Subscription + churn glossary.

Practical definitions for the terms subscription operators actually use. Each page has a formula, a worked example on realistic numbers, and links to the related blog posts and calculators.

• Cancellation flowThe UI sequence a subscriber goes through when they click cancel — survey, offer, confirm, cancel.
• Churn rateThe percentage of subscribers who cancel in a given period. Usually reported as a monthly percentage.
• Click to cancelThe FTC rule (effective May 2025) requiring subscription cancellation to be as easy as signup. Applies to US businesses.
• Cohort retentionThe percentage of customers who joined in the same period (usually month) that are still active N months later.
• FTC click-to-cancel ruleThe 2025 Federal Trade Commission rule making it unlawful to obstruct subscription cancellation for US consumers.
• Involuntary churnSubscribers who lose access because of payment failures — expired cards, insufficient funds, chargebacks — not a deliberate cancel.
• MRR (monthly recurring revenue)The monthly-normalised recurring revenue of a subscription business at a point in time.
• Net revenue retentionRevenue from the cohort at the end of the period divided by revenue from the same cohort at the start. Includes expansion + churn.
• ROSCARestore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act. The 2010 US federal law governing online subscription consent and disclosure.
• Save rateThe percentage of cancellation attempts that a save flow keeps as active subscribers.
• Voluntary churnSubscribers who intentionally cancel. This is what a save flow targets.
• WinbackAn email sequence (and sometimes offer) targeting customers who already cancelled, to bring them back as active subscribers.