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Vertical SaaS Benchmarks Calculator

Benchmarks for software built for one industry, often with payments attached, and how your retention and margin compare.

Updated · By Niraj Kumar · 3 sources

Revenue and customers

$

ARPU $300 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 100%.

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 $3,929.

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:CAC2.6:1LTV $10,035 · CAC $3,929 · payback 18.7 months
Customer lifetime value
$10,035
60 months, discounted 10%; simple LTV $21,000
CAC
$3,929
$55,000 ÷ 14 new customers
LTV:CAC
2.6:1
Below the 3:1 rule of thumb
CAC payback
18.7 months
18 to 24 months: slow
Net revenue retention
100%
Gross retention 89%; 11% of customers lost a year
Implied valuation
$4,410,000
3.1× ARR on 42% growth; Rule of 40: -1
Cash runway
Default alive
Burning $51,000 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$10,0352.6:118.7 months$4,410,000Month 18
Cut monthly churn by 1 point+$3,341+0.85–+$1,260,000−5 mo
Add 0.5 points of monthly expansion+$1,479+0.38–+$630,000−3 mo
Acquire customers 10% cheaper–+0.28−1.9 mo–−2 mo
Raise gross margin by 5 points+$717+0.18−1.2 mo+$315,000−3 mo
One customer: gross profit less CACCAC not yet earned backProfit after CAC
-$4,000-$2,000$0$2,000$4,000Payback, month 18.7051015202529

Expected profit from a new customer, allowing for the chance they churn and for expansion. Simple payback ignores churn: 18.7 months.

Cash in the bank, month by monthShort of cashCash in the bank
$0$500,000$1,000,000$1,500,000$2,000,000061218243036

Burning $51,000 a month; profitable in month 18, before the cash runs out. New customers join at today's ARPU; costs stay flat.

Against Vertical SaaS benchmarksSoftware for one industry, such as clinics, restaurants or contractors, often with payments attached. Checked October 11, 2026.
MetricYoursMedianStrongWhere you sit
Monthly churn1%1.2%0.7%Above median
Net revenue retention100%100%108%Above median
Gross margin70%70%78%Above median
CAC payback18.7 months15.0 months10.0 monthsBelow median

What are good Vertical SaaS metrics?

Vertical SaaS benchmarks: monthly churn 1.2% (strong: 0.7%), NRR 100% (strong: 108%), gross margin 70% (strong: 78%), CAC payback 15 months (strong: 10). Vertical SaaS becomes the system a business runs on, so churn is low, but payments and services pull gross margin down: the example has LTV:CAC of 2.6:1.

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 vertical SaaS on $120,000 MRR from 400 businesses at $300 a month, adding 14 a month on $55,000 of sales and marketing, with 1% monthly churn, 1% monthly expansion, 70% gross margin, $80,000 of other monthly costs and $1.5M in the bank.

  1. 1ARPU: $120,000 ÷ 400 = $300; gross profit $210 a month at 70%
  2. 2Retention: 1% churn and 1% expansion a month give NRR 100% and GRR 89%
  3. 3LTV over 60 months at 10% discount: $10,035 (simple: $21,000)
  4. 4CAC: $55,000 ÷ 14 = $3,929; payback 18.7 months
  5. 5LTV:CAC: 2.6:1, below the 3:1 rule of thumb
  6. 6Cash: burning $51,000 a month on $1,500,000; runway default alive, break-even in month 18

LTV:CAC 2.6:1, payback 18.7 months, NRR 100%, growing 42% a year: about $4,410,000 at 3.1× ARR.

Frequently asked questions

Why is vertical SaaS gross margin lower?

Embedded payments, onboarding services and industry data feeds carry real costs. Payments revenue in particular may run at 20 to 40% margin, which pulls a blended margin down to around 70%. Enter the blended figure here: LTV and payback use the profit each customer actually brings.

Does vertical SaaS churn less than horizontal SaaS?

Usually, once the product holds the customer's schedule, records or payments, because switching means retraining staff and moving data. Early on, before that depth, churn can look like SMB SaaS; the industry's own failure rate, high in restaurants and low in clinics, sets the floor.

Sources

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