SaaS Churn Rate & LTV Calculator
Enter your MRR, customer count, and monthly churned customers to instantly see your customer churn rate, MRR churn rate, net revenue retention, customer LTV, and projected annual MRR at risk.
Customer LTV
Churn Health: CriticalCustomer Churn/Mo
5.0%
MRR Churn/Mo
5.0%
Net Revenue Retention
100.0%
Avg Rev/Customer
$250/mo
Avg Lifetime
20.0 mo
Annual MRR at Risk
$30.0K
Churn Benchmarks by Stage
| Stage / ARR | Good Churn | Target NRR |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed (<$100K ARR) | 5–10%/mo | >80% |
| Early ($100K–$1M ARR) | 2–5%/mo | >90% |
| Growth ($1M–$10M ARR) | 1–2%/mo | >100% |
| Scale ($10M+ ARR) | <1%/mo | >120% |
| Enterprise SaaS | <0.5%/mo | >130% |
LTV = (Avg MRR / Customer) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate. NRR includes expansion revenue from upsells, cross-sells, and seat increases. A NRR > 100% means expansion revenue outpaces churn — the benchmark for compounding SaaS growth.
Why churn is a compounding problem
At 5% monthly churn, you lose half your customers every 14 months. Even if you sign 20% more customers each month, 5% churn means you need to run twice as fast just to stay in place. This is why investors scrutinise churn so closely — it determines the ceiling on how large a company can grow and at what acquisition cost.
The math compounds the other way too. Drop monthly churn from 5% to 2% and your average customer lifetime extends from 20 months to 50 months — a 2.5× increase in LTV without changing your product price or acquisition strategy.
Churn vs NRR: the key distinction
Customer churn measures the number of accounts you lose. MRR churn measures the revenue lost. Net Revenue Retention measures what's left after also counting expansion revenue from upsells, seat growth, and add-ons. A company can have 2% customer churn but 110% NRR if the surviving customers spend significantly more over time. NRR above 100% is the hallmark of the best SaaS businesses — it means the revenue base grows organically without a single new customer.
SaaS churn benchmarks by ARR
| Stage | Acceptable Churn | Target NRR | World-class NRR |
|---|---|---|---|
| <$1M ARR | 5–10%/mo | >80% | >95% |
| $1M–$5M ARR | 2–5%/mo | >90% | >105% |
| $5M–$20M ARR | 1–2%/mo | >100% | >120% |
| $20M+ ARR | <1%/mo | >110% | >130% |
| Enterprise SaaS | <0.5%/mo | >120% | >150% |
Reduce churn with better distribution
One underrated churn driver: users who discover a product organically (search, directories, word of mouth) have significantly higher retention than paid ad traffic. Organic users have higher intent, self-qualify harder, and churn at lower rates. A Launchory listing surfaces your product to founders and practitioners actively researching solutions — a naturally higher-intent audience than cold ad traffic. Pair it with our Stripe fee calculator to model net revenue after payment processing, and our cap table dilution calculator to plan your next raise.
Frequently asked questions
What is the SaaS churn rate formula?
Customer churn rate = (Customers lost in period ÷ Customers at start of period) × 100. MRR churn rate = (MRR lost to churn ÷ MRR at start of period) × 100. Net MRR churn = MRR churn rate − expansion revenue rate. A negative net churn rate means expansion MRR outpaces losses — the holy grail of SaaS growth.
What is Customer LTV and how is it calculated?
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) = Average Revenue per Customer (ARPC) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate. Example: $250 ARPC ÷ 5% monthly churn = $5,000 LTV. This is the gross LTV — deduct your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to get the net LTV. A healthy SaaS business targets LTV/CAC ≥ 3.
What is a good SaaS churn rate?
It depends heavily on stage and ACV. Early-stage startups (<$1M ARR) with monthly plans often see 5–10%/month churn — painful but survivable if growth is faster. Growth-stage companies ($1M–$10M ARR) should target 1–2%/month. Enterprise SaaS (annual contracts, high ACV) should target <0.5%/month. Annual contracts naturally suppress monthly churn figures by 10–12×.
What is Net Revenue Retention (NRR)?
NRR measures what percentage of starting MRR you retained from existing customers after a period, including expansions, contractions, and churn — but excluding new customer revenue. Formula: NRR = (Starting MRR + Expansion MRR − Churned MRR − Downgrade MRR) ÷ Starting MRR × 100. NRR > 100% means your existing customers are spending more over time — the business grows even without acquiring new customers.
What causes high SaaS churn?
The most common root causes: (1) Poor product-market fit — users never fully adopt the core value; (2) Poor onboarding — users don't reach the "aha moment" before the trial ends; (3) Pricing mismatch — the perceived ROI doesn't justify the subscription; (4) Feature gaps — a competitor solves a critical adjacent problem; (5) Poor customer success — no one follows up on disengaged accounts. Cohort analysis by acquisition channel often reveals the source most clearly.
How do I reduce SaaS churn?
Prioritise by impact: (1) Nail onboarding — most churn happens in the first 90 days; (2) Build a usage monitoring system and trigger proactive outreach when engagement drops; (3) Add annual plan discounts — annual subscribers churn at 1/12 the rate; (4) Implement expansion revenue through usage-based upgrades or add-ons — pushing NRR above 100% means you can grow without net new customers; (5) Qualify leads harder — low-quality signups churn faster.