What is gross revenue retention (GRR)?

Written by Madalena Rugeroni, founder of Mazo · Updated 15 September 2026

Gross revenue retention (GRR) is the percentage of recurring revenue a SaaS company keeps from its existing customers over a period after subtracting cancellations and downgrades, without counting any expansion. Because upgrades are excluded, GRR can never exceed 100%. It measures how leaky the revenue base is, separately from how well you upsell.

GRR formula

GRR = (starting MRR − contraction − churned MRR) ÷ starting MRR × 100

Like NRR, it only covers customers who existed at the start of the period. The difference is that expansion is left out, so a big upsell can't mask cancellations. GRR is simply 100% minus gross revenue churn.

Worked example: two companies, same NRR

Two fictional companies each start the year with €40,000 MRR from existing customers and end with an NRR of 105%.

Company A lost €2,000 to churn and downgrades and gained €4,000 in expansion. GRR = €38,000 ÷ €40,000 = 95%.
Company B lost €10,000 and gained €12,000, mostly from two large customers. GRR = €30,000 ÷ €40,000 = 75%.

Same NRR, very different risk. If Company B's two large accounts stop growing, a quarter of its revenue base walks out each year.

GRR benchmarks

SaaS Capital, 2026: bootstrapped B2B SaaS companies with $3M–$20M ARR report a median GRR of 91%.¹
SaaS Capital, 2023: companies with ACV above $25,000 show a median GRR of about 93%, and those below $25,000 about 90%. Unlike NRR, GRR showed no difference between bootstrapped and equity-backed companies.²

Lower-priced products tend to lose more revenue each year, because smaller customers go out of business and switch tools more easily.

Why GRR matters from €0 to €1M ARR

Under 10 customers: no percentage — know personally why anyone left.
Around €10k MRR: GRR is often more honest than NRR, because early expansion comes from a handful of accounts. If it's low, look at who churns: the same profile leaving repeatedly points to your ICP.
€50k+ MRR: report GRR and NRR side by side. Investors read the gap between them.

Mazo's rule of thumb: fix retention before scaling acquisition — acquisition scales whatever retention you already have, good or bad. If gross revenue retention is weak, more leads raise costs, not revenue.

Common GRR mistakes

Counting expansion. Then it's NRR.
Netting an upgrade against a downgrade on the same account. Count the downgrade as contraction and the upgrade as expansion.
Treating win-back emails as the fix. Casey Winters' observation: most retention problems are product problems, and lifecycle email only optimises a core that already works.

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FAQ

What is a good gross revenue retention rate?

SaaS Capital's 2026 data puts the median at 91% for bootstrapped B2B SaaS companies with $3M–$20M ARR. Its 2023 report showed about 93% for companies with ACV above $25,000 and about 90% below.

Can gross revenue retention be above 100%?

No. GRR excludes expansion revenue, so the best possible result is 100%, meaning no revenue was lost to cancellations or downgrades.

Why track GRR if I already track NRR?

NRR can look healthy when a few large expansions cover heavy churn. GRR isolates the losses, so it shows how durable the revenue base is.

Who wrote this

Madalena Rugeroni built Mazo. She's an ex-Googler, a startup advisor and investor, and runs a portfolio of internet companies. Before that, as Head of Growth at Amplemarket, she scaled a B2B SaaS to $10M ARR. LinkedIn

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Sources.

Median GRR 91% for bootstrapped $3M–$20M ARR companies: SaaS Capital, "2026 Benchmarking Metrics for Bootstrapped SaaS Companies"
Median GRR ~93% above $25K ACV and 90% below; no difference by funding: SaaS Capital, "2023 B2B SaaS Retention Benchmarks" (PDF)

Operators and books referenced: Elena Verna, Casey Winters. These are published methodologies credited to their authors; Mazo is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.