Churn
Cancellation / drop-off rate
The share of customers (or revenue) that leave the company in a given period.
What it is
Churn measures loss: of customers, revenue, or usage. It's the opposite of retention. High churn means the company is filling a leaky bucket — no matter how much it acquires, it loses it fast too.
Churn = Customers lost in the period / Customers at the start of the period
Where else it shows up
🧩 Product
Analyzed through usage behavior to spot signs a customer is about to cancel before they actually do.
Example: Users who haven't logged in for 30 days are 3x more likely to churn the following month.
💰 Finance
Used to project future revenue and to calculate the real LTV of the customer base.
Example: A 5% monthly churn drastically reduces projected LTV compared to a 1% churn.
Also known as: cancellation, attrition
Related terms