Definition
Product-led growth is a go-to-market approach where the product drives acquisition, activation, retention, and expansion through self-serve value.
How to use it
- PLG needs strong activation and short time-to-value to work.
- Use cohorts to ensure growth quality: PLG can hide churn if onboarding is weak.
Why this matters
This term matters because small changes compound in SaaS metrics. Use consistent definitions by cohort and segment so you can diagnose retention, payback, and growth quality.
Practical checklist
- Write a 1-line definition for "PLG (Product-led Growth)" that your team will use consistently.
- Keep the time window consistent (weekly/monthly/quarterly) when comparing trends.
- Segment results (channel/plan/cohort) before drawing big conclusions from blended averages.
- Sanity-check with a related calculator from the same category on MetricKit.
- Read the related guide (e.g., PLG metrics hub: activation, trial conversion, stickiness, and adoption) for context and common pitfalls.
Where to use this on MetricKit
Calculators
- Gross Revenue Churn Calculator: Calculate gross revenue churn rate from contraction and churned MRR (with monthly-equivalent conversion).
- Net New MRR Calculator: Calculate net new MRR from new, expansion, contraction, and churned MRR.
- MRR Waterfall Calculator: Build an MRR waterfall: starting MRR + new + expansion - contraction - churn = ending MRR.
- SaaS Quick Ratio Calculator: Calculate the SaaS quick ratio: (new + expansion) / (contraction + churn).
- Rule of 40 Calculator: Calculate the Rule of 40 score: growth rate (%) + profit margin (%).
Guides
- PLG metrics hub: activation, trial conversion, stickiness, and adoption: A practical hub for product-led growth metrics: activation rate, trial-to-paid, DAU/MAU and WAU/MAU stickiness, feature adoption, and PQL-to-paid conversion.
- Cohort analysis playbook: retention curves, LTV forecasting, and payback: A practical cohort analysis workflow: build retention curves, forecast LTV, and translate retention quality into payback and growth decisions.