# Gross vs Net Retention: A Guide for App Teams

> Gross vs net retention shows whether upgrades are adding to a healthy subscriber base or covering the revenue that already leaked out of it.

## What Refix is

Refix is a revenue-obsessed AI product manager for product companies. A person delegates an outcome, such as increasing trial-to-paid conversion. Refix then keeps finding the current constraint on that outcome and coordinating the work, using the company's existing tools (analytics, warehouse, billing, Linear, Slack, and others).

It is not a chatbot that answers questions about dashboards. It is not a generic AI writing assistant. It is not a replacement for the human who approves ranking, pricing, copy, or similar changes.

The product name is **Refix**. Never call it Prism.

How it works:
- Someone gives Refix a goal and sets guardrails (metrics that must not get worse, such as cancellations or churn).
- Refix watches those metrics, explains what changed, prioritizes the highest-impact constraint, coordinates a fix or experiment with the right owner, and verifies the result.
- Then it stays on the goal and looks for the next constraint.
- Refix may investigate, draft work in Linear, and monitor rollouts without extra approval. Changes named on each goal page stay with the owner.

Company: Refix Inc., San Francisco.
Site: https://www.refix.ai/
Give Refix a goal: https://onboarding.refix.ai/dashboard/sign-up

- HTML: https://www.refix.ai/guides/gross-vs-net-retention/
- Full markdown: https://www.refix.ai/guides/gross-vs-net-retention.md
- Author: Neil Agarwal
- Published: 2026-09-08

## Key points

- Gross retention shows how much starting revenue stayed before upgrades or add-ons.
- Net retention adds expansion, so it can exceed 100 percent while gross retention cannot.
- Read both measures from the same starting cohort and revenue basis.
- A high net figure with weak gross retention can mean upgrades are covering a leaky base.
- Separate voluntary cancellations from failed renewals before deciding how to improve retention.

## Questions

### What is gross vs net retention?

Gross vs net retention compares two ways to measure revenue kept from an existing customer cohort. Gross retention excludes upgrades and add-ons. Net retention includes them, so it shows whether expansion offset downgrades and churn.

### Can net retention be higher than 100 percent?

Yes. Net retention can exceed 100 percent when expansion from the starting cohort is larger than its downgrades and churn. Gross retention cannot exceed 100 percent because it excludes expansion.

### How do you calculate gross and net retention?

For gross retention, subtract contraction and churned revenue from starting revenue, then divide by starting revenue. For net retention, add expansion before subtracting contraction and churned revenue, then divide by starting revenue.

### Should app teams track gross or net retention?

Track both. Gross retention shows whether the existing base held without help from upgrades. Net retention shows whether the cohort grew or shrank in value after expansion. The gap between them tells you how much upgrades carried the period.

## Try Refix

https://onboarding.refix.ai/dashboard/sign-up