SaaS Churn Rate & Customer LTV Calculator: Benchmark Retention in 2026

Calculate your SaaS monthly churn rate and customer lifetime value (LTV) to benchmark retention and optimize acquisition spend.

Mathematical Audit

How SaaS Churn & LTV Are Calculated

Monthly churn rate measures the percentage of customers lost each month. Customer LTV represents the total revenue expected from a single customer over their relationship with your product.

Monthly Churn Rate (%) = Churned Customers ÷ Starting Customers × 100
Customer Lifetime (months) = 1 ÷ Monthly Churn Rate (decimal)
Customer LTV = Monthly ARPU × Customer Lifetime
LTV:CAC Ratio = Customer LTV ÷ Customer Acquisition Cost
CAC Payback Period (months) = CAC ÷ Monthly ARPU
MRR = Total Customers × Monthly ARPU

LTV assumes constant ARPU and steady-state churn — expansion revenue (upsells) can push real LTV higher. A healthy LTV:CAC ratio is ≥3:1; payback period should be under 12 months for capital-efficient SaaS.

Operational Guide

How to Use the SaaS Churn Rate & LTV Calculator

1

Enter Total Customers

The number of active paying customers at the start of the period.

2

Enter Monthly ARPU

Average Revenue Per User per month — divide your MRR by total customers if you don't have it directly.

3

Set Monthly Churn Rate

The percentage of customers who cancel each month. Check your billing platform (Stripe, Chargebee, etc.) for this figure.

4

Enter Customer Acquisition Cost

Total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers acquired in the same period.

5

Review LTV, payback period, and MRR

Use the LTV:CAC ratio to assess whether your acquisition spend is sustainable.

Real-World Scenario Example

"A B2B SaaS startup with 500 customers, $99/month ARPU, 3.5% monthly churn, and a $450 CAC."

Inputs

customerCount:500
monthlyArpu:99
monthlyChurnRate:3.5
cac:450

Result

Customer LTV ≈ $2,829, LTV:CAC ratio ≈ 6.3:1, CAC payback ≈ 4.5 months, MRR = $49,500. This is strong unit economics.

Important Disclaimer

LTV and churn calculations are estimates based on current-period averages and assume constant ARPU and steady-state churn. Actual results will vary based on product pricing changes, cohort behavior, and expansion revenue.