Metrics · Retention · Finance · Quarterly · %

Gross Revenue Retention

The percentage of recurring revenue retained from an existing customer cohort, counting only churn and downgrades, excluding expansion.

Formula

(Starting MRR - Contraction - Churn) / Starting MRR x 100

How to measure

Track a fixed cohort's starting MRR, subtract churn and downgrades over the period, and divide by the original starting MRR, capping the result at 100%.

Why track it

GRR isolates retention quality from expansion, revealing churn problems that a high NRR built on upsells could otherwise hide.

Example

The same $500,000 cohort loses $30,000 to churn and downgrades, giving a 94% GRR regardless of any expansion revenue.