What is Churn and How is it Calculated?

Churn is a critical metric for apps monetizing with subscriptions!

Subscriptions are a great way to grow a steady revenue stream - as long as you get more subscribers, you'll make more money. Churn, on the other hand, is a standard KPI used to measure how many (and how fast) subscribers are leaving and hurting your bottom line.

Understanding Subscriptions Metrics

What's churn? 

Subscriptions that have been cancelled as a percentage of total active subscriptions.

Daily Churn:

The sum of Cancellations over the last 31 days (including the current day) divided by the Active Subscriptions for the day, 30 days before the starting day.

Example:

Churn on April 30th = Cancellations from March 31st to April 30th (including the starting and ending days for a total of 31 days) divided by the Active Subscriptions on March 31st.

Let's say you have 315 cancellations and 730 active subscriptions.

The churn calculation is: (315 / 730 * 100) = 43.15%

Monthly Churn:

The sum of Cancellations within the month (from the first to last day) divided by the Active Subscriptions on the 1st day of the month.

Example:

April's Monthly Churn = Cancellations from April 1st to April 30th divided by the Active Subscriptions on April 1st

Let's say you have 112 cancellations and 489 active subscriptions.

The churn calculation is: (112 / 489 * 100) = 22.90%

Minimizing your churn is extremely important when monetizing with apps. Learn more about subscription churn.

Updated on: 04/12/2025