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Retention Rate Calculator
TL;DR
Customer retention rate = (customers at start − customers lost) ÷ customers at start × 100. Gross revenue retention (GRR) = (starting MRR − MRR lost to churn and downgrades) ÷ starting MRR × 100, and caps at 100% because it excludes expansion. GRR above 90% is strong for enterprise SaaS; 80%+ is typical for SMB. Customer churn rate is the complement of retention: churn rate = 100% − retention rate.
Section 1 — Customer Retention Rate
New customers do not affect retention — only the starting cohort and how many of them stayed. Retention = (start − churned) ÷ start.
Customer Retention Rate
96.0%
Excellent — very low logo churn.
Customer Churn Rate
4.0%
20 of 500 customers lost. End-of-period count: 515.
Section 2 — Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
GRR excludes expansion revenue and caps at 100%. It measures pure revenue leakage. For NRR (which includes expansion), use the NRR calculator.
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
97.0%
Excellent — best-in-class GRR for enterprise SaaS.
See also: Customer Retention Rate definition · NRR calculator
How to calculate customer retention rate
Customer retention rate = (customers at start − customers churned) ÷ customers at start × 100. Do not add new customers acquired during the period to the numerator — doing so inflates retention and masks churn.
Customer churn rate = 100% − retention rate. The two metrics are complements of each other.
How to calculate GRR
GRR = (starting MRR − MRR lost to churn and downgrades) ÷ starting MRR × 100. GRR intentionally excludes expansion to isolate pure revenue leakage. It can never exceed 100%. It is often a more conservative and investor-trusted metric than NRR.
GRR benchmarks
Enterprise SaaS with long-term contracts typically runs 90–95% GRR. Mid-market products are usually 85–90%. SMB products with higher natural turnover often see 75–85%. Below 75% is a signal of a structurally leaky business that will struggle to grow even with strong new sales.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate customer retention rate?
Customer retention rate = (customers at start of period − customers lost during the period) ÷ customers at start × 100. Crucially, new customers acquired during the period are not included in this formula — retention measures only what fraction of the starting cohort remained.
What is the difference between GRR and NRR?
Gross revenue retention (GRR) excludes expansion revenue — it measures only what you lost to churn and downgrades, so it can never exceed 100%. Net revenue retention (NRR) adds back expansion (upgrades, seat additions, usage), so it can exceed 100%. A business with 90% GRR and 115% NRR is losing some customers but growing revenue from those that stay.
What is a good customer retention rate for SaaS?
Enterprise SaaS typically targets 90%+ annual customer retention (roughly 99% monthly). SMB-focused products often see lower retention — 85–88% annually is common. Monthly retention of 97–98% is the threshold that separates compounding growth from a leaky bucket.
Why does customer retention rate exclude new customers?
New customers acquired during the period inflate the end-of-period count, which would make retention look better than it actually is. By measuring only the starting cohort, the formula isolates the business's ability to keep the customers it already has — independently of how aggressively it is acquiring new ones.
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Benchmarks are general SaaS ranges and vary by segment, stage and business model. Last reviewed 2026-06-28.