25+ North Star Metric Examples by Industry [2026 Guide]

Finding your North Star Metric is easier when you can learn from companies that got it right—and those that got it wrong.

This guide covers 25+ real examples across every major industry, including the emerging AI/ML category that most guides ignore. You'll also learn which metrics to avoid (the "anti-examples") and how to choose the right NSM based on your business type.

Quick Refresher: What Makes a Good North Star Metric?

Before diving into examples, remember that a valid North Star Metric must:

Now let's see how the best companies apply these principles.

SaaS North Star Metric Examples

SaaS companies typically focus on engagement depth or activation signals because these predict retention and expansion revenue.

Notion: Weekly Active Users Creating Content

Notion tracks users who create or edit pages weekly. Why? Because content creation is the "aha moment"—when users realize Notion replaces multiple tools. Passive viewers don't get value; creators do.

Linear: Issues Completed Per Week

The project management tool measures completed issues, not just created ones. This captures actual productivity gains—the core promise of their product.

Figma: Weekly Collaborators Per File

Figma's magic happens when multiple people edit the same design. Their NSM tracks collaborative sessions because that's when teams experience the real-time collaboration that makes Figma irreplaceable.

Slack: Daily Active Users Per Paid Team

Slack measures engagement at the team level because they monetize teams, not individuals. High DAU per team signals sticky adoption that's unlikely to churn.

Amplitude: Weekly Learning Users (WLU)

Amplitude defines "learning users" as those who consume and share 3+ charts weekly. This captures users who are actually getting insights from data, not just logging in.

HubSpot: Weekly Active Teams

Similar to Slack, HubSpot focuses on team-level engagement because that's how they monetize and that's where compounding value happens.

Intercom: Customer Interactions

For a customer messaging platform, the number of customer interactions directly measures value delivered. More conversations = more problems solved = higher retention.

Marketplace North Star Metric Examples

Two-sided marketplaces must balance supply and demand. Their NSMs typically measure successful transactions.

Airbnb: Nights Booked

The classic example. Nights booked captures both sides of the marketplace working—guests finding value and hosts earning income. It's specific (not just "bookings") because nights directly correlates with revenue.

Uber: Rides Completed Per Week

Uber focuses on completed rides, not requested ones. Completion rate matters because a failed ride harms both driver earnings and rider experience.

DoorDash: Orders Delivered

Notice the word "delivered"—not "ordered." This includes the full journey where value is actually created. If food arrives late or wrong, that's not a successful transaction.

Etsy: Gross Merchandise Sales from Repeat Buyers

Etsy adds "repeat buyers" to capture loyalty, not just one-time purchases. This indicates sustainable marketplace health rather than flash-in-the-pan sales.

Upwork: Dollars Earned by Freelancers

By focusing on freelancer earnings, Upwork ensures they're tracking real value creation. High earnings mean freelancers stay on the platform, which attracts more clients.

E-Commerce North Star Metric Examples

E-commerce companies often focus on purchase frequency and customer lifetime value.

Shopify: Active Merchants with Sales

Shopify doesn't just count stores—they count stores making sales. This ensures their NSM reflects merchants actually succeeding, not just signing up.

Amazon: Purchase Frequency per Prime Member

Amazon focuses on Prime because those members have 4x higher lifetime value. Purchase frequency (not total revenue) indicates habit formation and stickiness.

Stripe: Payment Volume Processed

For a payments infrastructure company, total volume processed directly measures customer success. When Stripe's customers grow, Stripe grows.

Consumer App North Star Metric Examples

Consumer apps typically measure engagement depth and frequency.

Spotify: Time Spent Listening

Listening time indicates users are finding music they love. It's better than "songs played" because it weights longer engagement higher.

Netflix: Median Viewing Hours per Subscriber

Netflix uses median (not average) to avoid skew from power users. This ensures they're optimizing for typical subscriber value, not edge cases.

Duolingo: Daily Active Learners (DAL)

Duolingo focuses on daily engagement because language learning requires consistent practice. They also track secondary metrics like lesson completion rate and streak length.

Strava: Weekly Active Users Logging Activities

For a fitness app, logged activities indicate real-world exercise. Users who log consistently are getting value and building habits.

TikTok: Time Spent in App

TikTok optimizes for total time spent because their ad revenue directly correlates with user attention. The algorithm's job is to maximize this metric.

AI Product North Star Metric Examples

AI products are a new category, and their NSMs often focus on output quality and adoption depth.

ChatGPT: Conversations per Active User

OpenAI tracks conversation volume because it indicates users finding real utility. More conversations = more problems solved = higher perceived value.

Midjourney: Images Generated per Subscriber

For an AI image generator, output volume shows engagement. But quality matters too—they likely also track images that users download or share.

GitHub Copilot: Code Suggestions Accepted

Copilot measures accepted suggestions, not just shown ones. Acceptance rate indicates the AI is actually helpful, not just busy generating code nobody uses.

Jasper: Content Pieces Published

The AI writing tool tracks content that gets published (not just generated) because that's when users get real value—content that goes live.

Claude/Anthropic: Tasks Completed per User

For an AI assistant, task completion captures the full value cycle—not just conversations started, but problems actually solved.

Anti-Examples: What NOT to Use as Your North Star

Learning what doesn't work is just as valuable. Avoid these common traps:

Revenue Alone

Revenue is important but problematic as a North Star:

Better: Find the leading indicator that predicts revenue.

Total Registered Users

MySpace focused on registered users while Facebook tracked monthly active users. We know how that ended. Registered users who never return are worthless.

Better: Track active users with a specific time window (daily, weekly, monthly).

Page Views or Sessions

High page views with low conversion is meaningless. It might even indicate user confusion (people clicking around trying to find what they need).

Better: Track goal completions or value moments.

App Downloads

Downloads without retention is wasted acquisition spend. Most apps lose 80% of users within 3 days.

Better: Track users who complete onboarding or reach a key milestone.

Social Media Followers

Followers don't equal customers. Many followers are bots or inactive accounts.

Better: Track engagement rate or conversions from social.

How to Choose Based on Your Business Type

Use this decision framework:

If You're a Marketplace:

Focus on successful transactions (completed, not just initiated). Make sure your metric captures both supply and demand sides working.

If You're SaaS:

Focus on engagement depth within your core value proposition. "Active users" is too vague—define what "active" means for your specific product.

If You're Consumer:

Focus on frequency and depth of engagement. Daily or weekly active users with a specific action (not just opens).

If You're E-Commerce:

Focus on purchase frequency and repeat behavior. One-time buyers are less valuable than loyal customers.

If You're AI:

Focus on output quality and adoption depth. Volume of generations matters, but acceptance/usage of outputs matters more.

Stage Matters: How NSMs Evolve

The same company might need different North Stars at different stages:

Seed Stage (Pre-PMF)

Focus on activation signals: "Users who reach aha moment" or "Users who complete core action in first session"

Growth Stage (Post-PMF)

Focus on engagement depth: "Weekly active users" or "Feature adoption rate"

Scale Stage

Focus on efficiency: "Net Revenue Retention" or "LTV/CAC ratio"

Review your NSM quarterly to ensure it still matches your current strategy.

Find Your North Star Metric

These examples show patterns, not templates to copy. Your North Star should be unique to your business, reflecting your specific value proposition and growth model.

Use YMWT to discover your North Star Metric in 15 minutes. Our guided framework walks you through the process step by step—no guesswork required.