Customer Churn Cost Calculator
More than the lifetime value you lose.
Cost of losing one customer
$154.00
$36,960 a month across all of them
Churn costs more than the remaining lifetime value, because you also pay to replace the customer and lose the referrals they would have made. Saving 20% of them is worth $88,704 a year, which is the budget retention work has to beat.
How the Customer Churn Cost Calculator works
Churn costs more than the remaining lifetime value, because you also pay to replace the customer and lose the referrals they would have made. Adding all three gives the number a retention budget has to be measured against.
Not financial advice. Marketplace fees change, and they vary by country, plan and seller status. Every rate here is an editable default, not a quoted price — check the platform's current fee schedule before you price a product against it. This is not tax or business advice.
Frequently asked questions
What does losing a customer actually cost?
The lifetime value they had left, the cost of acquiring a replacement, and the referrals they would have generated. The first is the only one usually counted.
Why include replacement cost?
Because standing still requires it. A business losing 200 customers a month has to buy 200 to hold position, and that spend produces no growth.
How do I value lost referrals?
Referral rate times the acquisition cost you would otherwise pay. It is approximate and it is not zero, which is the point.
How much should I spend on retention?
Up to the value of the churn you can prevent. If saving 20% of churners is worth £180,000 a year, that is the ceiling on what the work can cost.