Direct answer
Customer churn measures the share of starting customers lost, while revenue churn measures recurring revenue lost through cancellations and often contraction; they weight the same period differently.
What this calculation tells you
Customer churn describes logo continuity; revenue churn describes monetary erosion. Together they reveal whether departures are concentrated among small or large accounts.
Expansion can offset lost revenue in a net measure but should not erase the visibility of gross losses.
Where it is used
B2B SaaS
Compare account churn with contract-value churn and concentration.
Consumer subscriptions
Track subscriber loss alongside plan and price mix.
Managed services
Separate cancellations, downgrades and expansion in recurring retainers.
Membership organizations
Align renewal eligibility with dues value and grace periods.
When this guide helps
- Few enterprise accounts leave.
- Many low-value users cancel.
- Remaining customers upgrade.
- Downgrades occur without account cancellation.
Use separate denominators
Customer churn divides lost eligible customers by starting customers. Revenue churn divides lost recurring revenue by starting recurring revenue under a stated gross or net definition.
Preserve gross loss
Netting expansion can make the revenue base look stable while product or service problems drive cancellations. Report gross loss and expansion separately.
Segment concentration and tenure
Plan, account size, cohort, region and tenure can explain why logo and revenue rates diverge. Avoid unstable conclusions from tiny groups.
Align timing and eligibility
Use contract renewal, cancellation effective date and delinquency rules consistently. Involuntary payment failure may deserve a separate operational view.
- Show lost counts and amounts.
- Define contraction.
- Reconcile to MRR movements.
Worked case: small customers churn
Start with 100 customers and 10,000 MRR. Ten customers worth 500 MRR leave.
Customer churn=10%; gross revenue churn=5%.
The lost customers were smaller than average.
One percentage cannot represent both logo and revenue loss.
Reproduce this worked caseOpen Revenue Churn Calculator
Worked case: one large customer leaves
One customer worth 1,000 MRR leaves.
Customer churn=1%; gross revenue churn=10%.
A low logo-churn rate can hide concentrated revenue loss.
Expansion and contraction belong in net revenue retention, not gross churn.
Reproduce this worked caseOpen Revenue Churn Calculator
customer and revenue churn: compare assumptions, not just answers
Use starting-cohort denominators and keep reactivations, acquisitions and expansion separate.
| Scenario | Key input | Decision output |
|---|---|---|
| 10 small | 10 logos; 500 MRR | 10% vs 5% |
| 1 large | 1 logo; 1,000 MRR | 1% vs 10% |
customer and revenue churn: calculation checklist
- Starting cohort fixed
- Logo and MRR measures separate
- Gross/net labelled
- Reactivations explicit
- Concentration reviewed
Practical questions
Frequently asked questions
Can customer churn rise while revenue churn falls?
Yes, if lost customers are smaller or expansion among retained customers offsets some revenue loss.
Is revenue churn the same as net revenue retention?
They are related, but NRR usually expresses the remaining base after churn, contraction and expansion.
Should downgrades count as churn?
They normally affect revenue contraction rather than customer churn because the account remains.
Further reading
Authoritative sources
Use these primary and professional resources to check definitions, conventions, or requirements that may extend beyond this guide.