Churn
Churn is the rate at which subscribers cancel or lapse over a period, usually a monthly or annual percentage.
It's the single biggest constraint on subscription growth, because a subscriber base plateaus at roughly new sign-ups divided by the churn rate.
Why it matters for publishers
Churn sets the ceiling on your subscriber base. At a steady acquisition rate, your subscriber count plateaus at new sign-ups divided by the churn rate, so a business adding 100 subscribers a month at 5% monthly churn will stall at around 2,000 — no matter how good the marketing gets.
How publishers use it in practice
- Separate voluntary from involuntary churn; the fixes are completely different.
- Most cancellations happen in the first 60–90 days — invest in onboarding, not just win-back.
- Track cohort retention curves rather than a single monthly percentage.
- Annual plans typically churn at a third to a half the rate of monthly plans.
Worked example
Cutting monthly churn from 5% to 4% raises the steady-state subscriber base by 25% and lifts average lifetime from 20 months to 25.
Frequently asked questions about churn
- What is a good churn rate for publishers?
- Monthly consumer subscriptions commonly run 3–6% a month; annual plans often equate to 1–2%. B2B and trade titles with expensed subscriptions can be well under 2%.
- How do I calculate churn?
- Cancellations in the period divided by the number of active subscribers at the start of the period. Keep the definition consistent, and exclude trial expiries if you report them separately.