Benchmarks
SaaS Benchmarks
The published figures BurnRateIQ compares your company with: growth, retention, margin, acquisition cost and pay, by ARR band, contract size and stage. Every row names its source, links to it and gives its date. None of it comes from BurnRateIQ customers.
The middle column is the median, or the average where a source reports only an average. Definitions are in the glossary.
ARR Growth
Year-over-year growth in annual recurring revenue, by ARR band and funding type. Definition.
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
Revenue kept from last year's customers, expansion included, by contract size and ARR band. Definition.
Gross Revenue Churn
Recurring revenue lost in a year to cancellations and downgrades, before expansion (one minus gross revenue retention). Definition.
| Segment | 25th pct. | Median | 75th pct. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All companies | – | 9% | – | SaaS Capital 2025 B2B SaaS Retention Benchmarks (Research Brief 32)2024 |
| Bootstrapped | – | 8% | – | SaaS Capital 2025 B2B SaaS Retention Benchmarks (Research Brief 32)2024 |
| Equity-backed | – | 10% | – | SaaS Capital 2025 B2B SaaS Retention Benchmarks (Research Brief 32)2024 |
| All companies | 5% | 12% | 19% | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ARR <$1M | 0% | 8% | 20% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR $1M-$5M | 5% | 8% | 17% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR $5M-$20M | 5% | 12% | 18% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR $20M-$50M | 5% | 10% | 15% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR >$50M | 10% | 12% | 16% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| Early-stage startups (Lighter Capital portfolio/applicants) | 5.5% | 12.5% | 24.5% | Lighter Capital 2025 B2B SaaS Startup Benchmarks2025 |
Gross Margin
Revenue left after the cost of delivering it. Definition.
| Segment | 25th pct. | Median | 75th pct. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All companies (total revenue) | 68% | 77% | 84% | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| All companies (subscription revenue) | 72% | 81% | 86% | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ARR <$1M | 60% | 74% | 80% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR $1M-$5M | 60% | 77% | 85% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR $5M-$20M | 70% | 80% | 86% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR $20M-$50M | 71% | 78% | 84% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
| ARR >$50M | 70% | 79% | 83% | High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)2025 |
CAC Payback Period
Months of gross profit a new customer takes to repay the cost of winning them, by contract size. Definition.
New CAC Ratio
Sales and marketing spend for each $1 of new ARR from new customers, by contract size. Definition.
| Segment | 25th pct. | Median | 75th pct. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All companies | $1.50 | $2.00 | $2.82 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ACV $1K-$5K | $0.46 | $2.00 | $2.46 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ACV $5K-$10K | $1.50 | $1.60 | $1.80 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ACV $10K-$25K | $1.53 | $1.81 | $2.17 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ACV $25K-$50K | $1.54 | $1.69 | $2.04 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ACV $50K-$100K | $1.65 | $2.50 | $3.05 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
| ACV $100K-$250K | $1.37 | $1.59 | $2.96 | Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)2024 |
Trial and Free-to-Paid Conversion
How many website visitors start a free trial or free plan, and how many free users go on to pay.
| Segment | 25th pct. | Median | 75th pct. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free to paid · All self-serve products (free trial + freemium) | – | 8% | – | ChartMogul SaaS Conversion Report (Kyle Poyar; Feb 2026)2026 |
| Visitor to free signup · Free trial products | – | 4.5% | – | ChartMogul SaaS Conversion Report (Kyle Poyar; Feb 2026)2026 |
| Visitor to free signup · Freemium products | – | 9% | – | ChartMogul SaaS Conversion Report (Kyle Poyar; Feb 2026)2026 |
Startup Pay by Role
Base salary or total pay for common startup roles in the US, as each source reports it.
| Segment | 25th pct. | Median | 75th pct. | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Software engineer · Engineering; all levels; all valuations; USbase salary | – | $189K | – | Carta State of Startup Compensation H1 2025Jun 2025 |
| Product manager · Product; all levels; all valuations; USbase salary | – | $189K | – | Carta State of Startup Compensation H1 2025Jun 2025 |
| Software engineer · Pre-seed/seed; senior (Pave P4-P5, ~5-8 yrs); Tier 1 US (SF, NYC, Seattle)base salary | – | $187K | $215K | Pave blog: Founding Software Engineer Salary & EquityFeb 2025 |
| Software engineer · Entry Level Engineer; US; all company typestotal pay | – | $155K | – | Levels.fyi 2025 End of Year Pay Report2025 |
| Software engineer · Software Engineer (mid-level); US; all company typestotal pay | – | $226K | – | Levels.fyi 2025 End of Year Pay Report2025 |
| Software engineer · Senior Engineer; US; all company typestotal pay | – | $312K | – | Levels.fyi 2025 End of Year Pay Report2025 |
| Software engineer · US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $156K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Software engineer · San Francisco Bay Area; all levelsbase salary | – | $163K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Software engineer · New York; all levelsbase salary | – | $167K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Product manager · US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $171K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Sales · Account Executive; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $128K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Sales manager · US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $146K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Marketing manager · US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $136K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Customer success · Customer Success Manager; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $109K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Customer support · Customer Service; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $75K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Designer · Product Designer; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $173K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Data scientist · US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $170K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Finance · Finance/Accounting; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $116K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| HR · H.R.; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $144K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| Operations · Operations Manager; US national; all levelsbase salary | – | $125K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| CFO; US nationalbase salary | – | $154K | – | Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)Sep 2026 |
| CEO; all stages; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $159K | – | Kruze Consulting Startup CEO Salary Report 20262026 |
| Seed · CEO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $153K | – | Kruze Consulting Startup CEO Salary Report 20262026 |
| Series A · CEO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $203K | – | Kruze Consulting Startup CEO Salary Report 20262026 |
| Series B · CEO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $216K | – | Kruze Consulting Startup CEO Salary Report 20262026 |
| Seed · CEO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $153K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
| Seed · COO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $144K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
| Seed · CTO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $155K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
| Series A · COO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $227K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
| Series B · COO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $246K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
| Series B · CEO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $216K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
| Series B · CTO; US VC-backedbase salary | – | $238K | – | Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)Aug 2026 |
Compare Your Own Numbers
BurnRateIQ builds your model from your books and shows where your growth, retention and margin sit against these ranges for your ARR band. See it on a sample company, or read SaaS Benchmarks by ARR for what the numbers mean at each stage.
Sources
- SaaS Capital 2025 B2B SaaS Retention Benchmarks (Research Brief 32)
- SaaS Capital 2026 Private B2B SaaS Company Growth Rate Benchmarks
- Benchmarkit 2025 B2B SaaS Performance Metrics Benchmarks (May 2025; Pavilion-hosted PDF)
- High Alpha 2025 SaaS Benchmarks Report (web summary table)
- Lighter Capital 2025 B2B SaaS Startup Benchmarks
- ChartMogul SaaS Conversion Report (Kyle Poyar; Feb 2026)
- ChartMogul SaaS Retention Report: The AI churn wave (Dec 2025)
- Carta State of Startup Compensation H1 2025
- Pave blog: Founding Software Engineer Salary & Equity
- Levels.fyi 2025 End of Year Pay Report
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Wellfound Hiring Data (startup salary pages, US filter)
- Kruze Consulting Startup CEO Salary Report 2026
- Kruze Consulting 2026 C-suite salary report (PR Newswire release)