D30 Retention %, PostHog

D30 Retention % for PostHog stores. Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre. How to read it, why it matters, and how to act on it.

Metrics type: Supporting Metrics • Category: Analytics

At a glance

D30 Retention % is a retention metric tracked from PostHog data. It measures the share of users who came back and were active 30 days after their first visit. PostHog builds it from cohort retention analysis, following each cohort of first-time users forward in time. D30 is the long-horizon read on whether your store earns a place in customers’ lives, and a low figure means acquisition is not translating into lasting relationships.

What it counts	The percentage of a cohort still active 30 days after their first activity.
Sample type	Backend API data from PostHog retention insights, refreshed on the standard data refresh.
Why it matters	D30 is the durability test. High acquisition with low D30 means you are filling a leaky bucket. It is a foundational input to customer lifetime value.
Reading the value	Compare against the prior period and your baseline. A figure below 15% is flagged as weak long-term retention.
Currency	percent
Time window	90D vsP
Alert trigger	<15%
Sentiment key	ph_retention_d30
Roles	owner, marketing

Calculation

Calculated automatically from your PostHog data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading.

Worked example

A representative reading of D30 Retention % for a typical merchant on PostHog. Suppose a cohort of 5,000 first-time users from early in the period sees about 950 return and act on day 30, a D30 of 19%. After a loyalty programme launched on 01 Apr 26, the next cohort’s D30 rises to 24%, meaning more new customers are forming a lasting habit. If instead it fell below 15%, the alert would warn that acquisition is not converting into retained customers. Cross-reference D7 Retention for the early signal and New vs Returning Users for the mix. For deeper investigation, use Vortex Mind to trace upstream causes; for natural-language exploration, ask Ask Viq.

Sibling cards merchants should reference together

Card	Why merchants reach for it
ph_retention_d7	Retention sibling: the 7-day early signal.
ph_stickiness	Retention sibling: DAU as a share of MAU.
ph_new_vs_returning	Retention sibling: new-to-returning mix.
ph_mau	Executive sibling: monthly active base.
pos_returning_users	Audience sibling: returning users count.

Reconciling against the vendor’s own dashboard

Where to look in PostHog’s own dashboard:

In PostHog, open a Retention insight and read the day-30 column of the cohort grid. The percentage there should align with this card. The two biggest levers are the retention event chosen and whether retention is recurring or first-time based.

Why the Vortex IQ value may legitimately differ:

Reason	Direction	What to do
Retention event. Counting “any event” versus a specific action changes the rate.	Variable	Match the retention event.
Recurring vs first-time. PostHog supports both retention types, which give different curves.	Variable	Confirm the retention type.
Cohort maturity. Recent cohorts have not yet reached day 30 and are excluded.	Variable	Use mature cohorts only.

Cross-connector reconciliation: complement with sibling cards in the same category for the full diagnostic picture. For divergence investigations, use Vortex Mind.

Known limitations / merchant FAQs

Q: How often does D30 Retention % update? The card refreshes on the standard data refresh (typically every 30-60 minutes for live integrations). For real-time signals, force a manual refresh from the dashboard.

Q: Why can’t I see retention for last week’s users? A cohort needs 30 full days to have a day-30 value. Recent cohorts are still maturing, so D30 always describes users who first appeared at least 30 days ago.

Q: What counts as retained? By default, returning and triggering the retention event within the cohort window. If that event is “any event”, almost any return counts; if it is “purchase”, the bar is much higher. Pick the definition that matches your goal.

Q: Can I customise the alert threshold? Yes, alert thresholds are configurable per profile in the Alert Rules tab. Adjust to match your business baseline rather than relying on the generic default.

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Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre

D30 Retention % is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across PostHog and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English.

Start for free or book a demo to see this metric running on your own data.