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Membership Churn Cost Calculator

Work out membership churn cost instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Membership Churn Cost Calculator

Churn costs twice: the recurring revenue that stops, and the acquisition cost of replacing the member. Average lifetime is the reciprocal of monthly churn, so cutting churn from 4.2% to 3% extends average membership from 24 to 33 months.

Formulas

Members lost

Leavers = Active members x Monthly churn %

Average lifetime

Lifetime months = 1 / Monthly churn rate

Lifetime value

LTV = Monthly fee x Average lifetime months

Worked example

With the default values below, Membership Churn Cost Calculator returns Monthly cost of churn of $551,880.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Active members
1,800
Monthly churn rate
4.2
Monthly membership fee
2,800
Acquisition cost per member
4,500

Results

Monthly cost of churn
$551,880.00
Members lost per month
75.6
Average member lifetime
23.8
Member lifetime value
$66,666.67

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Members lost
  3. 3Average lifetime
  4. 4Lifetime value
  5. 5Monthly cost of churn= 551,880.00
  6. 6Members lost per month= 75.6
  7. 7Average member lifetime= 23.8
  8. 8Member lifetime value= 66,666.67

Assumptions and limits

  • The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
  • In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
  • Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is reducing churn better than acquiring more?

Almost always. A one point reduction in monthly churn adds more lifetime value than the same spend on acquisition, and it compounds.

When does churn hurt most?

In the first three months, before the member has built a habit and before acquisition cost has been recovered.

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