All termsMETRICS & KPIS

Retention

Also known as: Customer Retention · Retention Rate

DEFINITION

The opposite of churn — the percentage of customers who stay with you over a given period.

In depth

Retention and churn are two sides of one coin (Retention = 1 − Churn), but product teams think in retention and finance teams think in churn. Both measure the same reality.

Cohort retention — the most honest view — shows what percentage of a group of customers you acquired in a specific month are still active N months later. A rising curve (customers reactivating) is rare and wonderful; a flat curve after month 3 is strong; a steadily falling curve is normal but must eventually level off.

Formula & example

Retention Rate = Customers at End of Period ÷ Customers at Start

Related terms

Churn

The percentage of customers (or revenue) a SaaS loses in a given period. Low churn compounds growth; high churn silently kills it.

NRR

The percentage of revenue retained from existing customers after accounting for expansion, contraction, and churn.

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Last reviewed 14 April 2026 by Abhi Verma.