Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
Revenue retained from existing customers, including expansion and churn. The single best predictor of sustainable growth.
What it measures
How much revenue you retain and grow from your existing customer base, independent of new sales. NRR above 100% means existing customers generate more revenue over time, even without acquiring anyone new. NRR is also called NDR (Net Dollar Retention)—the two are interchangeable names for the same figure. Median private SaaS NRR sat near 101% in 2024 (KeyBanc/Sapphire), down from the ~105% range of a few years earlier—the bar is getting harder to clear.
Calculation methods
- Net (NRR / NDR): Includes expansion, so it can exceed 100%. This is the headline retention number—it answers whether the existing base grows or shrinks on its own.
- Gross (GDR / Gross Dollar Retention): Excludes expansion and counts only contraction and churn, so it caps at 100% and can never exceed it. GDR isolates how much revenue you keep before any upsell masks the leak. A wide NRR–GDR gap means expansion is papering over real churn—track both, because a 115% NRR with 85% GDR is a very different business from 115% NRR with 98% GDR.
Benchmarks
- Below 100%: Losing money from existing customers—urgent problem
- 100-110%: Solid retention with modest expansion
- 110-120%: Strong expansion, good product-market fit
- 120%+: Exceptional (usage-based or platform companies)
Figures reviewed June 2026. Benchmarks vary by source and drift over time — treat as directional and verify against your own data.
What to watch
- Above 100%: Companies with NRR above 100% grow at twice the rate of those below. Best-in-class SaaS companies hit 120%+ through usage-based pricing or strong upsell motions.
- Below 100%: No amount of acquisition can outrun a leaky bucket at scale—prioritize reducing churn and contraction before investing in growth.
In practice
A B2B SaaS company had 95% NRR, meaning they lost 5% of revenue from existing customers each year. After analyzing cohorts, they found mid-market accounts churned at 2× the rate of enterprise. They rebuilt onboarding for mid-market and added a customer success tier, raising NRR to 108%. The same sales team now generated faster growth because each new customer compounded rather than leaked.
Illustrative scenario — a representative composite, not a specific company.
Related: Churn Rate — the denominator drag on NRR.; MRR — the base for NRR calculation.; Quick Ratio — growth efficiency view.