What versions of PostgreSQL does Better Analyst support?

Better Analyst supports PostgreSQL 12 and later, including all current versions. Managed services like Amazon RDS, Google Cloud SQL, Supabase, Neon, and Heroku Postgres are all compatible.

What credentials do I need to connect?

You need your database host, port, database name, username, and password. We recommend creating a dedicated read-only role for Better Analyst for maximum security.

How do I connect my PostgreSQL database to Better Analyst?

Click "Connect PostgreSQL," enter your connection details (host, port, database, username, password), and click connect. Better Analyst verifies the connection instantly and you can start analyzing right away.

What data can I analyze with Better Analyst?

You can analyze any table, view, or materialized view that the connected user has access to. Ask questions in plain English and Better Analyst generates the appropriate SQL query and returns your results.

Is my database data secure?

Yes. Credentials are encrypted at rest and in transit. Read only is the default. If you explicitly enable Read and write, Better Analyst can manage destination tables only in the approved schema, subject to the database role you provide. SSL/TLS connections are supported for full end-to-end encryption.

Does Better Analyst affect my database performance?

Better Analyst executes lightweight, read-only queries. For high-traffic production databases, we recommend connecting to a read replica to completely isolate analytics workloads from your primary instance.

Activation Funnel from PostgreSQL: Signup to First Value

Measure your product activation funnel from PostgreSQL users and events tables: step conversion within a time window, by signup cohort and source.

By David Bressler
Published November 3, 2026
Updated November 3, 2026

Summary

An activation funnel measures how many new signups reach each step toward first value, such as creating a project, inviting a teammate and starting a paid plan, within a set number of days. Your app's PostgreSQL tables already record these steps, so Better Analyst can build the funnel directly, by week of signup and by acquisition source.

On this page

Who this report is for
What the report includes
How to build it in Better Analyst from PostgreSQL
Questions to ask
Sample output
Charts to use
Keep it up to date
Further reading
FAQ

Who this report is for

Product managers, growth teams and founders who want to know where new users stall during onboarding, using the data the product already stores rather than a separate analytics tool.

What the report includes

Metrics and dimensions in this report

Metric	Source field	Why it matters
Signup	users.created_at (example schema)	Defines each user's start and their weekly signup cohort.
Acquisition source	users.signup_source (example schema)	Compares activation by channel.
Funnel step events	events.event_name, events.user_id, events.created_at (example schema)	Records when each user first completed each step.
Step conversion	Calculated: users reaching step N ÷ users reaching step N − 1	Shows which step loses the most users.
Time to step	Calculated: first step time − signup time	Median time to activation; long gaps suggest friction.

How to build it in Better Analyst from PostgreSQL

Create a read-only PostgreSQL user, and if your database restricts inbound traffic, allowlist the Better Analyst IP ranges listed in the PostgreSQL connector docs.
In Better Analyst, open Connectors, choose Add Connector, then PostgreSQL, and enter host, port (5432 by default), database, username, password and SSL mode (require is recommended).
Test the connection and save.
List the funnel steps and their event names in Data Context, plus the window (for example 'within 14 days of signup').
Ask for the funnel by weekly signup cohort for the last eight weeks, with step-to-step conversion and median time to each step.

Questions to ask

“Build an activation funnel: signed up, created first project, invited a teammate, started a paid plan, each within 14 days of signup.”
“Which step has the biggest drop-off for users who signed up from paid search?”
“What's the median time from signup to first project, by week?”
“Which users signed up in the last 7 days?”

Sample output

Sample data for illustration, not real account data.

Sample data: 14-day activation funnel, September signups (illustrative)

Step	Users	Step conversion	From signup
Signed up	4,800	100.0%	100.0%
Created first project	2,880	60.0%	60.0%
Invited a teammate	1,008	35.0%	21.0%
Started paid plan	302	30.0%	6.3%

Charts to use

Activation funnel (Funnel chart): Users remaining at each step with step-to-step conversion labels.
Activation by signup week (Line chart): Share of each weekly cohort reaching the key step, to see whether onboarding changes helped.

Keep it up to date

A weekly scheduled task can post the latest cohort's funnel to the product team's Slack channel every Monday.

Frequently asked questions

Should funnel steps have to happen in order?

For activation, usually yes: count a user at step 3 only if they completed steps 1 and 2 first. Say so in your definition, because unordered funnels give higher numbers.

Why use a time window?

Without one, older cohorts always look better because they've had longer. A fixed window, like 14 days from signup, makes cohorts comparable.

What if my steps aren't logged as events?

Use the timestamps that already exist, for example projects.created_at or invitations.created_at, and take each user's first one. Better Analyst can build the funnel from several tables.