Churn

Also called Churn Rate and Attrition

The rate at which customers stop paying you over a period. Revenue churn measures the money that leaves, customer churn measures the logos. Its opposite, retention, is what keeps a business alive.

Monthly churn = customers lost in the month / customers at the start of the month

Why it matters

High churn means you are filling a leaky bucket: every new customer just replaces one you lost. It caps how big you can grow and is often the clearest signal that you do not yet have product-market fit.

Related terms

Retention Lifetime Value Product-Market Fit
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