What is Logo Retention vs Net Dollar Retention?

Logo Retention (or Customer Retention) measures the percentage of customers that are retained over a period. Net Dollar Retention (NDR), on the other hand, measures the percentage of revenue retained from that same group of customers, including expansion, contraction, and churn.

For Startups: While Logo Retention is important, NDR is a far more powerful indicator of product stickiness and customer health. A startup can have a decent Logo Retention but a poor NDR if its customers are constantly downgrading.

For SaaS: The goal for a healthy SaaS business is an NDR of over 100%. This "negative churn" means that the revenue growth from existing customers is outpacing the revenue lost from churning customers, creating a powerful, compounding growth engine.

Example: A company retains 95% of its customers (95% Logo Retention). However, the remaining customers upgrade their plans so much that the revenue from that cohort grows by 10%. The company's NDR is 110%, which is a very strong sign.