Gross Revenue Retention (GRR)
This metric is defined in Core Metrics. Customer Success references it as a key outcome metric.
GRR isolates the retention component, removing the influence of expansion.
Gross Revenue Retention (GRR): The percentage of revenue retained from existing customers, excluding expansion revenue. Also known as Gross Dollar Retention.
Also known as: GRR
Formula
GRR = Sum of min(Beginning MRR, Current MRR) per customer / Beginning MRR × 100GRR = (Beginning MRR - Contraction MRR - Churned MRR) / Beginning MRR × 100Benchmarks
- Below 80%: Severe retention problem
- 80-85%: Below average for most segments
- 85-90%: Average for SMB-focused businesses (Median for bootstrapped SaaS: 92%)
- 90-95%: Good, typical for mid-market
- 95%+: Excellent, typical for enterprise (90th percentile: 98%)
What It Tells You
The baseline health of your customer relationships, independent of upsell. Investors examine GRR alongside NRR because strong expansion can mask high churn.
Adjusted Variant
This metric supports an adjusted form that excludes temporary revenue movements.
Tag CEL events with the change_nature field (permanent, temporary, scheduled_reversal)
and filter to permanent to compute Adjusted GRR.
This separates true contraction (a risk signal) from expected reversals (a neutral event).
Dual-Lens Note
GRR measures revenue retained from existing customers, excluding expansion. Because expansion is already stripped out, the Operating/Market distinction that drives dual-lens treatment for other metrics does not apply. There is no expansion classification to filter. GRR is GRR: the same calculation serves both internal planning and investor reporting. The existing definition is the standard for both lenses.
Related Metrics
Connected in the GASP relationship graph.
Upstream: what drives this
- Churned MRR reduces GRR (Core)
- Contraction MRR reduces GRR (Core)
- Renewal Rate drives GRR (Customer Success)
Downstream: what this drives
- GRR measures Subscription (Entity)