Customer churn vs revenue churn
- Customer churn = customers lost / customers at start.
- Revenue churn looks at MRR lost; NRR/GRR capture expansion and contraction.
- Use customer churn for product retention; use revenue churn for business health.
Logo churn vs MRR churn
- Logo churn (customer churn) counts customers lost, regardless of size.
- MRR churn measures lost recurring revenue (churned MRR) / starting MRR.
- They diverge when large customers churn less (or more) than small customers.
Choose a consistent period
- Monthly is common for early-stage SaaS; quarterly for enterprise.
- Keep start/end definitions consistent (e.g., start-of-month snapshot).
- Exclude trial users unless they are part of your definition.
Track churn by cohort
- Cohorts reveal where churn happens (first month vs month 6+).
- Segment cohorts by acquisition channel and plan.
- Separate involuntary churn (failed payments) from voluntary churn.
Pair churn with retention metrics
- GRR isolates churn and downgrades (durability without expansion).
- NRR includes expansion and can mask churn if upsells are strong.
- Use both, and always segment by customer size/plan for diagnostics.