How to Calculate Churn Rate Percentage (Formula + Examples)

Churn rate tells you what percentage of customers, users, or subscribers you lost during a specific period. It is one of the most useful retention metrics for SaaS, subscriptions, and recurring revenue businesses.

Churn rate formula

Churn rate = (Customers lost during period / Customers at start of period) × 100

You can use the same structure for subscribers, members, or active accounts, as long as you keep the period consistent.

Example 1: customer churn rate

A company starts the month with 500 customers and loses 25 before the month ends.

Customers lost = 25
Starting customers = 500
25 / 500 = 0.05
0.05 × 100 = 5%

The monthly churn rate is 5%.

Example 2: subscriber churn rate

A newsletter has 2,000 subscribers on April 1 and 60 unsubscribe during April.

Subscribers lost = 60
Starting subscribers = 2,000
60 / 2000 = 0.03
0.03 × 100 = 3%

The churn rate is 3%.

Churn rate vs retention rate

Churn and retention are closely related, but they are not the same metric. If your churn rate is 5% for the period, your retention rate for the same group is usually 95%.

For the flip side of this metric, see How to Calculate Retention Rate Percentage.

How to calculate it fast

If you already know how many customers you lost and how many you started with, this is just a standard percentage problem: what percent is one number of another?

You can use our percentage calculator for the quick result, or read What Percentage Is X of Y? for the underlying method.

Common mistakes

Using the ending customer count instead of the starting count.
Mixing new customers into the base when measuring churn.
Comparing churn rates across different time periods without labeling them clearly.

FAQ

What is a good churn rate?

It depends on the business model, pricing, and market. Lower churn is generally better, but the right benchmark varies a lot by industry.

Can churn rate be higher than 100%?

No. If you calculate it against the starting customer base for the same period, churn rate cannot exceed 100%.