By Quick answer: What is a north star metric and what are good examples?
- Definition — the metric that best captures customer value delivered.
- Tests — reflects value, leads revenue, is actionable, is understandable.
- Inputs — breadth, depth, frequency, efficiency.
- Guardrails — protect quality, trust and wellbeing.
- Examples — nights booked, time reading, orders delivered, weekly active teams.
Key takeaways
- Revenue is an outcome of value, so it's rarely the best north star by itself.
- The best north stars count value moments, not visits.
- Input metrics turn the north star into team-level work.
- A north star without guardrails can reward harmful growth.
- Revisit it when your strategy or business model changes.
Teams drown in dashboards. A north star metric cuts through: one number that says whether customers are getting value, and that every team can see themselves moving. Amplitude's North Star Playbook describes it as the metric that best captures the core value your product delivers to customers1. Choose well and it aligns everyone. Choose badly — page views, raw downloads — and you'll optimise for the wrong thing very efficiently.
Documented examples
Airbnb — nights booked
Airbnb reports nights and experiences booked as a key metric in its investor results2 — a direct measure of value for guests and hosts.
Medium — total time reading
Medium's data team wrote in 2013 that its key metric was total time reading, chosen over page views to reflect real engagement3.
Duolingo — daily active users
Duolingo leads its quarterly results with daily active users, reflecting a product whose value is a daily learning habit4.
How to choose one
- Reflects customer value — counts moments when users get what they came for
- Leads revenue — growing it tends to grow the business
- Is actionable — teams can influence it through their work
- Is understandable — anyone in the company can explain it
- Is measurable frequently enough to guide decisions
Inputs and guardrails
| Layer | Examples for a food delivery app |
|---|---|
| North star | Orders delivered on time per week |
| Breadth input | Active customers in the week |
| Frequency input | Orders per active customer |
| Efficiency input | Checkout conversion; delivery time |
| Guardrails | Order accuracy, refund rate, delivery partner earnings, complaints |
30 examples by product type
The examples below are illustrative choices for each product type, not claims about specific companies.
| Product type | Possible north star |
|---|---|
| Travel marketplace | Nights booked |
| Ride-hailing | Completed rides per week |
| Food delivery | Orders delivered on time per week |
| Quick commerce | Orders delivered within promised time |
| E-commerce marketplace | Purchases by repeat customers |
| Payments app | Successful transactions by active users |
| Personal finance | Users with a budget on track this month |
| Investing app | Investors making regular contributions |
| Insurance app | Active policies with renewals |
| Lending app | Loans repaid on time |
| Messaging | Daily active senders |
| Social network | Daily users who create or reply |
| Dating | Matches leading to conversations |
| Music streaming | Time spent listening |
| Video streaming | Hours watched by subscribers |
| Publishing platform | Total time reading |
| Podcasts | Episodes completed |
| Language learning | Daily active learners |
| Exam prep | Practice sessions completed per week |
| Online courses | Learners completing modules |
| Fitness | Weekly workouts completed |
| Health tracking | Days with logged readings |
| Telemedicine | Consultations resolved |
| Team chat (B2B) | Weekly active teams |
| Project management | Tasks completed by active teams |
| Design tool | Weekly active editors |
| CRM | Deals updated by active sales users |
| Developer platform | Successful deployments per week |
| Analytics SaaS | Weekly active querying users |
| Marketplace for services | Jobs completed with good ratings |
Common mistakes
Vanity metrics
Downloads and sign-ups don't show value delivered.
Revenue alone
Lags value and can be grown in harmful ways.
Too many "north stars"
If there are five, there isn't one.
No guardrails
Engagement at any cost can hurt users and trust.
The north star sits at the top of your metric tree — see product metrics every PM must know. Before you have one, look for product–market fit.
Key terms, defined
North star metric — the measure of core customer value. Input metric — a driver of the north star. Guardrail metric — a metric that must not worsen. Value moment — when a user gets what they came for. Vanity metric — a number that looks good but doesn't guide decisions.
Frequently asked questions
What is a north star metric?
The one metric a product team uses to capture the core value customers get from the product, chosen because growing it tends to drive sustainable business results.
Can revenue be a north star metric?
It can, but revenue lags value and can be grown in ways that hurt customers. Most frameworks recommend a value-based metric, with revenue as an outcome to watch.
What are input metrics?
The drivers of the north star — typically breadth (how many users), depth (how much they use), frequency (how often) and efficiency (how easily). Teams own specific inputs.
What is Airbnb's north star metric?
Airbnb is widely cited as using nights booked, and it reports nights and experiences booked as a key business metric in its investor results.
Is DAU a good north star metric?
Sometimes, for products where daily use is the value (messaging, learning habits). For others, DAU can reward empty visits. Prefer a metric tied to a meaningful action.
How often should a north star change?
Rarely — perhaps every year or two, or when strategy or the business model changes significantly. Frequent changes undermine alignment.
Sources
- Amplitude — The North Star Playbook
- Airbnb Investor Relations — Quarterly results (nights and experiences booked)
- Medium Data Lab — Medium's metric that matters: Total Time Reading (2013)
- Duolingo Investor Relations — Quarterly results and shareholder letters
- Checked October 23, 2026. Figures that change — fees, salaries, prices — are reviewed every six months; if something is out of date, tell us.
Where to go from here
- Product metrics every PM must know — the inputs beneath the north star
- What is product-market fit? — the signal before the north star
- Career guidesProduct metrics skills employers want in 2027: north star metrics, input metrics, AARRR, HEART, leading and lagging indicators, guardrails and cohortsProduct metrics skills employers want in 2027: north star and input metrics, AARRR, HEART, leading vs lagging, guardrails, cohorts and vanity metrics.
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