◈ GLOSSARY · BUSINESS & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Churn Rate.
A definition, in plain English — with the books that teach it.
Reviewed by ClearValue Editorial Team · Jun 27, 2026
◈ DEFINITION
What it means
Definition
Churn rate is the percentage of customers (or revenue) that leave in a given period. Logo churn counts customers lost; revenue churn counts dollars lost. Net revenue churn can go negative when expansion revenue from existing customers exceeds losses — that's the holy grail for SaaS. High churn quietly kills LTV no matter how cheap your CAC is.
◈ IN PRACTICE
Example
A SaaS business starts the month with 1,000 customers and ends with 970 (after acquiring 50 and losing 80). Gross logo churn = 80 / 1,000 = 8% monthly. That's a 63% annual churn — the business is leaking faster than it can fill.