Formula
Churn rate = users lost during the period ÷ users at the start of the period × 100
For subscription apps, measure subscriber churn separately from user churn: losing a free user and losing a paying subscriber are very different events.
Why it matters
Churn caps growth: if you lose 10% of subscribers each month, you need to win 10% just to stay flat. Lower churn raises lifetime value and ARPU over time.
How to find the reasons
- Cancellation surveys.
- Cohort analysis: when do people leave, and after which action?
- Reviews. Users who leave angry often say why in an app review — price increases, missing features, bugs. Watching new reviews with app review monitoring catches churn reasons early.
Example
A meditation app with 20,000 subscribers loses 1,600 in March: 8% monthly churn. Reviews from that month mention a new, harder-to-find "cancel" flow and a price increase — two clear reasons to investigate.
The opposite of churn is retention rate.