Subscriber churn analysis

Learn how to use Recurly's Subscriber Churn Analysis dashboard to understand why subscribers leave and reduce churn.

The Subscriber Churn Analysis dashboard tracks subscription losses over time, broken down by voluntary and involuntary reasons. Use it to understand why your subscribers are leaving and identify strategies to reduce churn and improve retention.

Available on all Recurly plans

1Definition 2Key benefits 3Key details

Prerequisites

Users must have Analytics user role permission.

Definition

The Subscriber Churn Analysis dashboard tracks subscription losses over a specified timeframe, broken down by voluntary and involuntary reasons. Use it to uncover why your subscribers are leaving and identify strategies to reduce churn and increase retention.

Throughout our analytics, churn and acquisition are calculated by comparing active subscribers at the beginning of a time period with active subscribers at the end of that period. A subscriber is considered churned if they aren't expired at the beginning of the period but are expired by the end of it. For example, using a weekly timeframe, a subscriber who is active at the start of the week and expired by the end of it counts as churn.

Key benefits

Industry comparison Compare key subscription metrics with industry benchmarks to see how you stack up against peers, and spot your strengths and weaknesses.

Competitive insights See how competitors are performing on the same subscription metrics, and find areas where you can differentiate and improve.

Informed decision-making Make decisions based on real-world data to set realistic goals for subscription growth and customer retention.

Forecasting and planning Enable more accurate forecasting and long-term planning, so you can set reachable growth targets and allocate resources effectively.

Key details

NoteIt's important to understand the difference between a subscriber and a subscription. A single subscriber might hold multiple active subscriptions, but this dashboard focuses on counting each subscriber as one entity, rather than tallying the total subscriptions they hold.

TipFor more on navigating and using the filter tools, see our analytics overview documentation.

Filters (top left corner)

Date range: Use the dropdown menus to select a specific timeframe and date range for the data shown on the dashboard.
Timeframe: Adjust this to view data over different periods for a more detailed or broader overview.
Subscriber type: Categorize the data by subscriber type — paying, non-paying, or trial.

Churn rates

The Subscriber Churn Analysis dashboard is a powerful tool for evaluating the success of your customer retention strategies. By presenting your churn rates clearly, it helps you identify both the strengths and weaknesses of your current approach — understanding these metrics is essential for refining your tactics and improving retention.

Churn rate is calculated by dividing the number of subscribers you lost during a period by the total number of subscribers you had at the start of that period. There are three key churn rates to consider:

Overall churn: Combines involuntary and voluntary churn for a complete picture of total subscriber loss.
Involuntary churn: Subscribers lost due to payment issues, showing how effective your payment recovery efforts are.
Voluntary churn: The rate at which subscribers choose to leave on their own, reflecting subscriber satisfaction and perceived value.

Involuntary churn reasons

Non-payment: The subscription churned due to a failed transaction and an unrecovered invoice.
Invalid tax location: The subscription churned because it failed a tax validation check.
Non-payment (gift): The subscription churned because a gift subscription ended without converting to a paid subscription.
Non-payment (trial): The subscription churned because a trial ended without converting to a paid subscription.

Voluntary churn reasons

Non-renewing: The subscription expired after a fixed number of billing cycles and wasn't renewed.
Account closed: The subscription churned because its linked account was manually closed.
Canceled: The customer initiated the cancellation.
Trial ended: A cardless free trial ended without billing information added.
Gift ended: The gift card amount was exhausted without billing info added before the next renewal.

Churn trends

See your performance across all churn rates — overall, involuntary, and voluntary — at a glance, and how that breakdown changes over time. This helps you spot important shifts in how well your retention tactics are working. You can also compare your overall churn rate to the previous year.

Involuntary churn trend

See the rate of involuntary churn from non-payment, compare specific involuntary churn reasons, and track the year-over-year trend.

Voluntary churn trend

See the rate of voluntary churn, compare specific voluntary churn reasons, and track the year-over-year trend.

Churn reasons breakdown

Dig into the data to see the specifics across all churn reasons.

Updated 3 days ago

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