# Logo Churn vs Revenue Churn: Which to Track > The difference between logo churn and revenue churn in SaaS, how to calculate each, what they reveal, worked examples and why most companies should track both. Source: https://comppound.com/blog/logo-churn-vs-revenue-churn-which-to-track (published 2026-09-17) SaaS companies usually measure churn in one of two ways. Logo churn counts the share of customers who cancel. Revenue churn measures the share of recurring revenue that is lost. Both are called "churn," both are expressed as percentages, and both show up in board decks and investor updates. They often tell very different stories. A company can lose many small customers while keeping its largest accounts, which makes logo churn look alarming while revenue churn stays modest. Another company can lose a single large customer, barely moving logo churn while revenue churn spikes. Tracking only one of these metrics leaves you with half the picture. This article explains how each is calculated, what each reveals, how they relate to expansion and net revenue retention, and how to use both together. As an example, we will look at a company selling customer support software with three plans: a starter plan used by many small businesses, a growth plan for mid-sized teams and an enterprise plan for a handful of large accounts. ## Logo churn Logo churn, also called customer churn, measures how many customers leave over a period. The formula is the number of customers lost during the period divided by the number of customers at the start of the period. Suppose the support software company starts a quarter with 200 customers and loses 10 during the quarter. Its logo churn for the quarter is 10 divided by 200, or 5 percent. Logo churn treats every customer equally. A small business paying a modest monthly fee counts exactly the same as an enterprise account paying many times as much. That equal weighting is what makes the metric useful for some questions. It shows how many customers are leaving, which reflects product fit and satisfaction across the whole customer base. It surfaces onboarding and retention problems that affect many accounts, even if those accounts are individually small. And it gives a sense of how many relationships the company is losing, which matters for word of mouth, references and the health of the customer community. Be careful about new customers acquired during the period. They are usually excluded from the starting count, and any of them who churn before the period ends are sometimes excluded from the numerator as well, depending on your definition. Choose a method and apply it consistently, because changing it will make trends meaningless. ## Revenue churn Revenue churn, often called MRR churn when measured on monthly recurring revenue, measures the share of recurring revenue lost over a period. The formula is the recurring revenue lost from cancellations and downgrades during the period divided by the recurring revenue at the start of the period. Suppose the support software company starts a month with 100,000 dollars in monthly recurring revenue. During the month, cancellations remove 4,000 dollars and downgrades remove another 1,000 dollars. Its revenue churn for the month is 5,000 divided by 100,000, or 5 percent. Revenue churn weights customers by what they pay. It shows the financial impact of churn, which is what ultimately matters for growth and profitability. It reveals whether larger customers are leaving, since losing a big account moves revenue churn much more than logo churn. And it captures downgrades, which logo churn misses entirely. A customer who moves from the enterprise plan to the growth plan is still a customer, so logo churn does not register the change, but the revenue loss is real. ## Net revenue churn and expansion Revenue churn on its own counts only losses. Most SaaS companies also gain revenue from existing customers through upgrades, added seats and add-on purchases, known as expansion. Net revenue churn accounts for that by subtracting expansion revenue from the revenue lost. The formula is revenue lost minus expansion revenue, divided by revenue at the start of the period. If the support software company loses 5,000 dollars in a month but gains 6,000 dollars in expansion from existing customers, its net revenue churn is negative: existing customers, taken together, are paying more at the end of the month than at the start. This is often called net negative churn, and it is a strong sign of a healthy business, because the company grows even before acquiring any new customers. A closely related metric, net revenue retention, expresses the same idea as a percentage of starting revenue retained, including expansion. A net revenue retention above 100 percent corresponds to net negative churn. Many investors watch net revenue retention closely because it reflects both retention and expansion in a single figure. ## Why the two metrics diverge The difference between logo churn and revenue churn is most useful when you look at why they diverge. A few scenarios illustrate the patterns. In the first scenario, many small customers leave. Logo churn is high, but revenue churn stays low because each departing customer pays relatively little. For the support software company, this might mean that starter plan customers are cancelling at a high rate while growth and enterprise customers stay. The likely issue is poor fit or weak onboarding for small customers. Perhaps the product is too complex for them, or they signed up without a clear need. In the second scenario, one large customer leaves. Logo churn barely changes, because it is just one customer, but revenue churn jumps. This points to concentration risk: too much revenue depends on a few accounts. It may also point to specific problems in serving large customers, such as missing enterprise features, weak account management or a competitor targeting the top of the market. In the third scenario, customers downgrade rather than leave. Logo churn stays flat, but revenue churn rises. Customers still see enough value to stay, but not enough to justify their current plan. This can indicate pricing or packaging problems, budget pressure across the customer base, or features in higher plans that customers do not use. In the fourth scenario, both metrics are low and expansion is strong. Customers are staying and growing their spending. This is the pattern every SaaS company wants, and when it appears, the priority is understanding what drives it so it can be reinforced. ## Which one should you track? The short answer is both, because each answers different questions. Logo churn tells you how many relationships you are losing and is especially useful for diagnosing product fit and onboarding across a broad customer base. Revenue churn tells you how much money you are losing and is the better measure of financial health. Net revenue churn or net revenue retention tells you whether your existing customer base is growing or shrinking in value. Which one deserves the most attention depends on your business model. A company selling mostly to small businesses at similar price points may find that logo churn and revenue churn move together, so either gives a reasonable picture. A company with a wide range of customer sizes, from small self-serve accounts to large enterprise contracts, needs both, because the metrics can diverge sharply. A company where expansion is a big part of the model, such as one with per-seat or usage-based pricing, should pay particular attention to net revenue retention. ## Segment both metrics Blended churn figures hide important differences. Break both logo churn and revenue churn down by plan, customer size, acquisition channel, industry and customer age. The support software company might find that starter plan logo churn is high while enterprise logo churn is very low, or that customers acquired through a particular channel churn much faster than others. Segmentation turns a single worrying number into specific problems with specific owners. Customers who arrive through high-intent channels, such as organic search for a specific problem, often behave differently from those who arrive through broad campaigns, which is one reason it is worth tracking acquisition source alongside churn. If organic search is a meaningful source, our [SEO growth service](/services/seo-growth) can help you understand which queries bring the customers who stay. ## Choose the right time period Churn can be measured monthly, quarterly or annually, and the choice matters. Monthly churn is useful for companies with monthly billing, because it shows changes quickly. Annual churn is more appropriate for companies with annual contracts, where cancellations cluster around renewal dates and monthly figures would swing wildly. Whatever period you choose, be clear about it when reporting. A 3 percent monthly churn rate and a 3 percent annual churn rate describe very different businesses. ## Report churn clearly When presenting churn, show logo churn, gross revenue churn and net revenue churn or retention together, with clear definitions. Show trends over several periods rather than a single figure. Highlight the segments driving any change. And explain divergences between the metrics, since that is where the most useful insight usually lies. A board that sees logo churn rising while revenue churn falls deserves an explanation of which customers are leaving and why. ## Avoid the common mistakes A few mistakes appear repeatedly in churn measurement. Companies track only one type of churn and miss problems the other would reveal. They ignore downgrades, which understates revenue loss. They mix expansion into revenue churn without saying so, which makes gross losses hard to see. They change definitions over time, breaking trends. They report blended figures without segmentation. And they compare monthly and annual churn figures as if they were equivalent. ## Bringing it together Logo churn and revenue churn measure different things, and both matter. Logo churn shows how many customers you lose and is valuable for understanding fit and onboarding across your base. Revenue churn shows how much revenue you lose, including downgrades, and is the better gauge of financial impact. Net revenue churn and net revenue retention bring expansion into the picture and show whether your existing customers are growing in value. Track all of them, segment them, watch for divergence and use the patterns to decide where to focus. For the support software company, seeing high starter plan logo churn alongside healthy enterprise revenue retention leads to two clear priorities: simplify onboarding for small customers, and protect the large accounts that carry most of the revenue. ## Frequently asked questions ### What is logo churn? The percentage of customers who cancel during a period. ### What is revenue churn? The percentage of recurring revenue lost through cancellations and downgrades. ### Should SaaS companies track logo churn or revenue churn? Usually both, because they reveal different aspects of retention. ## About Comppound Comppound runs SEO and AI search for B2B SaaS companies: a person sets the plan and reviews samples and every high-risk page, and AI speeds up production. - [Get the free report](https://comppound.com/ai-visibility-report): When buyers ask ChatGPT about your category, are you in the answer? - [Book a call](https://comppound.com/contact): Most of this works better when buyers can find you first