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Mid-Market SaaS Benchmarks Calculator

Benchmarks for SaaS sold to mid-sized companies on $5,000 to $50,000 contracts, with your churn, NRR and payback scored against them.

Updated · By Niraj Kumar · 3 sources

Revenue and customers

$

ARPU $1,250 a month.

Retention

%
0%15%

Customers who cancel each month. 1% a month is 11% a year.

%
−2%5%

Upgrades and added seats less downgrades, from customers who stay. Gives NRR of 102%.

Margin and acquisition

%
0%100%

Revenue left after hosting, support, payment fees and third-party APIs.

$

Ads, tools and the pay of sales and marketing staff. CAC $20,000.

Cash

$
$

R&D, G&A, rent: everything outside cost of revenue and sales and marketing.

LTV settings

%

What future profit is worth today. 0 for an undiscounted LTV.

months

How long a customer's profit counts. 60 is common.

LTV:CAC2.5:1LTV $49,187 · CAC $20,000 · payback 20.5 months
Customer lifetime value
$49,187
60 months, discounted 10%; simple LTV $97,500
CAC
$20,000
$160,000 ÷ 8 new customers
LTV:CAC
2.5:1
Below the 3:1 rule of thumb
CAC payback
20.5 months
18 to 24 months: slow
Net revenue retention
102%
Gross retention 89%; 11% of customers lost a year
Implied valuation
$11,700,000
3.9× ARR on 51% growth; Rule of 40: -7
Cash runway
Default alive
Burning $145,000 a month; profitable in month 18, before the cash runs out
What if you pulled one lever?Each row changes one input and leaves the rest as entered. Valuation moves in steps as growth, churn and NRR cross a band.
ChangeLTVLTV:CACPaybackValuationBreak-even
As entered$49,1872.5:120.5 months$11,700,000Month 18
Cut monthly churn by 1 point+$16,769+0.84–+$4,388,000−4 mo
Add 0.5 points of monthly expansion+$7,396+0.37––−2 mo
Acquire customers 10% cheaper–+0.27−2.1 mo–−2 mo
Raise gross margin by 5 points+$3,153+0.16−1.2 mo+$300,000−2 mo
One customer: gross profit less CACCAC not yet earned backProfit after CAC
-$20,000-$10,000$0$10,000$20,000Payback, month 20.1051015202531

Expected profit from a new customer, allowing for the chance they churn and for expansion. Simple payback ignores churn: 20.5 months.

Cash in the bank, month by monthShort of cashCash in the bank
$0$1,000,000$2,000,000$3,000,000$4,000,000$5,000,000061218243036

Burning $145,000 a month; profitable in month 18, before the cash runs out. New customers join at today's ARPU; costs stay flat.

Against Mid-market SaaS benchmarksCompanies of 100 to 1,000 staff, contracts of about $5,000 to $50,000 a year. Checked October 11, 2026.
MetricYoursMedianStrongWhere you sit
Monthly churn1%1.2%0.7%Above median
Net revenue retention102%102%111%Above median
Gross margin78%77%82%Above median
CAC payback20.5 months18.0 months12.0 monthsBelow median

What are good Mid-market SaaS metrics?

Mid-market SaaS benchmarks: monthly churn 1.2% (strong: 0.7%), NRR 102% (strong: 111%), gross margin 77% (strong: 82%), CAC payback 18 months (strong: 12). Mid-market SaaS needs a sales team, so payback runs longer than SMB; retention pays for it. The example reaches NRR of 102% and LTV:CAC of 2.5:1.

ARPU = MRR ÷ customers; gross profit per customer g = ARPU × gross margin; annual churn = 1 − (1 − c)^12; NRR = ((1 − c) × (1 + e))^12; GRR = (1 − c)^12; simple LTV = g ÷ c; LTV = Σ g × q^t for t = 0 … H − 1, q = (1 − c)(1 + e) ÷ (1 + d)^(1/12); CAC = sales and marketing ÷ new customers; payback = CAC ÷ g; LTV:CAC = LTV ÷ CAC; cash(t+1) = cash(t) + MRR(t) × margin − sales and marketing − other costs; runway = months until cash < 0

This page uses the same method as the SaaS Unit Economics Calculator, which explains each term and assumption in full.

Worked example

A mid-market SaaS on $250,000 MRR from 200 accounts at $1,250 a month, closing 8 a month on $160,000 of sales and marketing, with 1% monthly churn, 1.2% monthly expansion, 78% gross margin, $180,000 of other monthly costs and $4M in the bank.

  1. 1ARPU: $250,000 ÷ 200 = $1,250; gross profit $975 a month at 78%
  2. 2Retention: 1% churn and 1.2% expansion a month give NRR 102% and GRR 89%
  3. 3LTV over 60 months at 10% discount: $49,187 (simple: $97,500)
  4. 4CAC: $160,000 ÷ 8 = $20,000; payback 20.5 months
  5. 5LTV:CAC: 2.5:1, below the 3:1 rule of thumb
  6. 6Cash: burning $145,000 a month on $4,000,000; runway default alive, break-even in month 18

LTV:CAC 2.5:1, payback 20.5 months, NRR 102%, growing 51% a year: about $11,700,000 at 3.9× ARR.

Frequently asked questions

What NRR do mid-market SaaS companies achieve?

About 102% at the median, from SaaS Capital's 2025 survey of private B2B companies with $25,000 to $50,000 contracts, with the top quarter at 111% and the bottom at 97%. Seat-based pricing tends to land lower than usage-based pricing, which grows with the customer.

Is an 18-month CAC payback acceptable for mid-market SaaS?

It is typical. Sales-led motions cost more per customer than self-serve, and mid-market customers stay long enough, often five years or more, to repay it. Above 24 months, growth eats cash quickly; check the startup runway calculator before adding sales headcount.

Sources

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