Chart: Paid Subscriber Retention Rate

The Paid Subscriber Retention Rate chart shows the percentage of active paid subscribers who did not churn during a given period. 

For SaaS businesses, it’s a direct measure of how well you’re holding onto paying customers over time: the higher the rate, the more stable and predictable your revenue base. Tracking it consistently helps you spot deteriorating retention early, assess the impact of product and pricing changes, and build a clearer picture of long-term customer loyalty.

Chart Notes

• Toggle between the default (WoW/MoM/QoQ) and year-over-year (YoY) rates. Learn more.

Calculation

ChartMogul calculates Paid Subscriber Retention Rate as the percentage of starting paid subscribers who did not churn during the period:

(Starting subscribers − Churned subscribers) ÷ Starting subscribers × 100

Starting subscribers is the number of active paid subscribers at the start of the period.

Churned subscribers is the number of paid subscribers who canceled their last subscription during the period and did not reactivate before the period end.

Chart Data

The Chart Data table for Paid Subscriber Retention Rate works differently from other charts. It provides the following breakdown:

• Starting Subscribers — The number of paid subscribers who were active at the start of the period.
• Churned Subscribers — The number of paid subscribers who canceled their last subscription in the period. Customers who churned and reactivated during the period are excluded from this number.
• Paid Subscriber Retention Rate — The percentage of Starting Subscribers who did not churn during the period.

Next steps

• Use segmentation to analyze Subscriber Retention Rate by region, plan or custom attribute.
• Use Subscriber Movements to visualize the individual movements driving changes in your subscriber base.