Customer Retention Statistics 2026: Churn, Net Revenue Retention and Why Customers Leave
Subscription businesses on Recurly's network had an overall churn rate of 3.60% in July 2026, according to Recurly. Median churn ran from 3.22% in SaaS to 4.99% in education. About 65% of churn was voluntary and the rest came from failed payments. In SaaS, top-quartile businesses with ARPA over $500 a month kept 109.3% of revenue in 2022, against 65.1% for those under $10, according to ChartMogul. Bad experiences drive customers away: 52% of US consumers stopped buying from a brand after one in 2025, according to PwC.
Key statistics
- Subscription businesses on Recurly's network had an overall churn rate of 3.60% across all industries in July 2026, according to Recurly.
- Voluntary cancellations made up about 65% of subscription churn on Recurly's network in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Recurly data.
- Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 a month had net revenue retention of 109.3% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
- 52% of US consumers stopped using or buying from a brand after a bad experience in 2025, according to PwC.
- Bad customer experiences put $2.94 trillion of global consumer sales at risk in 2026, 4.8% of consumption, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
Average customer churn and retention rate by industry
Recurly publishes median churn rates for the subscription businesses that bill through its platform. They are the most recent cross-industry benchmark we found, updated with July 2026 data.
SaaS and business services churn least. Education churns most, at 4.99%, or 1.55 times the SaaS rate. Retention is the other side of the same number: a 3.22% churn rate means SaaS businesses kept 96.78% of subscribers over the period Recurly measures.
Most churn is a choice. Voluntary cancellations made up about 65% of the total in July 2026. The rest was involuntary churn, where a card fails and the subscription lapses. Digital media has the biggest payment problem: failed payments caused 38.4% of its churn, the highest share of the six industries.
Price matters more than industry for failed payments. Subscribers paying $10 to $25 a month had the highest median churn, 4.29%, and involuntary churn of 1.30%. Above $250 a month, involuntary churn fell to 0.18%. Subscribers paying $100 to $250 churned 33% less than the cheapest tier.
Recurly's page is not fully consistent. The headline overall rate is 3.60%, while its page description says 3.27%. Body text gives SaaS a 3.04% median and the over-$250 tier 3.54%, while the data tables give 3.22% and 3.07%. We use the table figures throughout.
Source: Recurly, Churn Rate Benchmarks (July 2026 data).
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Subscription businesses on Recurly's network had an overall churn rate of 3.60% across all industries in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Voluntary churn averaged 2.34% across all industries on Recurly's subscription network in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Involuntary churn from failed payments averaged 1.25% across all industries on Recurly's network in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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SaaS businesses on Recurly's network had a median churn rate of 3.22% in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Business and professional services subscriptions on Recurly's network had a median churn rate of 3.44% in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Travel, hospitality and entertainment subscriptions on Recurly's network had a median churn rate of 3.91% in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Digital media and entertainment subscriptions on Recurly's network had a median churn rate of 4.14% in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Ecommerce subscriptions on Recurly's network had a median churn rate of 4.25% in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Education subscriptions on Recurly's network had a median churn rate of 4.99% in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Education subscriptions churned 1.55 times as fast as SaaS on Recurly's network in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Recurly data.
How we calculated it: Education median churn divided by SaaS median churn: 4.99% / 3.22% = 1.550, rounded to 1.55.
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SaaS businesses on Recurly's network kept 96.78% of subscribers at the median in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Recurly data.
How we calculated it: Retention is the complement of churn over the same period: 100% - 3.22% median SaaS churn = 96.78%. Education: 100% - 4.99% = 95.01%.
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Subscribers paying $10 to $25 a month had the highest median churn, 4.29%, on Recurly's network in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Involuntary churn was 0.18% for subscribers paying over $250 a month on Recurly's network in July 2026, according to Recurly.
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Subscribers paying $100 to $250 a month churned 33% less than those paying $10 to $25 on Recurly's network in July 2026, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Recurly data.
How we calculated it: Relative gap in median total churn: (4.29% - 2.87%) / 4.29% = 1.42 / 4.29 = 0.331, rounded to 33%.
| Industry | Total churn | Voluntary | Involuntary | Share from failed payments | Implied retention |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS | 3.22% | 2.16% | 1.06% | 32.9% | 96.78% |
| Business and professional services | 3.44% | 2.27% | 1.18% | 34.3% | 96.56% |
| Travel, hospitality and entertainment | 3.91% | 2.63% | 1.28% | 32.7% | 96.09% |
| Digital media and entertainment | 4.14% | 2.55% | 1.59% | 38.4% | 95.86% |
| Ecommerce | 4.25% | 2.87% | 1.38% | 32.5% | 95.75% |
| Education | 4.99% | 3.30% | 1.69% | 33.9% | 95.01% |
SaaS retention and net revenue retention benchmarks
ChartMogul's SaaS Retention Report covers more than 2,100 SaaS businesses and three measures: net revenue retention (NRR), gross revenue retention (GRR) and customer, or logo, retention. Its latest edition uses 2022 data.
Who you sell to sets the ceiling. Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 a month had NRR of 109.3%, meaning expansion more than covered churn. Under $10 a month, top-quartile NRR was 65.1%, a gap of 44.2 points. Higher-priced businesses were 15.2 times as likely to pass 100% NRR.
Customer retention follows the same pattern but the gap is smaller, 22.6 points, because NRR also counts upsells. Scale helps too. Top-quartile customer retention rose from 80.4% at $3m to $8m ARR to 84.2% at $15m to $30m. Gross revenue retention rose from 81.2% to 83.8%.
The first year is where customers are lost. Top-quartile businesses kept 90% of new customers through month 3 and 70% through month 12. So 22% of customers still active at month 3 were gone by month 12, even among the best performers.
Retention links to growth. Businesses with NRR above 100% grew 43.6% a year on average, 3.3 times the 13.1% of those below 60%. For a newer SaaS churn figure, Recurly put top-quartile SaaS churn at 1.78% or below in July 2026.
Source: ChartMogul, SaaS Retention Report. The $15m to $30m figure is reported as "over 105%".
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 a month had net revenue retention of 109.3% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA under $10 a month had net revenue retention of 65.1% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile net revenue retention was 44.2 points higher for SaaS with ARPA over $500 than under $10 in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from ChartMogul data.
How we calculated it: Top-quartile NRR, ARPA over $500 a month minus ARPA under $10 a month: 109.3% - 65.1% = 44.2 percentage points.
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41.1% of SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 a month had net revenue retention above 100% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Only 2.7% of SaaS businesses with ARPA under $10 a month had net revenue retention above 100% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 were 15.2 times as likely to exceed 100% net revenue retention as those under $10 in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from ChartMogul data.
How we calculated it: Share with NRR above 100%: 41.1% (ARPA over $500) / 2.7% (ARPA under $10) = 15.22, rounded to 15.2.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with $1m to $3m ARR had net revenue retention of 94% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with $3m to $15m ARR had net revenue retention of 99% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with $3m to $8m ARR had gross revenue retention of 81.2% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with $15m to $30m ARR had gross revenue retention of 83.8% in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 a month kept 85.7% of customers in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA under $10 a month kept 63.1% of customers in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile customer retention was 22.6 points higher for SaaS with ARPA over $500 than under $10 in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from ChartMogul data.
How we calculated it: Top-quartile customer (logo) retention, ARPA over $500 a month minus under $10 a month: 85.7% - 63.1% = 22.6 percentage points.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with $3m to $8m ARR kept 80.4% of customers in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses with $15m to $30m ARR kept 84.2% of customers in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses kept 90% of new customers through their first 3 months in 2021 to 2022 cohorts, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses kept 70% of new customers through their first 12 months in 2021 to 2022 cohorts, according to ChartMogul.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses lost 22% of new customers still active at month 3 by month 12 in 2021 to 2022 cohorts, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from ChartMogul data.
How we calculated it: Customers lost between month 3 and month 12 as a share of those active at month 3: (90% - 70%) / 90% = 20 / 90 = 0.222, rounded to 22%.
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SaaS businesses with net revenue retention above 100% grew 43.6% a year on average in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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SaaS businesses with net revenue retention below 60% grew 13.1% a year on average in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
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SaaS businesses above 100% net revenue retention grew 3.3 times as fast as those below 60% in 2022, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from ChartMogul data.
How we calculated it: Average annual growth: 43.6% (NRR over 100%) / 13.1% (NRR under 60%) = 3.33, rounded to 3.3.
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Top-quartile SaaS businesses on Recurly's network had churn of 1.78% or below in July 2026, according to Recurly.
| Measure | ARPA under $10 a month | ARPA over $500 a month | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Net revenue retention (top quartile) | 65.1% | 109.3% | +44.2 points |
| Customer retention (top quartile) | 63.1% | 85.7% | +22.6 points |
| Businesses with NRR above 100% | 2.7% | 41.1% | 15.2x |
Subscription churn, pauses and win-backs
Two newer datasets show how consumer subscriptions behaved in 2025: Recurly across its merchants and Antenna for US premium streaming.
Churn is not always final. Nearly one in four new subscriptions in 2025 came from a former customer, according to Recurly. Pausing is replacing some cancellations: pause usage rose 337% at merchants that offer it, and 75% of subscribers who paused came back.
The main reason people cancel is simple. 52% of consumers cancelled at least one subscription in the past year because they did not use it.
US streaming shows a market that has stopped growing fast but churns more steadily. Antenna puts premium streaming churn at 4.6% in 2025, with churn flat or lower year on year in 7 of 11 months to August 2025. Subscriber growth slowed 5 points, from 12% to 7%. The fourth quarter brought 57% of net additions.
Source: Antenna, Q1'26 State of Subscriptions: Premium SVOD 2025 Year in Review.
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Nearly one in four new subscriptions came from a former customer in 2025, according to Recurly.
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Of subscribers who paused rather than cancelled, 75% eventually returned in 2025, according to Recurly.
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Pause usage rose 337% at subscription merchants offering a pause option in 2025, according to Recurly.
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Trial conversion to paid subscriptions stabilised at 34% in 2025, according to Recurly.
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52% of consumers cancelled at least one subscription in the past year because they did not use it, according to Recurly in its 2025 data.
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Overall subscription growth slowed to 12.6% across the Recurly network in 2025, according to Recurly.
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US premium streaming services had a weighted average churn rate of 4.6% in 2025, according to Antenna.
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US premium streaming subscribers grew 7% in 2025, down from 12% in 2024, according to Antenna.
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US premium streaming subscriber growth slowed by 5 percentage points in 2025, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Antenna data.
How we calculated it: Subscriber growth in 2024 minus growth in 2025: 12% - 7% = 5 percentage points.
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US premium streaming churn was flat or lower year on year in 7 of 11 months from September 2024 to August 2025, according to Antenna.
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The fourth quarter delivered 57% of US premium streaming net subscriber additions in 2025, according to Antenna.
| Indicator | Value | Source and scope |
|---|---|---|
| New subscriptions from former customers | Nearly 1 in 4 | Recurly, global merchants |
| Subscribers who pause and later return | 75% | Recurly, global merchants |
| Growth in pause usage | +337% | Recurly, merchants offering pause |
| Free trial conversion | 34% | Recurly, global merchants |
| Overall subscription growth | 12.6% | Recurly, global merchants |
| Consumers who cancelled a subscription for lack of use | 52% | Recurly, consumer research |
| Weighted average churn, premium streaming | 4.6% | Antenna, US |
| Premium streaming subscriber growth | 7% (12% in 2024) | Antenna, US |
| Share of net additions in Q4 | 57% | Antenna, US |
Why customers leave a brand
Surveys of consumers point to the same cause: a bad experience. They differ on how many people act on it.
PwC found that 52% of US consumers stopped using or buying from a brand after a bad experience, and 29% stopped because of poor customer experience. Qualtrics XM Institute, across 14 countries, found 34% reduced spending after a negative experience and 13% stopped entirely.
Customers are slightly more forgiving than a year earlier. 11% of experiences were bad in Qualtrics XM Institute's 2025 study, about the same as before. But consumers cut spending after 47% of them, down from about 55%. Fast food (62%) and online retail (58%) were the least forgiving industries.
People still want to talk to a person. 86% of US consumers said human interaction was moderately or very important to them, according to PwC. Price matters too, with 69% saying price comparison significantly influences them. For service benchmarks, see our customer service statistics.
Source: Qualtrics XM Institute, Q3 2025 consumer study, 14 countries.
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52% of US consumers stopped using or buying from a brand after a bad experience in 2025, according to PwC.
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29% of US consumers stopped buying from a brand because of poor customer experience, online or in person, in 2025, according to PwC.
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86% of US consumers said human interaction was moderately or very important in their brand experience in 2025, according to PwC.
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69% of US consumers said comparing prices significantly influenced whether they engaged with a brand in 2025, according to PwC.
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34% of consumers reduced spending with a company after a negative experience in 2025, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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13% of consumers stopped spending with a company entirely after a negative experience in 2025, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Consumers cut spending after 47% of bad experiences in 2025, down 8 points on the previous year, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Consumers cut spending after about 55% of bad experiences in Qualtrics XM Institute's 2024 study, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Qualtrics XM Institute data.
How we calculated it: 2025 rate plus the reported fall: 47% + 8 points = 55%. Qualtrics gives the change, not the earlier figure, and calls it last year's study. The 2025 study ran in Q3 2025, so the earlier one is taken as 2024.
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Consumers cut spending after 62% of bad fast food experiences in 2025, the highest of 18 industries, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Consumers cut spending after 58% of bad online retail experiences in 2025, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
| Finding | Share | Source and scope |
|---|---|---|
| Stopped using or buying from a brand after a bad experience | 52% | PwC, 5,511 US consumers |
| Stopped because of poor customer experience, online or in person | 29% | PwC, 5,511 US consumers |
| Reduced spending after a negative experience | 34% | Qualtrics XM Institute, 14 countries |
| Stopped spending entirely after a negative experience | 13% | Qualtrics XM Institute, 14 countries |
| Bad experiences that led to a spending cut | 47% (about 55% a year earlier) | Qualtrics XM Institute, 14 countries |
| Say human interaction matters in their brand experience | 86% | PwC, US consumers |
| Say comparing prices significantly influences them | 69% | PwC, US consumers |
Cost of poor customer experience
Qualtrics XM Institute turns its survey into money: the consumer spending that bad experiences put at risk in 2026.
Qualtrics XM Institute estimates $2.94 trillion of 2026 consumer sales are at risk from bad experiences, 4.8% of consumption. Most of that is customers spending less. Customers walking away entirely make up 29.4%, or $865 billion.
The US has the most at stake in dollars, $973 billion, or 33.1% of the global total. As a share of spending, Mexico is highest at 8.0% and Japan lowest at 1.9%. The UK sits near the bottom at 3.8%.
The global figure fell 22.6% from the $3.8 trillion estimated a year earlier. Part of that is real: consumers cut spending after fewer bad experiences. Part is method: Qualtrics surveyed fewer countries and industries and says its sample is less representative than before.
Source: Qualtrics XM Institute (November 2025).
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Bad customer experiences put $2.94 trillion of global consumer sales at risk in 2026, 4.8% of consumption, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Global sales at risk from bad experiences fell 22.6% to $2.94 trillion in the 2026 estimate, calculated by StatisticsGlobal from Qualtrics XM Institute data.
How we calculated it: Previous estimate $3.8 trillion, new estimate $2.94 trillion: (3.80 - 2.94) / 3.80 = 0.226, or 22.6%. Qualtrics notes it changed its sample (14 countries, 18 industries), so part of the fall reflects method.
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Bad customer experiences put $973 billion of US consumer sales at risk in 2026, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Mexico had the highest share of sales at risk from bad experiences in 2026, 8.0% of consumption, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Japan had the lowest share of sales at risk from bad experiences in 2026, 1.9% of consumption, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
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Bad customer experiences put $78 billion of UK consumer sales at risk in 2026, 3.8% of consumption, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
| Country | Reduced spending | Stopped spending | Total at risk | Share of consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Global | 2,075 | 865 | 2,940 | 4.8% |
| Mexico | 82 | 22 | 104 | 8.0% |
| Brazil | 75 | 27 | 102 | 7.3% |
| UAE | 13 | 3 | 16 | 6.7% |
| France | 64 | 33 | 97 | 6.0% |
| Sweden | 10 | 4 | 14 | 5.6% |
| Germany | 69 | 42 | 111 | 4.9% |
| US | 690 | 283 | 973 | 4.9% |
| Australia | 31 | 12 | 43 | 4.8% |
| New Zealand | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4.6% |
| Canada | 35 | 16 | 51 | 4.3% |
| Netherlands | 14 | 6 | 21 | 4.3% |
| Singapore | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4.0% |
| UK | 54 | 24 | 78 | 3.8% |
| Japan | 28 | 16 | 44 | 1.9% |
How these sources measure customer retention
Retention has no official statistic. Every figure here comes from a vendor, a research firm or a consultancy, and each one measures something different.
Recurly and ChartMogul sell subscription billing and analytics software. Their benchmarks come from their own customers, not a random sample of businesses. Recurly labels its figures median annual churn rates but does not define the measurement window, and its page says annual churn is not simply 12 times monthly churn. Compare Recurly figures with each other, not with monthly churn from other sources.
ChartMogul reports top-quartile values, not medians, so a typical business will sit below them. Its latest edition uses 2022 data and was published in November 2023. It separates customer retention (share of customers kept), gross revenue retention (revenue kept, excluding upsells) and net revenue retention (revenue kept, including upsells). These are often mixed up.
Antenna estimates US premium streaming churn from consumer transaction data. Qualtrics XM Institute surveyed 20,001 consumers in 14 countries in Q3 2025, then applied its rates to World Bank consumption data and scaled them to the world. PwC surveyed 5,511 US consumers and 406 executives between 21 May and 30 June 2025.
A widely repeated claim says a 5% rise in retention lifts profits by 25% to 95%. It is decades old and we could not find it at a primary source, so it is not used here. For programme and brand loyalty data, see our customer loyalty statistics.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average customer retention rate?
It depends on the business. Median subscription churn on Recurly's network was 3.60% in July 2026, implying about 96.4% retention over the period it measures. In SaaS, top-quartile businesses kept 80.4% to 84.2% of customers a year in 2022, according to ChartMogul.
Which industry has the highest churn rate?
Education, at a median of 4.99% on Recurly's network in July 2026. Ecommerce (4.25%) and digital media (4.14%) follow. SaaS has the lowest, at 3.22%.
What is a good net revenue retention rate for SaaS?
It depends on price. Top-quartile SaaS businesses with ARPA over $500 a month had NRR of 109.3% in 2022, according to ChartMogul. Under $10 a month the top quartile reached only 65.1%. ChartMogul puts best in class for mid-market and enterprise B2B at 115% to 125%.
Is customer churn getting better or worse?
Steadier in streaming. US premium streaming churn held at 4.6% in 2025, flat or lower year on year in 7 of 11 months, according to Antenna. Consumers also cut spending after fewer bad experiences: 47% in 2025, down from about 55% the year before, according to Qualtrics XM Institute.
Why do customers stop buying from a brand?
Bad experiences are the main trigger. 52% of US consumers stopped buying from a brand after a bad experience in 2025, according to PwC. For subscriptions, 52% of consumers cancelled at least one in the past year because they did not use it, according to Recurly.
Which countries lose the most sales to bad customer experience?
The US, with $973 billion at risk in 2026, according to Qualtrics XM Institute. As a share of consumption, Mexico is highest at 8.0%, followed by Brazil at 7.3% and the UAE at 6.7%. Japan is lowest at 1.9%.
Sources
- Recurly, Churn Rate Benchmarks, July 2026 data, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- ChartMogul, SaaS Retention Report, 1 November 2023, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- PwC, PwC's 2025 Customer Experience Survey, 29 September 2025, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Qualtrics XM Institute, $3 Trillion is at Risk due to Bad Customer Experiences in 2026, 12 November 2025, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Recurly, Subscriptions Are Entering a Smarter, More Mature Era (2026 State of Subscriptions press release via Business Wire), 14 January 2026, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Recurly, The 2026 State of Subscriptions, 2026, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Antenna, Antenna Q1'26 State of Subscriptions Report: Premium SVOD 2025 Year in Review, February 2026, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
- Qualtrics XM Institute, Businesses Risk $3 Trillion in Sales From Poor Customer Experiences as Consumers Cut Spending, 12 November 2025, accessed 4 November 2026. Link · Saved data copy
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