Retention Rate Calculator
Calculate retention rate for a period accounting for new customers.
Customer retention rate measures how many of your starting customers are still active at the end of the period, excluding new customers acquired during the period.
Retention is the inverse view of churn for the same window. Use revenue retention (NRR/GRR) when upsells and downgrades materially change dollars retained.
Prefer an explanation- Read the guide.
Need definitions- Browse the glossary.
Retention rate: how to measure retention correctlyRetention & churn hub: cohorts, GRR/NRR, and retention curvesChurn: How to measure churn rate correctlyCohort vs aggregate metrics: why averages can mislead
12 for monthly, 4 for quarterly. Used to compute annualized retention.
Used to estimate retained customers after N periods.
Tip: you can type commas (e.g., 10,000).
Example
Using the default inputs, the result is:
97%
- Customers at start
- 1,000
- Customers at end
- 1,050
- New customers
- 80
- Periods per year (optional)
- 12
- Forecast periods (optional)
- 12
How to calculate
- Pick a time window (month/quarter) and a segment (plan/channel/geo).
- Enter customers at start and customers at end of the period.
- Enter new customers added during the period.
- Compute retention = (end - new) / start and optionally annualize via periods per year.
- Optionally add forecast periods to estimate remaining customers over time.
Formula
Retention Rate = (Customers at End - New Customers) / Customers at Start
- Inputs represent the same period (e.g., month, quarter).
Benchmarks
- Retention above 100% is unusual for customer retention; it typically indicates an input mismatch.
- Even small retention improvements can materially raise LTV due to compounding.
- Use cohort retention curves to understand early vs late retention dynamics.
FAQ
Can retention rate be above 100%-
Customer retention typically stays <= 100%. If you're above 100%, double-check inputs or consider revenue retention instead.
Common mistakes
- Mixing definitions of 'active customer' between start and end counts.
- Counting reactivations inconsistently (treat as retained vs new).
- Using blended retention across segments with different behaviors (mix shifts).
How to interpret
Retention vs churn
- Retention is the inverse view of churn for the same period.
- Customer retention differs from revenue retention (NRR/GRR).
- Use consistent period boundaries (start/end) across reports.
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Quick checks
- Keep time units consistent (monthly vs annual) across inputs and outputs.
- Segment by cohort/channel/plan before trusting a blended average.
- Use the related guide to avoid common definition and denominator mismatches.