Net revenue retention
Also called: NRR
Net revenue retention measures revenue from an existing cohort at the end of a period against its revenue at the start, including upgrades, downgrades and churn, but excluding new customers. Above one hundred percent, the existing base grows on its own.
How it is calculated
NRR = (Starting revenue + Expansion - Contraction - Churn) / Starting revenue
Always cohort-anchored. NRR computed across the whole book mixes in acquisition and stops being a retention metric.
Why it matters for ARPU
NRR is the clearest single read on whether a decision layer is working: it rises only when expansion and retention decisions beat the downgrades happening anyway.
Related terms
Gross revenue retentionGross revenue retention measures how much starting cohort revenue survives a period counting only losses: churn and downgrades, never expansion.Expansion revenueExpansion revenue is additional revenue from customers a business already has: upgrades, add-ons, cross-sell, higher usage or a move to a richer plan.Churn rateChurn rate is the share of customers, or of revenue, lost in a period.Cohort analysisCohort analysis groups customers by a shared starting characteristic, usually acquisition month, and follows each group over time.