Newsletter Growth Rate Calculator
Turn one period of subscriber activity into a net growth rate, a gross growth rate, and a churn rate, with the denominator stated.
Free. No account. Runs in your browser.
Your result
Enter the subscribers you started the period with and what your newsletter provider reported for new subscribers and unsubscribes.
The four rates and what divides them
Every rate below divides by the subscribers you started the period with, so a period is measured against the list that existed when it began.
- Net growth rate
- (New subscribers - unsubscribes) / starting subscribers
- Gross growth rate
- New subscribers / starting subscribers
- Churn rate
- Unsubscribes / starting subscribers
- Retention rate
- 100% minus the churn rate for the same period
Two lists can share a growth rate and behave differently
A list that adds 200 and loses 20 and a list that adds 400 and loses 220 both post the same net growth rate, and they are not the same business. The first is keeping almost everyone it earns. The second is replacing a departing audience with a new one, which costs more attention for the same ending count. Reading net growth beside gross growth and churn separates those two cases. The calculator reports one period at a time: it does not forecast future growth, and it cannot tell you why anyone left.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate newsletter growth rate?
Subtract unsubscribes from new subscribers, then divide by the number of subscribers you started the period with. Multiply by 100 for a percentage. A list that starts at 2,000, gains 180, and loses 45 has a net growth rate of 6.75%.
Should I divide by the starting or ending subscriber count?
Divide by the starting count. That compares the period against the list that existed when it began. Dividing by the ending count understates growth in a growing period and overstates it in a shrinking one, so the same activity would score differently depending on the direction.
What counts as an unsubscribe?
Anyone your provider removed from the sendable list during the period. Whether to include bounced and cleaned addresses depends on how your provider reports them. Pick one definition and use it every period, because switching mid-comparison changes the rate without anything changing on the list.
What is a good newsletter growth rate?
There is no single benchmark that applies across list sizes, niches, and acquisition sources. A 10% monthly rate on 300 subscribers is a different achievement from 10% on 30,000. Compare your own periods against each other rather than against a published average.