What is Net Revenue Retention (NRR)?

Net Revenue Retention (NRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue you retain from existing customers over a period, including expansion (upgrades) and net of contraction and churn. An NRR above 100% means your existing customers grow your revenue even before you add a single new one.

Diagram: net revenue retention as starting MRR plus expansion minus contraction and churn, ending above the starting value at 110%.

Why NRR can exceed 100%

Because NRR includes expansion revenue — upsells, cross-sells, seat growth — it can climb above 100% when expansion outpaces churn and downgrades. That's the holy grail of subscription businesses: a customer base that compounds on its own. Investors watch NRR closely as a signal of durable, efficient growth.

What support contributes

Expansion follows from customers succeeding with your product, and support is central to that success. Resolving issues fast and proactively guiding customers reduces the churn and contraction that drag NRR down, while satisfied customers are the ones who expand. Good support quietly props up NRR.

Formula

NRR % = ((Starting MRR + Expansion − Contraction − Churn) ÷ Starting MRR) × 100

Example: $100k starting MRR, +$15k expansion, −$5k contraction and churn: (($100k + $15k − $5k) ÷ $100k) × 100 = 110%.

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Questions about Net Revenue Retention (NRR)

What's a good NRR?

100% means existing revenue is flat; above 100% means it's growing on its own. Best-in-class SaaS often reports 110-130%+. Anything well below 100% signals churn and contraction outpacing expansion.

How is NRR different from gross revenue retention?

NRR includes expansion (so it can exceed 100%); gross revenue retention excludes expansion and only counts losses, so it caps at 100%. See gross revenue retention.

Related terms

Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)

Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue you retain from existing customers, excluding any expansion. Because it only counts losses from churn and contraction, GRR can never exceed 100% — making it a pure, unflattering measure of how much revenue is leaking out.

Churn Rate

Churn rate is the percentage of customers (or revenue) you lose over a period. It's the inverse of retention and one of the most important health metrics for any subscription business — small differences in churn compound dramatically over time, so even a point or two matters.

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV, also written LTV) is the total revenue you can expect from a single customer over the entire relationship. It reframes customers as long-term assets rather than one-time sales — and it's the number that tells you how much you can afford to spend acquiring and supporting them.

Browse the full customer support glossary →