# What is subscriber churn? A defined loss over a period

Subscriber churn is a count or rate of subscriptions that end under a stated event rule during a stated reporting period.

Specify whether you count people, subscriptions or lost recurring revenue. Also state the reporting period and the event that makes a subscription count as ended.

## Calculating a defined subscriber loss

Illustrative May cohort: 1,000 subscriptions are active on May 1, and 40 of those original subscriptions end during May. Churn for that opening group is 40 ÷ 1,000 × 100 = 4%. Keep subscriptions first acquired during May separate when calculating this opening-group measure.

Illustrative May opening subscription group

Status | Subscriptions

--- | ---

Active on May 1 | 1,000

From that group, ended in May | 40

Opening-group churn | 4%

## State people, subscriptions or revenue

A subscriber-count rate treats a $5 and a $50 subscription equally. Revenue churn does not. Keep the two measures separate when comparing retention work; losing fewer accounts can still mean losing more recurring revenue.

## Define which subscribers could have left

Record the population present at the start, the event that counts as leaving, and the time allowed for it to occur. If you compare two offers, follow each group for the same elapsed period. Keep early cancellations separate from failures at the first renewal.

[Subscriber churn rate calculator](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/tools/subscriber-churn/)

## Related terms

[Involuntary churn](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/involuntary-churn/)

[Dunning](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/dunning/)

## Continue reading

[Stripe subscription retries: check the payment method on the failed subscription](https://digitalpublishingnews.com/articles/payment-retries-involuntary-churn/): It distinguishes payment-recovery states from subscriptions that have reached a counted loss.

## Sources

https://docs.stripe.com/billing/revenue-recovery/smart-retries

https://docs.stripe.com/billing/revenue-recovery/smart-retries

Editorial method: https://digitalpublishingnews.com/how-we-use-ai/

Canonical: https://digitalpublishingnews.com/dictionary/churn/