++++ Plate 00 · Net revenue retentionCalculator
Ecosystem Strategy · See your NRR with no signup

Is your revenue base growing on its own?

Net revenue retention is the one number that says whether your app compounds without new installs, and it is one of the five factors buyers price. Four inputs: your MRR, expansion, contraction, and churn. Out comes your monthly NRR, the annualized version, and what it does to your multiple.

4 inputs~60 secondsNo email to see your number
✓ See your NRR, GRR, and verdict instantly. No signup to view your result.
By Taylor Sicard · early Shopify, helped build and scale the Partner Program · sold his own app (Uptime) to Tiny, a publicly traded company · advisor to app founders heading toward a sale
How net revenue retention is calculated

Net revenue retention measures what your existing base does on its own, with new installs excluded entirely. Take start-of-month MRR, add expansion from merchants you already had, subtract contraction and cancelled MRR, then divide by that same starting MRR. Above 100% the base grows without you selling anything. Below it, new sales refill a leaking bucket before a dollar of growth shows up.

  • Formula: monthly NRR = (starting MRR + expansion - contraction - churned MRR) divided by starting MRR.
  • Annualized NRR = monthly NRR as a decimal, raised to the power of 12. This is where a small monthly leak starts to look serious.
  • Gross revenue retention strips expansion out: GRR = (starting MRR - contraction - churned MRR) divided by starting MRR. The gap between GRR and NRR is your expansion engine.
  • Inputs: start-of-month MRR, expansion MRR, contraction MRR, MRR lost to cancellations. Dollars, not logo counts.
  • Bands: 100% or more is the top band for an SMB app, 90 to 100% is holding rather than compounding, under 90% means the base shrinks on its own.
  • Common mistake: counting new installs as expansion. NRR measures only merchants you already had, which is the whole point of the metric.
Worked example. Start the month at $28,000 of MRR. Existing merchants add $900 of expansion, $400 downgrades, and $1,100 cancels outright. (28,000 + 900 - 400 - 1,100) divided by 28,000 = 27,400 / 28,000 = 97.9% monthly NRR. Compounded for a year, 0.979 to the twelfth power is about 77%. GRR is 26,500 / 28,000 = 94.6%, and expansion covers 900 of the 1,500 lost, or 60%.
Source: Taylor Sicard, Taylor Sicard Consulting · Updated August 2026
The thinking behind the number
Why retention is the quiet half of every growth story.
Ecosystem Strategy
A good churn rate for a Shopify app
The bands that actually matter for SMB-serving apps, and where the warning line really sits.
Read post →
Ecosystem Strategy
The 90-day churn save play
A focused onboarding plus winback sequence, and the realistic share of churn it holds.
Read post →
Ecosystem Strategy
What Shopify apps sell for in 2026
The current ranges, the active buyers, and why retention sits under every multiple.
Read post →
Method

How net revenue retention is calculated

Monthly NRR = (starting MRR + expansion, minus contraction, minus churned MRR) divided by starting MRR. Gross revenue retention (GRR) strips the expansion out, so the gap between the two is your expansion engine. The calculator annualizes the monthly rate by compounding it twelve times, which is where a small monthly leak turns into a large annual one, and reads the result against the retention bands buyers use.

NRR 100%+The base compounds without a single new install, buyers pay up for this.
90 to 100%Normal for SMB apps, but pricing and packaging are leaving expansion on the table.
Under 90%The bucket leaks faster than sales can fill it, fix retention before acquisition.

Your churn number carries straight into the churn-cost calculator to be priced in dollars, the pricing-model simulator models the expansion lever that pushes NRR over 100%, and the app valuation calculator prices the multiple effect. All of them live in the free Shopify app calculators suite.

Questions

Common questions

What is net revenue retention?
Net revenue retention (NRR) measures what your existing revenue base does on its own: start-of-month MRR plus expansion, minus contraction and churn, divided by starting MRR. Over 100% means the base grows without a single new install. Under 100% means new sales are partly refilling a leaking bucket.
How do I calculate NRR for my Shopify app?
Monthly NRR = (starting MRR + expansion MRR, minus contraction MRR, minus churned MRR) divided by starting MRR. Worked example: ($28,000 + $900 minus $400 minus $1,100) divided by $28,000 = 97.9%. Annualize it by raising the monthly rate to the twelfth power: 97.9% monthly compounds to about 77% over a year.
What is a good NRR for a Shopify app?
Across the apps I've built, advised, and diligenced, NRR over 100% is the top band for SMB-serving apps, 90 to 100% is where most healthy SMB Shopify apps live, and under 90% means the bucket leaks faster than pricing can fill it. The best combination is monthly churn under 2% with NRR over 100%, which is top-decile territory.
What is the difference between NRR and GRR?
Gross revenue retention (GRR) strips out expansion: starting MRR minus contraction and churn, divided by starting MRR. It can never exceed 100%. NRR adds expansion back in. The gap between the two is your expansion engine, and buyers look at both, because high NRR built on a leaky GRR is fragile.
How do I raise NRR without cutting churn?
Expansion revenue is the lever: usage- or GMV-based tiers that grow with the merchant, seat and volume expansion, and annual plans that lock the base. When revenue per account grows as the store grows, expansion can outrun churn and push NRR above 100% even with some logo loss. The pricing-model simulator models exactly this move.
How does NRR affect my app's valuation?
NRR is one of the five factors buyers diligence, alongside growth, churn, concentration, and founder dependency. Over 100% supports a premium on the ~4.5x ARR anchor because the base compounds on its own; under 90% cuts the multiple because the buyer models the decay forward.