Logo churn
Also known as: customer churn rate
In short
Logo churn is the share of customer accounts you lose over a period, regardless of how much each account pays. A "logo" is simply one customer company, so losing a small account and a large one counts the same.
It is the count-based companion to revenue churn. Logo churn shows how many customers leave, while revenue churn shows how much money leaves. Reading them together tells you whether you are losing small accounts, big ones, or both.
How to calculate logo churn
Divide the number of customers lost during the period by the number of customers at the start of the period.
- Formula: Logo churn rate = customers lost in the period / customers at the start of the period.
- Example: Say a team starts the quarter with 200 customers and 10 cancel. Logo churn is 10 / 200, or 5 percent for the quarter.
- Rule: Exclude customers who signed during the period from the starting count, or the rate will be understated.
Logo churn vs. revenue churn
The two metrics can move in opposite directions. If mostly small accounts leave, logo churn looks high while revenue churn stays low. If one large customer leaves, logo churn barely moves while revenue churn jumps.
- Logo churn: Counts accounts. Useful for spotting product-fit or onboarding problems across the base.
- Revenue churn: Counts dollars. Useful for forecasting and for judging the impact of losing big accounts.
Why logo churn matters for GTM
- ICP validation: Heavy churn in one segment suggests you are selling to the wrong customers.
- Acquisition efficiency: Every churned logo wastes the cost spent to win it.
- Referenceability: Fewer customers mean fewer case studies and referrals.
How to reduce logo churn
- Tighten targeting: Stop selling to segments that churn early and add disqualifiers to your ICP.
- Fix onboarding: Many cancellations trace back to customers who never reached first value.
- Watch early warnings: Falling usage, champion departures, and unresolved support issues often precede cancellation.
- Segment the data: Break churn out by size, industry, source, and tenure to find where it concentrates.
Logo churn FAQs
What is logo churn?
Logo churn is the percentage of customer accounts that cancel or fail to renew in a period, regardless of contract value. It is calculated by dividing customers lost by customers at the start of the period.
How do you calculate logo churn rate?
Divide the number of customers lost during a period by the number of customers you had at the start of that period, then multiply by 100. Do not count customers acquired during the period in the starting number.
What is the difference between logo churn and revenue churn?
Logo churn counts how many customers leave, treating each equally. Revenue churn measures the recurring revenue lost from cancellations and downgrades. A business can have high logo churn but low revenue churn if mostly small accounts leave.
Is high logo churn always bad?
Not always. If low-value accounts outside your ideal customer profile churn while larger accounts stay and expand, revenue can remain healthy. It is still a signal to improve targeting, since each lost customer carries acquisition cost.
