Logo-Based Retention
What is Logo-Based Retention?
Logo-based retention measures the percentage of customers (logos) that continue their subscription over a specific time period, regardless of changes in revenue from those accounts. It tracks customer count retention rather than dollar value retention, making it a pure measure of customer loyalty and satisfaction.
Unlike dollar-based retention metrics that focus on revenue changes, logo-based retention treats all customers equally—whether they're paying $100 per month or $100,000 per month. A retained customer counts as one logo, regardless of whether they upgraded, downgraded, or maintained the same spend level. This metric provides critical insights into product-market fit, customer satisfaction, and the health of your customer base.
For B2B SaaS companies, logo-based retention serves as an early warning system for product and service quality issues. While revenue metrics can mask underlying problems through expansion revenue, logo retention reveals the fundamental truth about whether customers find value in your product. High logo retention indicates strong product-market fit and customer satisfaction, while declining logo retention often signals deeper issues that revenue metrics may temporarily obscure.
Key Takeaways
Pure Customer Count Metric: Logo-based retention measures the percentage of customers retained, treating all customers equally regardless of their revenue contribution
Early Warning Signal: Declining logo retention often indicates product or service issues before they appear in revenue metrics, providing early intervention opportunities
Complements Revenue Metrics: While net revenue retention tracks dollar value, logo retention reveals customer satisfaction and product-market fit independently of account expansion
Segment-Specific Analysis: Breaking logo retention by customer segment (enterprise, mid-market, SMB) reveals which customer types find the most value in your product
Cohort Tracking Essential: Measuring logo retention by cohort provides insights into how product improvements and customer success initiatives impact long-term customer loyalty
How It Works
Logo-based retention calculates the percentage of customers from a starting period who remain customers at the end of a measurement period. The calculation is straightforward:
Logo Retention Rate = (Customers at End of Period / Customers at Start of Period) × 100
Here's how logo-based retention tracking works in practice:
Define the Starting Cohort: Identify all customers who were active at the beginning of your measurement period (typically monthly, quarterly, or annually).
Track Customer Status: Monitor which customers from the original cohort remain active subscribers at the end of the period, regardless of plan changes or spending fluctuations.
Exclude New Customers: Only count customers from the original cohort. New customers acquired during the measurement period don't factor into the calculation, ensuring you're measuring true retention rather than mixing retention with acquisition.
Calculate Retention Rate: Divide the number of retained customers by the starting customer count and multiply by 100 to get your logo retention percentage.
Analyze by Segment and Cohort: Break down logo retention by customer segments (company size, industry, plan tier) and signup cohorts to identify patterns and opportunities for improvement.
The inverse of logo retention is logo churn rate, which measures the percentage of customers lost during a period. These metrics work together to provide a complete picture of customer retention health. According to SaaS benchmarking research from OpenView Partners, best-in-class B2B SaaS companies achieve annual logo retention rates above 90%, with top performers in certain segments exceeding 95%.
Key Features
Customer Count Focus: Measures retention based on the number of customers, not revenue value
Segment Flexibility: Enables analysis across different customer segments, industries, and plan tiers
Cohort Compatibility: Works seamlessly with cohort analysis to track retention patterns over time
Churn Early Warning: Provides leading indicators of customer health issues before revenue impact becomes severe
Product-Market Fit Indicator: High logo retention signals strong product-market fit and customer satisfaction
Use Cases
SaaS Business Health Monitoring
B2B SaaS companies track logo-based retention alongside dollar-based retention to get a complete view of business health. While revenue retention might look strong due to expansion in large accounts, declining logo retention reveals underlying product or service issues affecting the broader customer base. GTM teams use this metric to identify when customer success resources should be reallocated or when product improvements are needed to address retention challenges.
Customer Segmentation Strategy
Revenue operations teams analyze logo retention across different customer segments to determine ideal customer profiles and inform acquisition strategy. If enterprise customers show 95% annual logo retention while small businesses show 60% retention, this insight drives decisions about sales focus, pricing strategy, and product development priorities. Platforms like Saber provide company signals and contact signals that help teams identify and prioritize high-retention customer profiles during prospecting.
Product Development Prioritization
Product teams use logo retention trends by cohort to evaluate the impact of product changes and feature releases. If customers who onboarded after a major product update show significantly higher 12-month logo retention compared to earlier cohorts, this validates the product improvements. Conversely, declining retention in recent cohorts signals the need for product adjustments or enhanced onboarding processes.
Implementation Example
Here's a comprehensive logo retention tracking framework for a B2B SaaS company:
Logo Retention Dashboard
Metric | Current Period | Prior Period | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Monthly Logo Retention | 97.2% | 96.8% | >96% | ✓ On Track |
Quarterly Logo Retention | 91.5% | 92.1% | >92% | ⚠ Watch |
Annual Logo Retention | 82.3% | 84.7% | >85% | ✗ Below Target |
Retention by Customer Segment
Segment | Customers Start | Customers End | Logo Retention | Revenue Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Enterprise (>1000 emp) | 45 | 44 | 97.8% | High retention, high value |
Mid-Market (100-1000) | 203 | 189 | 93.1% | Moderate retention, growth segment |
SMB (<100 emp) | 487 | 398 | 81.7% | Low retention, high volume |
Cohort Analysis (12-Month Retention)
Retention Alert Framework
Green Status (On Track)
- Monthly logo retention ≥ 96%
- Quarterly logo retention ≥ 92%
- Annual logo retention ≥ 85%
Yellow Status (Monitor)
- Monthly logo retention 94-96%
- Quarterly logo retention 88-92%
- Annual logo retention 80-85%
Red Status (Action Required)
- Monthly logo retention < 94%
- Quarterly logo retention < 88%
- Annual logo retention < 80%
This framework enables GTM teams to identify retention issues early and implement targeted interventions before customer churn significantly impacts revenue. Integration with customer success platforms ensures at-risk accounts receive proactive outreach based on retention trends in their cohort and segment.
Related Terms
Net Revenue Retention: Dollar-based retention metric measuring revenue changes including expansion and contraction
Gross Revenue Retention: Revenue retention excluding expansion, focusing on renewals and downgrades
Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who cancel their subscription during a period
Customer Health Score: Predictive metric assessing likelihood of retention or churn
Cohort Analysis: Analytical technique grouping customers by common characteristics to track behavior over time
Customer Lifetime Value: Total revenue expected from a customer over their entire relationship
Expansion Revenue: Additional revenue from existing customers through upgrades and cross-sells
Frequently Asked Questions
What is logo-based retention?
Quick Answer: Logo-based retention measures the percentage of customers who continue their subscription over time, counting each customer equally regardless of revenue value.
Logo-based retention provides a pure measure of customer count retention, treating a $100/month customer the same as a $10,000/month customer. This metric is essential for understanding product-market fit and customer satisfaction independently of account expansion or contraction dynamics. For B2B SaaS companies, logo retention serves as an early warning indicator of product or service issues before they materially impact revenue metrics.
How is logo retention different from net revenue retention?
Quick Answer: Logo retention measures customer count retention, while net revenue retention measures dollar value retention including expansion and contraction from existing customers.
The key difference lies in what each metric measures. Logo retention answers "Are we keeping our customers?" by tracking the percentage of customers who renew. Net revenue retention answers "Are we growing revenue from our customer base?" by measuring revenue changes including upgrades, downgrades, and churn. A company could have strong 120% net revenue retention through significant expansion in large accounts while simultaneously experiencing declining logo retention as smaller customers churn. Both metrics are essential for understanding business health—NRR reveals growth efficiency while logo retention reveals product-market fit and customer satisfaction.
What is a good logo retention rate for SaaS companies?
Quick Answer: Strong B2B SaaS companies typically achieve 85-90% annual logo retention, with best-in-class companies exceeding 90-95% depending on customer segment and market.
Logo retention benchmarks vary significantly by customer segment, market, and business model. Enterprise-focused B2B SaaS companies often achieve 90-95% annual logo retention due to longer sales cycles, higher switching costs, and deeper integrations. Mid-market focused companies typically see 85-90% annual retention, while SMB-focused businesses may see 70-80% due to higher business failure rates and lower switching costs. According to research from Pacific Crest SaaS Survey, median annual logo retention for SaaS companies is approximately 87%, with top quartile performers exceeding 92%.
Why is logo retention important if revenue retention is high?
Logo retention provides critical insights that revenue metrics can mask. A company might show strong 120% net revenue retention through expansion in large accounts while losing significant numbers of smaller customers due to product or service issues. This scenario is unsustainable—eventually the company runs out of expansion opportunities in large accounts while continuing to lose customers. Logo retention serves as an early warning system, revealing problems with product-market fit, customer satisfaction, or service quality before they appear in revenue metrics. Additionally, high customer counts provide more opportunities for expansion, referrals, and case studies, making logo retention strategically important beyond just revenue considerations.
How should logo retention be tracked and analyzed?
Logo retention should be tracked at multiple time horizons (monthly, quarterly, annually) and segmented by key customer characteristics. Cohort analysis is particularly valuable—tracking the retention rate of customers who signed up in the same period reveals how product improvements, pricing changes, or market conditions affect retention over time. Segment your analysis by company size, industry, plan tier, and customer acquisition source to identify which customer types show strongest retention. This segmentation informs acquisition strategy, product development priorities, and customer success resource allocation. Leading SaaS companies integrate logo retention tracking into their revenue operations dashboards alongside revenue metrics to maintain a balanced view of business health.
Conclusion
Logo-based retention stands as a fundamental metric for B2B SaaS companies, measuring customer loyalty and product-market fit independent of revenue fluctuations. While dollar-based retention metrics reveal growth efficiency and expansion success, logo retention provides the essential foundation—whether customers find enough value to remain customers regardless of spending changes.
For GTM teams, logo retention analysis informs critical strategic decisions across acquisition, product development, and customer success. Marketing and sales teams use retention patterns by segment to refine ideal customer profiles and prioritize high-retention prospects. Product teams leverage cohort-based retention analysis to validate product improvements. Customer success organizations use retention trends to identify at-risk segments requiring enhanced support or product education. Revenue operations leaders monitor logo retention alongside net revenue retention and gross revenue retention to maintain balanced growth metrics.
As B2B SaaS markets mature and competition intensifies, logo-based retention becomes increasingly critical. Companies that maintain high logo retention build durable competitive advantages through network effects, customer advocacy, and efficient growth. Understanding and optimizing logo retention—segmented by cohort and customer type—remains essential for sustainable SaaS growth and long-term business success.
Last Updated: January 18, 2026
