SaaS Metrics Glossary
Plain-English definitions, formulas, and live benchmarks for the metrics that matter in public SaaS.
Rule of 40
The single most-watched SaaS health score: growth + profitability ≥ 40.
Definition & benchmarks →EV / Revenue Multiple
How the market values each dollar of SaaS revenue — the core valuation multiple.
Definition & benchmarks →Gross Margin
Revenue minus cost of goods sold — the foundation of SaaS unit economics.
Definition & benchmarks →FCF Margin
Free cash flow as a % of revenue — the real measure of cash efficiency.
Definition & benchmarks →CAC Payback Period
Months to recover the cost of acquiring a customer — a GTM efficiency signal.
Definition & benchmarks →Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
The % of ARR retained + expanded from existing customers — the growth engine.
Definition & benchmarks →ARR Growth Rate
Year-over-year annual recurring revenue growth — the top-line velocity metric.
Definition & benchmarks →All benchmark data is pulled live from SaaSDB's database of public SaaS companies. Percentile thresholds (top quartile, median, bottom quartile) are computed from the full dataset and updated daily.