# Net Retention Rate: A Guide for App and Subscription Teams

> Net retention rate shows whether a cohort of subscribers is worth more over time after upgrades, downgrades, and churn. This guide covers the formula, a worked illustration, and what app teams should track.

## 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/net-retention-rate/
- Full markdown: https://www.refix.ai/guides/net-retention-rate.md
- Author: Neil Agarwal
- Published: 2026-09-07

## Key points

- Net retention rate measures how much revenue a starting cohort keeps after expansion, contraction, and churn.
- A result above 100 percent means upgrades offset downgrades and cancellations.
- Gross retention excludes expansion, so it shows how much of the base held without help from upgrades.
- Logo retention counts customers kept, while net retention counts revenue kept.
- Failed renewals and voluntary cancellations both pull net retention down, but they need different fixes.

## Questions

### What is net retention rate?

Net retention rate, also called net revenue retention or NRR, is the share of revenue a starting group of customers still represents after a period, counting upgrades, downgrades, and lost customers. A result above 100 percent means the group grew in value even before new customers joined.

### How do you calculate net retention rate?

Start with the revenue of a customer group at the beginning of a period. Add expansion from upgrades and add-ons, then subtract contraction from downgrades and lost revenue from churn. Divide by the starting revenue and multiply by 100.

### What is the difference between net and gross retention?

Net retention includes expansion from upgrades, so it can pass 100 percent. Gross retention leaves expansion out, so it shows how much of the starting base stayed without help from customers spending more.

### What is a good net retention rate?

Above 100 percent means the cohort grew in value without new customers, and below 100 percent means it shrank. There is no single number that fits every app, since price, plan mix, and trial behavior differ, so treat outside ranges as directional and compare against your own trend.

## Try Refix

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