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MRR and ARR Calculator for Subscription Boxes
This free MRR and ARR calculator works out your monthly recurring revenue, annual recurring revenue, net new MRR, and MRR churn, then projects the next 12 months. Enter your subscribers, your price, and this month's sign-ups and cancellations. Every result updates as you type.
Enter this month's numbers
The defaults describe a $40 box that started the month with 200 subscribers. Replace them with your own numbers.
Your recurring revenue
$8,640 MRR · $103,680 ARR
Your MRR grew by $640.00 this month (8.0%). New subscribers and upgrades brought in more than cancellations and downgrades took away.
Your 12-month MRR and ARR forecast
This keeps your new subscribers and churn rate the same every month, starting from your ending MRR. Upgrades and downgrades are counted in the average revenue per subscriber.
| Month | Subscribers | MRR | ARR run rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Now | 214 | $8,640 | $103,680 |
| Month 3 | 250 | $10,079 | $120,943 |
| Month 6 | 277 | $11,199 | $134,385 |
| Month 9 | 299 | $12,071 | $144,853 |
| Month 12 | 316 | $12,750 | $153,003 |
At 30 new subscribers a month and 8.0% monthly churn, your box levels off near 375 subscribers, or about $15,140 MRR ($181,682 ARR). To grow past that, add more subscribers each month or lower churn.
What are MRR and ARR?
MRR (monthly recurring revenue) is the subscription revenue you can expect every month from your active subscribers. ARR (annual recurring revenue) is the same number scaled to a year. Both count only recurring charges, so they show the steady earning power of your box without the noise of one-time sales.
How to calculate ARR and MRR
MRR = active subscribers × average monthly price
ARR = MRR × 12
Net new MRR = new MRR + expansion MRR − contraction MRR − churned MRR
Net MRR churn = (churned MRR + contraction MRR − expansion MRR) ÷ starting MRR
Worked example
A $40 box starts the month with 200 subscribers, so starting MRR is 200 × $40 = $8,000. During the month it gains 30 subscribers (+$1,200), loses 16 (−$640), earns $120 from upgrades, and loses $40 to downgrades. Net new MRR is $1,200 + $120 − $40 − $640 = $640, so ending MRR is $8,640. ARR is $8,640 × 12 = $103,680.
How to calculate MRR step by step
- Count the subscribers who are active on the last day of the month.
- Convert every plan to a monthly amount. A $420 annual plan counts as $35 a month.
- Add up the monthly amounts. Leave out one-time purchases, one-off gift boxes, and sales tax.
- Multiply by 12 for ARR.
- Track the change each month as new, expansion, contraction, and churned MRR to see what is driving it.
ARR vs annual revenue
ARR is a snapshot of your run rate today. Annual revenue is what you actually collected over the past year, including one-time sales. A growing box usually shows ARR above last year's revenue. Here, ARR always means annual recurring revenue, not the accounting rate of return used to judge investments.
What MRR and ARR look like at $40 a box
The last column shows how many new subscribers you need each month just to replace cancellations at 8% monthly churn.
| Subscribers | MRR | ARR | New subscribers to stay flat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | $4,000 | $48,000 | 8 a month |
| 250 | $10,000 | $120,000 | 20 a month |
| 500 | $20,000 | $240,000 | 40 a month |
| 1,000 | $40,000 | $480,000 | 80 a month |
| 2,500 | $100,000 | $1,200,000 | 200 a month |
MRR only matters if each box is profitable. Check your margin per box in the Profit Calculator, and see how churn eats into MRR with the Churn Calculator.
MRR and ARR calculator FAQ
What is an MRR calculator?
An MRR calculator works out your monthly recurring revenue: the predictable subscription revenue you earn each month. This one also shows ARR (annual recurring revenue), net new MRR, gross and net MRR churn, and where your MRR is heading over the next 12 months, using your subscriber count, price, new sign-ups, and cancellations.
How do you calculate ARR?
ARR = MRR × 12. Take your monthly recurring revenue at the end of the month and multiply it by 12. A subscription box with $8,640 of MRR has an ARR of $103,680. ARR is a run rate: it shows what a full year looks like if nothing changes, not a forecast of what you will actually collect.
How do you calculate MRR for a subscription box?
Multiply your active subscribers by the average monthly price they pay. Count only recurring charges: convert prepaid plans to a monthly amount, and leave out one-time purchases, one-off gift boxes, and sales tax. For example, 200 subscribers paying $40 a month is $8,000 of MRR.
How do I convert MRR to ARR, or ARR to MRR?
Multiply MRR by 12 to get ARR, and divide ARR by 12 to get MRR. $10,000 of MRR is $120,000 of ARR, and $240,000 of ARR is $20,000 of MRR.
What is the difference between ARR and annual revenue?
ARR counts only recurring subscription revenue at today's run rate. Annual revenue is everything you actually collected over a year, including one-time sales, shop add-ons, and months when you had fewer or more subscribers. A growing box usually has an ARR above last year's revenue, and a shrinking box has an ARR below it.
Do annual prepaid plans count toward MRR?
Yes, but spread them out. A $420 annual plan adds $35 to MRR every month for 12 months, not $420 in the month the customer paid. Counting the full payment in one month makes MRR jump and then fall, which hides your real trend.
What is net new MRR?
Net new MRR = new MRR + expansion MRR − contraction MRR − churned MRR. It is how much your MRR changed over the month. With $1,200 from new subscribers, $120 from upgrades, $40 lost to downgrades, and $640 lost to cancellations, net new MRR is $640.
What is the difference between gross and net MRR churn?
Gross MRR churn is the revenue lost to cancellations and downgrades, divided by MRR at the start of the month. Net MRR churn subtracts the revenue gained from upgrades first. With $8,000 of starting MRR, $640 of cancellations, $40 of downgrades, and $120 of upgrades, gross MRR churn is 8.5% and net MRR churn is 7%.
Is ARR the same as the accounting rate of return?
No. On this page ARR means annual recurring revenue, the standard growth metric for subscription businesses. Accounting rate of return, also shortened to ARR, is an investment measure: the average yearly profit from an investment divided by the amount invested. The two are unrelated.