--- title: "What Is Retention Rate? Definition and Examples | RentAnOTT" description: "Retention rate is the share of subscribers still with a streaming service after a period. See the formula, cohort retention and how it relates to churn." url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/retention-rate" markdown_url: "https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/retention-rate.md" category: "Metrics" updated: "2026-10-05" --- # What is retention rate? Retention rate is the percentage of subscribers, or users, who are still with a service at the end of a period out of those who were there at the start. It is the mirror image of churn rate. ## How to calculate retention rate Take the subscribers at the start of the period, count how many of those same subscribers remain at the end, and divide. If 10,000 began the month and 9,500 of them are still subscribed, monthly retention is 95% and churn is 5%. Do not include subscribers who joined during the period. They belong to the next measurement. ## Cohort retention A single figure hides when people leave. Cohort retention follows everyone who joined in the same month and records what share remains after one month, two months, and so on. The result is a curve. It falls fastest at the start, as people who joined for one title or one trial leave, then flattens. The level at which it flattens tells you how large your loyal base is. ## Subscriber and viewer retention - Subscriber retention: still paying - Viewer retention: still watching, measured by day 1, day 7 and day 30 after sign-up - Viewing is the leading indicator: subscribers who stop watching usually stop paying a few weeks later ## What improves retention - A regular release schedule, so there is always a next thing - A strong first week: help new subscribers find a second title - Annual plans - Pause and downgrade options at cancellation - Recovering failed payments ## Retention rate on RentAnOTT RentAnOTT analytics report growth, retention, cohorts and churn on every plan. The revenue calculator shows what a change in monthly churn does to subscribers and revenue. [Try the revenue calculator](https://www.rentanott.com/tools/ott-revenue-calculator). ## Related terms - [Churn rate](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/churn-rate) — Churn rate is the percentage of a streaming service's subscribers who cancel or fail to renew during a period, usually a month. It is the main measure of how well a subscription service keeps its customers. - [LTV](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/ltv) — LTV (customer lifetime value) is the total revenue, or margin, a service expects to earn from one subscriber over the whole time they stay. It tells you how much you can afford to spend to acquire a customer. - [Involuntary churn](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/involuntary-churn) — Involuntary churn is the loss of subscribers whose renewal payment failed and was never recovered. They did not choose to cancel; their card expired, was declined or lacked funds, and the subscription lapsed. - [Watch time](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/watch-time) — Watch time is the total amount of time viewers spend actually playing video on a service, usually reported in hours per month. It is the most direct measure of how much a service is used. - [MRR](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary/mrr) — MRR (monthly recurring revenue) is the subscription income a service can expect every month from its active subscribers, with all plans normalized to a monthly amount. It excludes one-time sales and other irregular income. ## Further reading - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features) - [OTT subscription plans and tiers](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/ott-subscription-plans) - [How to start a streaming service](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs/how-to-start-a-streaming-service) ## Frequently asked questions ### How do retention rate and churn rate relate? They add up to 100% for the same period. A 95% retention rate is a 5% churn rate. ### How is annual retention worked out from monthly? Multiply the monthly rate by itself twelve times. 95% monthly retention is about 54% over a year. ### What is a good retention rate? Compare with your own earlier cohorts. A newer cohort retaining better than an older one at the same age is the clearest sign of improvement. All 163 terms: [Streaming and OTT glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary). ## Book a demo Tell RentAnOTT what you are launching. The team walks through the platform and maps the path to go-live around your catalog, markets and revenue model. Book a demo: https://www.rentanott.com/contact ## More from RentAnOTT - [Home](https://www.rentanott.com/index.md) — What RentAnOTT is, what every plan includes, and how launch works - [Features](https://www.rentanott.com/features.md) — Every core feature and optional add-on - [Pricing](https://www.rentanott.com/pricing.md) — Platform tiers, apps, add-ons, usage rates and example bills in INR and USD - [Free tools](https://www.rentanott.com/tools.md) — OTT app builder and calculators for streaming revenue, bandwidth, bitrate and pricing - [Insights](https://www.rentanott.com/blogs.md) — All streaming business articles - [Glossary](https://www.rentanott.com/glossary.md) — Definitions of streaming and OTT terms - [Book a demo](https://www.rentanott.com/contact.md) — Talk to RentAnOTT about your launch Full site in one file: https://www.rentanott.com/llms-full.txt