Reference
SaaS metrics benchmarks
Benchmark ranges for the six core SaaS metrics, by segment. Each table links to the guide that explains the formula and to the calculator that applies it to your own numbers.
LTV:CAC ratio benchmarks
LTV:CAC answers one question: for every dollar spent acquiring a customer, how many dollars of gross profit come back over that customer's life? Below 1x you lose money on every sale; 3x is the long-standing rule of thumb; above 5x usually means you are underinvesting in growth.
| Segment | Typical LTV:CAC | Best-in-class |
|---|---|---|
| Early-stage B2B SaaS Often noisy while the customer base is small; track the trend, not a single month. | 2.5x - 3x | 4x+ |
| Growth-stage B2B SaaS The range most boards and Series A investors expect to see. | 3x - 4x | 5x+ |
| Self-serve / PLG products Lower CAC pushes the ratio up, but the denominator is easy to under-state. | 3x - 4.5x | 5x+ |
| Enterprise SaaS Long sales cycles mean CAC is lumpy; use a rolling 12-month figure. | 3x - 5x | 6x+ |
| Marketplaces & consumer subscriptions High churn compresses LTV; payback speed matters more than the ratio here. | 2x - 3x | 4x+ |
Ranges reflect commonly cited venture and operator guidance (Bessemer, OpenView, a16z) rather than a single proprietary dataset. Treat them as sanity checks, not targets.
Formula and worked example: LTV:CAC ratio guide · Calculate it: LTV:CAC ratio calculator
Monthly churn rate benchmarks
Monthly customer churn is the single most destructive metric in SaaS because it compounds. The difference between 2% and 5% monthly churn is roughly a 50-month average lifetime versus a 20-month one — on identical acquisition spend.
| Segment | Typical monthly churn | Best-in-class |
|---|---|---|
| SMB self-serve (< $50/mo) Low switching costs and card-optional trials drive the high end. | 3% - 7% | < 3% |
| SMB sales-assisted ($50 - $500/mo) The band most bootstrapped and seed-stage SaaS companies sit in. | 2% - 4% | < 2% |
| Mid-market ($500 - $2k/mo) Onboarding quality shows up here more than pricing does. | 1% - 2% | < 1% |
| Enterprise (> $2k/mo) Measured annually in most enterprises; monthly figures get noisy. | 0.5% - 1.5% | < 0.5% |
| Annual contracts (any size) Renewal-date clustering makes monthly numbers spiky — read the yearly figure. | 0.5% - 1% | < 0.5% |
Churn bands are drawn from the benchmark ranges published by OpenView, ChartMogul and ProfitWell. Segment by plan and by acquisition channel before acting on a blended number.
Formula and worked example: Monthly churn guide · Calculate it: Monthly churn calculator
CAC payback period benchmarks
CAC payback is months of gross profit needed to repay the cost of winning a customer. It is the most cash-aware growth metric there is: a great LTV:CAC ratio with a 30-month payback still drains the bank account.
| Segment | Typical payback | Best-in-class |
|---|---|---|
| SMB self-serve Short payback is what makes self-serve growth self-funding. | 6 - 12 months | < 6 months |
| SMB sales-assisted Most seed and Series A companies land here. | 12 - 18 months | < 12 months |
| Mid-market Longer contracts justify longer payback, provided retention holds. | 12 - 24 months | < 12 months |
| Enterprise Up-front implementation cost inflates CAC; count it in the denominator. | 18 - 30 months | < 18 months |
| Consumer subscription High churn means payback must be fast or the cohort never breaks even. | 3 - 12 months | < 3 months |
Payback targets follow the widely used 12-month rule of thumb, extended for segments where contracts and customer lifetimes are longer.
Formula and worked example: CAC payback guide · Calculate it: CAC payback calculator
SaaS quick ratio benchmarks
The SaaS quick ratio (from Social Capital) measures growth efficiency: revenue won divided by revenue lost. A ratio of 4 means you add four dollars of MRR for every dollar you lose — the point at which growth is comfortably outpacing churn.
| Ratio | Verdict | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| >= 4 The published target. Growth outpaces churn four to one. | Excellent | Best-in-class |
| 2 - 4 Solid, provided the trend is flat or rising rather than decaying. | Good | Healthy |
| 1 - 2 Net positive, but churn consumes most of your new revenue. | Leaking | Needs work |
| < 1 The business contracts even while sales keep closing. Stop spending on acquisition. | Shrinking | Critical |
Bands follow Social Capital's published SaaS quick ratio framework. Do not confuse this with the accounting quick ratio (current assets less inventory, over current liabilities).
Formula and worked example: Quick ratio guide · Calculate it: Quick ratio calculator
MRR growth rate benchmarks
Month-over-month MRR growth is the headline number in any investor update. It decays predictably with scale: a $10k MRR business growing 20% a month is unremarkable, while a $1M MRR business growing 8% a month is exceptional.
| MRR band | Typical MoM growth | Best-in-class |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-$10k MRR Small bases move fast. Growth here says more about distribution than product. | 10% - 25% | 30%+ |
| $10k - $50k MRR The stage where repeatable acquisition channels should be emerging. | 8% - 15% | 20%+ |
| $50k - $250k MRR Churn starts to be a visible drag on the net figure. | 5% - 10% | 15%+ |
| $250k - $1M MRR Sustaining 10%+ here is what separates top-decile companies. | 4% - 8% | 12%+ |
| $1M+ MRR Compounding 5% a month still triples MRR in about 22 months. | 3% - 6% | 8%+ |
Growth-rate bands are the widely reproduced SaaS benchmark tables used in investor updates. Your own trailing three-month average is the honest number; a single strong month is noise.
Formula and worked example: MRR growth guide · Calculate it: MRR growth calculator
Runway benchmarks
Runway is months of cash left at the current net burn. The danger is not running out — it is discovering you are short three months before you would close a round, at which point you have no leverage on price or terms.
| Stage | Typical runway | Healthy target |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed / bootstrapped Default-alive beats a rushed raise. Cut scope before you cut the team. | 6 - 12 months | 18+ months |
| Seed Enough time to find repeatable acquisition and still raise on milestones. | 18 - 24 months | 24+ months |
| Series A Start the next raise with 9 months of cash in the bank. | 18 - 24 months | 24 - 30 months |
| Series B+ Longer cycles, larger teams, slower course corrections. | 24 - 36 months | 30+ months |
| Profitable / cash-flow positive With net burn at or below zero there is no runway limit — the constraint becomes growth, not survival. | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Runway targets reflect standard fundraising advice: hold 12+ months after a round and begin the next raise with at least 6-9 months remaining.
Formula and worked example: Runway guide · Calculate it: Runway calculator
Frequently asked questions
What are good SaaS benchmarks?
Commonly used targets are about 3x LTV:CAC, under 12-month CAC payback, a quick ratio of 2 or above, under 2% monthly churn for early-stage B2B SaaS, and at least 12 months of runway. Every one of them varies by segment, company stage and contract length.
Where do these benchmark ranges come from?
They are drawn from published venture and operator guidance — Bessemer Venture Partners, OpenView Partners, Social Capital, ChartMogul, ProfitWell and SaaStr — rather than a single proprietary dataset. They are labelled as orientation, not as targets set by a standards body.
Should I compare my metrics against a blended benchmark?
No. Segment by customer size, contract length and acquisition channel first. A blended figure averages a 1% enterprise cohort with a 9% self-serve cohort and describes neither of them.
How often are these benchmarks updated?
The data file is regenerated on every production build and the ranges are reviewed when the source guidance changes. The tables show the generation date on the site.
How to use a benchmark
A benchmark is a sanity check, not a target. The range tells you whether your number is in the normal band for a business of your type; it does not tell you what your number should be. Two companies in the same row can justify very different values because of contract length, gross margin and acquisition channel.
Read a benchmark together with its definition. Churn measured on logos and churn measured on revenue routinely differ by more than a factor of two, and a payback computed on revenue rather than gross profit understates the period by the margin. The SaaS metrics cheat sheet lists the formulas; use them before comparing yourself with a table.