What is the difference between GRR and NRR?

GRR excludes expansion; NRR includes it. GRR shows retention only. NRR can exceed 100% with upsells. GRR is a stricter view of retention quality.

What is a good gross retention rate?

A good GRR is 90% or higher. This means you lose 10% or less of revenue from existing customers to churn and contraction. Best-in-class companies achieve 95%+.

Why does gross retention matter?

GRR isolates retention from expansion. It shows whether your product keeps customers. High GRR with low expansion is better than low GRR with high expansion, because expansion is easier to grow.

Gross Retention for SaaS Founders

What is Gross Retention?

Gross Retention (GRR) measures how much revenue you keep from existing customers, excluding expansion. It only accounts for churn and contraction.

Why Gross Retention matters for SaaS founders

GRR shows the quality of your retention without the boost from upsells. It answers: "If we did nothing to expand accounts, how much would we keep?" High GRR means a sticky product.

How to calculate Gross Retention

Start with beginning MRR, subtract churn and contraction, divide by beginning MRR, and multiply by 100.

Gross Retention = (Starting MRR − Churn − Contraction) / Starting MRR × 100

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Gross Retention Calculator

Starting MRR ($)

Churned revenue ($)

Contraction revenue ($)

Example calculation

($50,000 − $4,000 − $3,000) / $50,000 × 100
$43,000 / $50,000 × 100
86%

Result: 86%

You retain 86% of revenue from existing customers before expansion. Solid baseline. Expansion can push NRR above 100%.

Benchmarks & best practices

Early-stage: Early-stage GRR often ranges from 80-90% as product and fit improve.
Healthy range: Healthy GRR is typically above 90%. Best-in-class B2B can exceed 95%.
Warning range: GRR below 80% suggests significant churn. Investigate why customers leave or downgrade.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between GRR and NRR?: GRR excludes expansion; NRR includes it. GRR shows retention only. NRR can exceed 100% with upsells. GRR is a stricter view of retention quality.
What is a good gross retention rate?: A good GRR is 90% or higher. This means you lose 10% or less of revenue from existing customers to churn and contraction. Best-in-class companies achieve 95%+.
Why does gross retention matter?: GRR isolates retention from expansion. It shows whether your product keeps customers. High GRR with low expansion is better than low GRR with high expansion, because expansion is easier to grow.