CheckPre

SMB SaaS Benchmarks Calculator

Churn, NRR, margin and CAC payback benchmarks for SaaS sold to small businesses, with your own numbers scored against them.

Updated · By Niraj Kumar · 3 sources

Revenue and customers

$

ARPU $100 a month.

Retention

%
0%15%

Customers who cancel each month. 2% a month is 22% a year.

%
−2%5%

Upgrades and added seats less downgrades, from customers who stay. Gives NRR of 92%.

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 $733.

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:CAC4.2:1LTV $3,091 · CAC $733 · payback 9.4 months
Customer lifetime value
$3,091
60 months, discounted 10%; simple LTV $3,900
CAC
$733
$22,000 ÷ 30 new customers
LTV:CAC
4.2:1
Healthy, at or above 3:1
CAC payback
9.4 months
Under 12 months: efficient
Net revenue retention
92%
Gross retention 78%; 22% of customers lost a year
Implied valuation
$2,457,000
3.4× ARR on 49% growth; Rule of 40: 16
Cash runway
Default alive
Burning $20,200 a month; profitable in month 11, 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$3,0914.2:19.4 months$2,457,000Month 11
Cut monthly churn by 1 point+$953+1.30–+$1,053,000−2 mo
Add 0.5 points of monthly expansion+$417+0.57––−1 mo
Acquire customers 10% cheaper–+0.47−0.9 mo–−1 mo
Raise gross margin by 5 points+$198+0.27−0.6 mo+$63,000−2 mo
One customer: gross profit less CACCAC not yet earned backProfit after CAC
-$750-$500-$250$0$250$500Payback, month 9.703691215

Expected profit from a new customer, allowing for the chance they churn and for expansion. Simple payback ignores churn: 9.4 months.

Cash in the bank, month by monthShort of cashCash in the bank
$0$250,000$500,000$750,000$1,000,000$1,250,000061218243036

Burning $20,200 a month; profitable in month 11, before the cash runs out. New customers join at today's ARPU; costs stay flat.

Against SMB SaaS benchmarksSmall-business customers, contracts under about $5,000 a year. Checked October 11, 2026.
MetricYoursMedianStrongWhere you sit
Monthly churn2%2%1%Above median
Net revenue retention92%92%102%Above median
Gross margin78%75%82%Above median
CAC payback9.4 months12.0 months8.0 monthsAbove median

What are good SMB SaaS metrics?

SMB SaaS benchmarks: monthly churn 2% (strong: 1%), NRR 92% (strong: 102%), gross margin 75% (strong: 82%), CAC payback 12 months (strong: 8). Small customers churn more and expand less, so SMB SaaS lives on fast, cheap acquisition: the example pays back in 9.4 months with LTV:CAC of 4.2:1.

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

An SMB SaaS on $60,000 MRR from 600 customers at $100 a month, adding 30 a month on $22,000 of sales and marketing, with 2% monthly churn, 1.3% monthly expansion, 78% gross margin, $45,000 of other monthly costs and $600,000 in the bank.

  1. 1ARPU: $60,000 ÷ 600 = $100; gross profit $78 a month at 78%
  2. 2Retention: 2% churn and 1.3% expansion a month give NRR 92% and GRR 78%
  3. 3LTV over 60 months at 10% discount: $3,091 (simple: $3,900)
  4. 4CAC: $22,000 ÷ 30 = $733; payback 9.4 months
  5. 5LTV:CAC: 4.2:1, healthy, at or above 3:1
  6. 6Cash: burning $20,200 a month on $600,000; runway default alive, break-even in month 11

LTV:CAC 4.2:1, payback 9.4 months, NRR 92%, growing 49% a year: about $2,457,000 at 3.4× ARR.

Frequently asked questions

Why is SMB SaaS churn so high?

Small businesses close, change owners and cut tools in a bad month, and most pay monthly by card, so cancelling takes a click. Failed card payments, involuntary churn, can be a quarter or more of the total. Annual plans, dunning emails and card updaters are the cheapest fixes.

What CAC payback should an SMB SaaS target?

Under 12 months. With monthly churn of 2 to 3%, a customer's expected life is three to four years, but a third of them are gone within the first year, so a long payback means paying for many customers who never earn it back.

Sources

Related calculators

More in Finance