SaaS Metric
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
Definition
Gross revenue retention (GRR) measures the percentage of recurring revenue retained from an existing customer cohort, excluding any expansion. GRR = (starting MRR − contraction − churn) ÷ starting MRR. Because it ignores upsell, GRR is capped at 100% and exposes raw retention. Strong B2B SaaS GRR is around 90% or higher.
Formula
GRR = ((starting MRR − contraction MRR − churned MRR) ÷ starting MRR) × 100
Benchmark
GRR of 90%+ is strong for B2B SaaS; 80–90% is workable; below 80% signals meaningful churn the business must outrun with new sales.
What GRR reveals
GRR strips out expansion to answer one question: of the revenue you had, how much did you keep? Because it cannot exceed 100%, it is a clean measure of churn and contraction with no upsell masking the picture.
Pairing GRR with NRR is powerful. High NRR with low GRR means expansion is papering over churn — risky, because expansion can stall faster than it took to build. High GRR is the more durable foundation.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good gross revenue retention rate?
For B2B SaaS, GRR around 90% or higher is strong; 80–90% is workable; below 80% means you are losing a meaningful share of revenue each period and must replace it with new sales just to grow.
Why is GRR capped at 100%?
GRR excludes expansion revenue, so the most you can retain is everything you started with. Unlike NRR, it can never exceed 100%, which makes it a pure measure of churn and downgrades.
Related metrics
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
Net revenue retention (NRR) measures recurring revenue kept from existing customers including expansion. Learn the NRR formula, what 100%+ means, and SaaS benchmarks.
Churn Rate
Churn rate is the percentage of customers or revenue lost in a period. Learn the customer churn and revenue churn formulas, healthy SaaS benchmarks, and how to reduce it.
Expansion Revenue
Expansion revenue is additional recurring revenue from existing customers via upgrades, seats and cross-sells. Learn how it drives net negative churn and NRR above 100%.
Track this automatically
Connect Stripe and RetentionLens computes GRR for you — with cohorts, trends and churn-risk scoring. Start on the free tier.
Benchmarks are general SaaS ranges and vary by segment, stage and business model. Last reviewed 2026-05-30.