Formula
MRR = number of active accounts × average revenue per account
MRR
Also known as Monthly recurring revenue
MRR is the predictable revenue a subscription business earns each month from active subscriptions, excluding one-off fees.
Worked example
180 customers paying an average of €210 a month is €37,800 MRR.
Benchmark
Paul Graham's yardstick for YC-stage startups: 5 to 7 percent growth a week is good, 10 percent is exceptional. Most companies at that stage measure it on MRR.
All startup finance benchmarks →MRR is normalised: an annual contract of €12,000 counts as €1,000 of MRR, not €12,000 in the month it was paid. One-time setup fees and variable usage charges are excluded, because neither recurs.
The total matters less than its movements. New, expansion, contraction and churn each tell a different story, and a flat MRR line can hide heavy churn offset by heavy acquisition.
Related terms
Keep this number live
Plainhub computes mrr from money you record in plain words, so it is current when you need it rather than the night before a board meeting.
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