How to measure Customer Lifetime Value

The total gross profit a single customer is expected to generate over their entire relationship with you.

LTV = ARPU × Gross Margin ÷ Customer Churn Rate

Why it matters: Sets the ceiling on what you can spend to acquire a customer and still build a healthy business.

9 tools that produce LTV

Side-by-side: how each tool produces this number, what to read before adopting, and where to find the official docs. Saasly does not integrate with these tools — this is a reference so you can pick the right one for your stack.

ToolCategoryHow it produces LTVPricing
StripeBilling platformComputed (SQL / export)Pay-as-you-go (2.
PaddleBilling platformAutomatic5% + $0.
ChargebeeBilling platformAutomaticFree up to $250K ARR; from $599/mo (Performance) for established SaaS.
RevenueCatMobile subscriptionSDK / integrationFree up to $2.
AdaptyMobile subscriptionSDK / integrationFree up to $10K MTR; then ~$249/mo for Pro.
ChartMogulSaaS analyticsAutomaticFree up to $10K MRR; then from $129/mo (Launch) to $799+/mo (Volume).
BaremetricsSaaS analyticsAutomaticFrom $129/mo (Metrics) to $429+/mo (Business) — seat and MRR limits.
ProfitWell (Paddle)SaaS analyticsAutomaticMetrics are free; Retain (failed payment recovery) and Price Intelligently are paid add-ons.
Saasly CalculatorManual calculatorManual entryFree forever, no signup.

Per-tool: what to know before you plug it in

Stripe

Computed (SQL / export)

Billing platform

Subscription billing platform with built-in dashboards and SQL analytics (Sigma).

Before you adopt: Stripe does not produce LTV directly. Use Sigma (SQL) or export to a calculator. Watch for the 'survivor bias' trap: computing LTV from currently-active customers inflates the number — anchor on cohort-completed LTV instead.
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go (2.9% + $0.30 per charge). Sigma analytics: free up to 1K charges/mo, then $0.02/charge.
Official docs for LTV Stripe home

Paddle

Automatic

Billing platform

Merchant-of-record billing for SaaS; ProfitWell metrics now bundled.

Before you adopt: ProfitWell-derived LTV. Compares against the ProfitWell benchmark dataset — useful for context but read the calculation carefully; ProfitWell uses 1/churn × ARPU which assumes constant churn over the customer lifetime (rarely true).
Pricing: 5% + $0.50 per transaction (Merchant of Record model — Paddle handles VAT/sales tax globally).
Official docs for LTV Paddle home

Chargebee

Automatic

Billing platform

Subscription billing platform with deep enterprise feature set and analytics module.

Before you adopt: Like ProfitWell, Chargebee uses ARPU/churn for LTV — convenient but assumes static churn. For high-touch SaaS where churn drops sharply after month 12, cohort-completed LTV is closer to reality.
Pricing: Free up to $250K ARR; from $599/mo (Performance) for established SaaS.
Official docs for LTV Chargebee home

RevenueCat

SDK / integration

Mobile subscription

Cross-platform mobile subscription SDK with analytics for iOS, Android, and web in-app purchases.

Before you adopt: RevenueCat publishes per-cohort LTV across D7, D30, D90, D180, D365 — far more accurate than ARPU/churn approximations for mobile subscriptions where retention curves are steep. Anchor decisions on D365 cohorts that have actually completed.
Pricing: Free up to $2.5K MTR; then 1% of tracked revenue.
Official docs for LTV RevenueCat home

Adapty

SDK / integration

Mobile subscription

Mobile subscription analytics with paywall A/B testing engine.

Before you adopt: Cohort LTV by paywall variant — answers 'which paywall produces the highest-LTV customer?' Note: high day-1 ARPU does not always translate to high D365 LTV; long-term cohorts reveal the difference.
Pricing: Free up to $10K MTR; then ~$249/mo for Pro.
Official docs for LTV Adapty home

ChartMogul

Automatic

SaaS analytics

Subscription analytics platform built for funded SaaS with Stripe/Recurly/Chargebee billing.

Before you adopt: ChartMogul uses ARPA × gross margin / customer churn for LTV. For SaaS with low monthly churn (<2%), this is reasonable; for high-churn SaaS the approximation breaks down — use cohort retention curves instead.
Pricing: Free up to $10K MRR; then from $129/mo (Launch) to $799+/mo (Volume).
Official docs for LTV ChartMogul home

Baremetrics

Automatic

SaaS analytics

Stripe-native subscription analytics with cancellation surveys and dunning.

Before you adopt: Standard ARPU/churn LTV. Baremetrics also surfaces 'Customer Lifetime' (1/churn months) — useful as a sanity check; if Customer Lifetime is 50+ months, you're probably looking at survivor bias.
Pricing: From $129/mo (Metrics) to $429+/mo (Business) — seat and MRR limits.
Official docs for LTV Baremetrics home

ProfitWell (Paddle)

Automatic

SaaS analytics

Free Stripe-connected subscription metrics, now Paddle-owned.

Before you adopt: Standard ARPU/churn calculation. ProfitWell's benchmark on LTV by ARPU band is one of the most cited in the industry — treat as a reference, not a target.
Pricing: Metrics are free; Retain (failed payment recovery) and Price Intelligently are paid add-ons.
Official docs for LTV ProfitWell (Paddle) home

Saasly Calculator

Manual entry

Manual calculator

Manual-entry calculator that computes the core SaaS metrics with Skok-tier classification.

Before you adopt: Enter ARPU, gross margin, churn — get LTV instantly. Use the benchmark library to compare your number against industry percentiles. Best as a sanity check or for SaaS that hasn't installed analytics yet.
Pricing: Free forever, no signup.
Official docs for LTV Saasly Calculator home

Already have your numbers? Run the math.

The Saasly Calculator computes LTV (and 15 other SaaS metrics) from manual input — useful when you've pulled the underlying numbers out of one of the tools above and want a quick sanity check with industry benchmark percentiles.

Open the calculator

Other metrics

How to measure Customer Acquisition Cost
The fully-loaded cost of acquiring one paying customer in a given period.
How to measure Monthly Recurring Revenue
The normalized monthly value of every active subscription, regardless of billing period.
How to measure Customer Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who cancel in a given period. Counts logos, not dollars.
How to measure Net Revenue Retention
How much revenue a cohort of existing customers generates compared to where they started — including expansion, contraction, and churn.
How to measure CAC Payback Period
The number of months of gross profit from a customer required to recover the cost of acquiring them.
How to measure SaaS Quick Ratio
The ratio of revenue gained (new + expansion) to revenue lost (churn + contraction) in a period.
How to measure Magic Number
Annualized net-new ARR generated for each dollar of the prior quarter's sales & marketing spend.
How to measure Gross Margin
The percentage of revenue left after the direct cost of delivering the service (hosting, support, payment fees, third-party APIs).
How to measure Trial-to-Paid Conversion
The percentage of users who start a trial and become paying customers.
How to measure Net Promoter Score
A survey-based score from the 0–10 'how likely are you to recommend us?' question, taking promoters (9–10) minus detractors (0–6).
How to measure DAU/MAU Ratio
The share of monthly active users who use the product on a given day — the standard 'stickiness' measure.