NDR Calculator

Net Dollar Retention (NDR), also called Net Revenue Retention (NRR), measures the change in MRR from existing customers over a period: starting MRR + expansion - contraction - churn, divided by starting MRR. Top-quartile public SaaS hits 120%+; hyperscalers like Snowflake reach 130-150%. NDR above 100% means existing customers grow faster than churn — the holy grail of SaaS economics. Source: KeyBanc SaaS Survey 2024.

NDR vs GRR

Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) excludes expansion — it shows only churn and contraction impact. NDR includes expansion. GRR > 90% indicates strong product-market fit. NDR > 110% indicates strong expansion motion (upsell, cross-sell, usage-based pricing). NDR above 100% is hard — most companies hit 95-105% in early years, growing to 110-120% as account management matures.

Levers to Improve NDR

Expansion levers: usage-based pricing tiers, premium features for power users, additional product modules, multi-year contracts with built-in escalators (5-7% annual). Churn reduction: customer success team, health scores, at-risk account interventions, executive sponsorship for top accounts. Most teams over-invest in new logo acquisition while under-investing in NDR — every 5% NDR improvement is worth more than 20% increase in new sales for established companies.

Cohort Analysis Matters

NDR computed at company level can mask cohort issues — older cohorts may decline while new cohorts expand strongly, netting to 100% NDR but hiding looming problem. Compute NDR per quarterly cohort and trend over time. Older cohort NDR decline signals the product is losing value or competitors are winning expansion. Best-in-class boards review NDR by cohort and segment quarterly.

Last updated May 2026. Sources: KeyBanc SaaS Survey 2024, OpenView SaaS Benchmarks.