Email List Churn Calculator
The equilibrium size churn imposes.
Contacts lost per year
6,966
$5,921 of annual revenue
At 1.5% monthly churn and 1,900 new subscribers, the list stabilises at 126,667 — acquisition alone cannot push it past that. Reducing churn raises the ceiling proportionally, which is usually cheaper than acquiring more.
How the Email List Churn Calculator works
At any fixed acquisition rate, churn sets a ceiling on list size — acquisition divided by churn rate. Reducing churn raises that ceiling proportionally, which is almost always cheaper than acquiring your way past it.
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 is a normal email list churn rate?
Around 1% to 2% a month from unsubscribes and bounces combined, higher for lists acquired through discounts or competitions.
Why does churn set a ceiling?
Because losses scale with size and acquisition does not. At 1,900 new subscribers and 1.5% monthly churn, the list cannot exceed about 127,000 no matter how long you run.
What causes churn?
Frequency mismatched to expectations, irrelevant content, and lists built from incentives rather than interest. Discount-acquired subscribers churn several times faster than organic ones.
Does invisible churn matter?
More than visible churn. Subscribers who stop opening but never unsubscribe cost money, hurt deliverability and never buy — they are worse than the ones who leave.