Customer Retention Rate Calculator
Customer Retention Rate
Use this calculator to separate retained customers from newly acquired customers, then convert the result into retention and churn for the same period. The formula is useful for SaaS, ecommerce, subscriptions, and any repeat-customer business where growth can hide customer loss.
| Metric | Value | How to use it |
|---|---|---|
| Retained customers | 930 | Customers at the end who were not newly acquired. |
| Retention rate | 93.00% | Track this by month, quarter, or cohort to see customer stickiness. |
| Churn rate | 7.00% | Use churn to estimate customer lifetime and revenue risk. |
Retention calculation notes
The period must be consistent across all inputs. If the start count is from January 1 and the end count is from March 31, the new customer count should cover that same quarter. Mixing monthly new customers with a quarterly ending customer count will distort both retention and churn.
For subscription businesses, pair logo retention with revenue retention. A company can retain fewer customers but still grow revenue if remaining customers expand their plans. For consumer businesses, compare retention by acquisition source or cohort because repeat purchase behavior can vary widely by campaign and offer.
About This Calculator
Calculate customer retention rate (CRR) and churn rate for SaaS, e-commerce, and subscription businesses. Track cohort retention over monthly/quarterly/annual periods. Benchmark against industry standards (SaaS 90-95%, E-commerce 30-40%, Retail Banking 75-85%). Analyze revenue retention (NRR 100-120%), customer lifetime value impact, and retention improvement ROI. Measure repeat purchase rate, logo retention, and MRR/ARR churn (target <5% monthly).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is customer retention rate?
Customer retention rate is the percentage of starting customers who remain customers by the end of a period after subtracting newly acquired customers.
What is the customer retention formula?
Customer retention rate = ((ending customers - new customers acquired) / starting customers) x 100. Churn rate is 100% minus the retention rate.
Should I track retention monthly or annually?
Use the period that matches your business model. SaaS teams often track monthly or quarterly retention, while ecommerce teams may compare repeat purchases by cohort over longer windows.
Mike is a software engineer with a background in applied mathematics. He develops and maintains SuperCalc's engineering, conversion, and math utility calculators.
- M.S. in Applied Mathematics, MIT
- Former quantitative developer
- 6 years building computational tools