=retentioncohorts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=learn&utm_content=panel)
- [Create a free account (25k installs free)](https://dashboard.linkrunner.io/sign-in?utm_source=retentioncohorts&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=learn&utm_content=panel)

## Questions

**What is the difference between classic, rolling and cumulative retention?**

Classic counts users active on exactly Day N. Rolling counts users active on Day N or any later day, and cumulative counts users active at least once from Day 1 to Day N. They use the same raw activity but answer different questions.

**Why is my rolling retention higher than classic?**

Rolling also counts users who skipped Day N but came back later, so it can never be lower than classic. The gap grows the longer a cohort has been observed, because late returns keep adding to it.

**What is cumulative retention?**

Cumulative retention is the share of an install cohort that opened the app at least once between Day 1 and Day N. It never falls as N grows and it is fixed once Day N has passed, which makes it a good activation measure.

**Which retention number should I compare with published benchmarks?**

Classic retention, unless the benchmark says otherwise, because most published retention benchmarks count activity on an exact day. Comparing a rolling or cumulative number with a classic benchmark will flatter you.

**Are the numbers on this site real?**

No. Every chart and table uses one made-up app built to show the method. The numbers are sample data, not benchmarks, so use them to learn the definitions rather than to judge your own app.