Definition · also called SaaS KPIs, subscription metrics
SaaS metrics are the standard numbers used to judge a subscription software business. They exist because subscription revenue arrives slowly while acquisition costs are paid upfront, so ordinary revenue and profit hide whether the engine is healthy.
You don't need all of them. A solo founder at $2K MRR needs four; a $5M ARR company raising money needs fifteen.
The core SaaS metrics
| Metric | Formula | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| MRR | Sum of monthly subscription value | Size of the engine today |
| MRR growth rate | (MRR now − MRR last month) ÷ MRR last month | Speed |
| ARR | MRR × 12 | Scale, valuation basis |
| Churn rate | Customers lost ÷ customers at start | Leaks |
| Net revenue retention | (Start + expansion − contraction − churn) ÷ start | Do existing customers grow? |
| ARPU | MRR ÷ paying customers | Price point |
| CAC | Acquisition spend ÷ new customers | Cost of growth |
| LTV | ARPU × gross margin ÷ churn | Customer value |
| LTV:CAC | LTV ÷ CAC | Unit economics |
| Gross margin | (Revenue − direct costs) ÷ revenue | What you keep |
| Runway | Cash ÷ monthly net burn | Time left |
| Trial-to-paid conversion | Paid ÷ trials started | Activation |
Which SaaS metrics matter at which stage
- Pre-revenue to $1K MRR: activation (do sign-ups reach the “aha” moment?) and trial-to-paid conversion. Everything else is noise at this sample size.
- $1K–$10K MRR: MRR growth, monthly churn and ARPU. This is where pricing changes pay off most.
- $10K MRR and up: add gross margin, CAC by channel, LTV:CAC and NRR. Buyers and investors will ask for all of them.
- Always: cash and runway (or whether you are default alive).
The Rule of 40
The Rule of 40, popularized by Brad Feld in 2015, says a software company's annual growth rate plus its profit margin should add up to at least 40%. A company growing 60% at a −20% margin passes; so does one growing 10% at a 30% margin. It was written for venture-scale companies, but it is a useful sanity check for profitable indie businesses too: slow growth is fine if margins are high. (source)
SaaS metrics in practice: how indie makers use it
Some indie founders publish their SaaS metrics openly, which is the best free benchmark dataset there is:
Built Baremetrics, Stripe subscription analytics for MRR, churn and LTV, in about eight days in 2013 out of frustration tracking his own metrics. It passed $1M in annual revenue in 2018 and sold for $4M in 2020. (sources: saasclub.io, baremetrics.com)
Buffer publishes ARR, paying customers and other metrics in public shareholder updates, including the dips ($22.4M ARR and 67,572 paying customers in May 2025). (source: buffer.com)
Shares Bannerbear's MRR, pricing tests and growth experiments openly, including a step-by-step write-up of the path to $10K MRR. (source: bannerbear.com)
Hirevire's revenue is verified on TrustMRR (about $13.8K MRR in October 2026), a newer way indie founders publish metrics straight from Stripe. (source: trustmrr.com)
From our data: what indie makers report earning
Median reported: $22K/month
- $1K+/month88%
- $10K+/month65%
- $100K+/month23%
- $1M+/month3%
165 of 868 active makers in the directory publicly report revenue, converted to a monthly figure; it includes non-subscription income, so treat it as monthly revenue, not strictly MRR. Makers who report tend to be the successful ones. See the revenue leaderboard and the 2026 report.
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Frequently asked questions
What are the most important SaaS metrics?
MRR (and its growth rate), churn, ARPU, CAC and LTV cover most decisions. Add net revenue retention, gross margin and runway as the business grows.
What is the Rule of 40 in SaaS?
A rule of thumb that annual revenue growth rate plus profit margin should be at least 40%. It was popularized by Brad Feld in 2015.
Which SaaS metrics should an early-stage founder track?
Before $1K MRR, track activation and trial-to-paid conversion. Between $1K and $10K MRR, track MRR growth, monthly churn and ARPU. Add CAC, LTV and NRR later.
What tools track SaaS metrics?
Subscription analytics tools such as Baremetrics, ChartMogul and ProfitWell connect to Stripe or other billing systems and compute MRR, churn and LTV automatically; Stripe's own dashboard covers the basics.
Related terms
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Maker examples are paraphrased from the cited sources and from each maker's IndieMakerList profile; revenue is self-reported unless marked verified. Spotted an error? Tell us.