Gross Revenue Retention
GRR measures how well you retain revenue from existing customers, excluding any expansion or upsell revenue.
- GRR shows the percentage of recurring revenue retained from a cohort of customers, accounting only for contractions and churn—expansion revenue is excluded.
- Common Mistakes:
- Including expansion revenue in GRR calculations (that's NRR, not GRR).
- Using total revenue instead of just the starting cohort's revenue.
- Not separating contraction from full churn in your analysis.
- Calculating GRR over inconsistent time windows.
- Ignoring partial-month churn effects when customers cancel mid-period.
- Comparing GRR across different cohort sizes without context.
Definition
GRR shows the percentage of recurring revenue retained from a cohort of customers, accounting only for contractions and churn—expansion revenue is excluded.
Perfect retention; no downgrades or churn.
Healthy retention; minimal revenue leakage.
Significant churn or contraction; retention needs improvement.
Formula
GRR (%) = (Starting MRR − Contraction − Churn) / Starting MRR × 100
Variables
Revenue at start of period from the cohort.
Revenue lost from downgrades.
Revenue lost from canceled customers.
Examples
Quarterly GRR example
| Customer | Q1 MRR | Q2 MRR | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| X | $2,000 | $2,000 | retained |
| Y | $1,500 | $1,200 | −$300 contraction |
| Z | $3,000 | $0 | −$3,000 churned |
- 1Starting MRR (Q1) = $2,000 + $1,500 + $3,000 = $6,500
- 2Contraction = $300, Churn = $3,000
- 3Retained MRR = $6,500 − $300 − $3,000 = $3,200
- 4GRR = $3,200 / $6,500 × 100 = 49.2%
Track in Daymark
Data Sources
Required Fields
- customer_id
- period
- mrr
Sample Questions
- What is the GRR for the last year?
- Show GRR trend by month or quarter
- Calculate GRR by customer segment or plan type
- Compare GRR to NRR to see expansion impact
- What percentage of revenue loss is from churn vs contraction?
- Show GRR for each customer cohort over time
- Identify customers at risk based on GRR patterns
Dashboard Template
GRR percentage trend
Revenue lost from each type
Compare retention across customer types
Cohort-by-cohort GRR performance
Common Mistakes
- •Including expansion revenue in GRR calculations (that's NRR, not GRR).
- •Using total revenue instead of just the starting cohort's revenue.
- •Not separating contraction from full churn in your analysis.
- •Calculating GRR over inconsistent time windows.
- •Ignoring partial-month churn effects when customers cancel mid-period.
- •Comparing GRR across different cohort sizes without context.
FAQ
GRR excludes expansion revenue and measures pure retention. NRR includes expansion and can exceed 100%.
Most healthy SaaS businesses aim for GRR above 90%. Below 85% signals retention issues.
No, GRR caps at 100% since it excludes expansion. If you see over 100%, you're calculating NRR instead.