SaaS Benchmarks 2025/26
The numbers people actually ask for, given as honest ranges rather than a single fake-precise figure. A benchmark is only useful if you know its spread and where it came from, so both are stated below. Compiled July 2026.
How to read these
These are ranges compiled from public SaaS operating surveys, investor benchmark reports and board decks shared in operator communities during 2025 and early 2026, cross-checked for agreement and widened where sources disagreed. They are not a single proprietary dataset and we do not pretend they are. Treat the middle of each range as typical and the edges as the honest boundary between "fine" and "worth investigating". Where public benchmarks are known to skew toward venture-backed US companies, we say so, because a bootstrapped UK business will read differently.
Revenue growth by ARR band
Growth expectations fall sharply as ARR climbs — the same 100% growth rate is routine at $1M and exceptional at $50M. Year-on-year ARR growth, typical ranges for venture-track B2B SaaS:
| ARR band | Slow | Typical | Top quartile |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0–1M | <100% | 100–180% | 200%+ |
| $1–5M | <60% | 70–120% | 150%+ |
| $5–20M | <40% | 45–70% | 80%+ |
| $20–50M | <30% | 35–50% | 60%+ |
| $50M+ | <20% | 25–40% | 45%+ |
Compute yours with the MRR calculator, which annualises a monthly growth rate for you.
Net and gross revenue retention
Retention is the single strongest predictor of durable SaaS value, and it splits hard by segment. Enterprise-heavy businesses land higher on NRR because expansion is easier; self-serve and SMB run lower because churn is structurally higher.
| Segment | NRR — weak | NRR — good | GRR — good |
|---|---|---|---|
| SMB / self-serve | <90% | 100–110% | 85–90% |
| Mid-market | <100% | 110–120% | 88–92% |
| Enterprise | <105% | 120–130%+ | 92–95%+ |
Work out your own with the NRR & GRR calculator, and see why NDR and NRR are the same thing.
Acquisition efficiency
| Metric | Investigate | Healthy | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| CAC payback (months) | >24 | 12–18 | <12 |
| LTV:CAC ratio | <3:1 | 3–4:1 | 4–5:1 |
| SaaS magic number | <0.5 | 0.7–1.0 | >1.0 |
| SaaS quick ratio | <2 | 2–4 | 4+ |
A note that matters: an LTV:CAC far above 5:1 is not automatically good news. It often means you are under-spending on growth and leaving the market to competitors. Read it next to payback, not on its own.
Profitability and burn
| Metric | Weak | Typical | Strong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | <70% | 75–80% | 82–85%+ |
| Rule of 40 score | <20 | 30–40 | 50+ |
| Burn multiple | >2.0 | 1.0–1.5 | <1.0 |
Check your Rule of 40 score against the calculator, and read what the burn multiple is telling you about capital efficiency.
The honest caveats
- Public SaaS benchmarks skew toward US, venture-backed companies. A profitable bootstrapped business will look "slow" on growth and "excellent" on burn against these, and that can be exactly right for it.
- Medians hide bimodal reality: a segment's "typical" range can be an average of two clusters that no single company sits in.
- Definitions drift between sources. We have normalised to the definitions in our glossary; a report using a looser churn definition will not line up.
- These ranges move. We date this page and revise it; the figures above are as compiled in July 2026.