Customer retention rate calculator
Enter starting customers, ending customers, and new customers to calculate true retention and complementary churn.
customer retention rate calculator: Calculate retention while excluding newly acquired customers.
Customer retention rate calculator
How to calculate it
Subtract new customers from ending customers, divide by starting customers, and multiply by 100.
- Insert the values in the formula, perform the division first, and round only the final answer.
- Excluding new customers keeps acquisition separate from retention.
Applied example
With 1,200 starting customers, 1,150 ending customers and 60 new customers, retention is 90.83%.
Subtract new customers from ending customers, divide by starting customers, and multiply by 100. Excluding new customers keeps acquisition separate from retention.
Practical use
Measure the share of customers who remain at the end of a period.
For customer retention, use “customers at start” as the reference. It must represent the full set or the starting point of the comparison.
Checks that matter
- For pure retention, exclude newly acquired customers from the numerator.
- Do not swap the part and total; reversing them changes the meaning of the result.
- Keep full precision during the calculation and round only the final answer to match the accuracy of the source data.
Frequently asked questions
What is the correct reference value?
For customer retention, use “customers at start” as the reference. It must represent the full set or the starting point of the comparison.
Can the answer be greater than 100%?
Yes. This happens when the part exceeds the total or the final value is more than double the starting value.
How many decimal places should I use?
Keep full precision during the calculation and round only the final answer to match the accuracy of the source data.