Voluntary churn

Voluntary churn is a decision by the customer, unlike involuntary churn caused by a failed payment. Billing tools usually report the two separately, and Stripe’s retention dashboard, for example, tracks cancellations made through its customer portal as voluntary churn.

The reasons vary: the product did not deliver value, the customer stopped needing it, the price went up, a competitor won them, or a seasonal need ended. Asking for the reason at cancellation, and reading it next to usage data, shows which of these dominate.

Reducing it starts long before the cancel button, with onboarding and ongoing value. At the moment of cancellation, a cancel flow with a fitting offer can keep some customers, and a win-back campaign can bring others back later.