What is MRR, and how do you measure it in Metabase?

MRR (monthly recurring revenue) is the normalized monthly value of all your active subscriptions. It's the core signal of a subscription business: predictable, comparable month to month, and the base for churn, retention, and LTV. Measure it in Metabase from billing data synced into a database (Stripe, Chargebee, Paddle, or Recurly).

How is MRR calculated?

For each active subscription, normalize its recurring price to a monthly amount:

• Monthly plan — take the amount as-is.
• Annual plan — divide by 12.
• Other intervals — convert to a monthly equivalent (e.g. quarterly ÷ 3, weekly × 52 ÷ 12).
• Multiply by quantity, then sum across all active subscriptions.

ARR (annual recurring revenue) is simply MRR × 12 — don't sum annual contract values separately, or you'll double-count.

MRR movement

A single MRR number hides what's happening underneath. Break the month-over-month change into components so you can see growth and leakage:

• New MRR — from newly acquired subscriptions.
• Expansion MRR — upgrades, add-ons, and seat increases.
• Contraction MRR — downgrades and seat decreases.
• Churned MRR — from canceled or lapsed subscriptions.

Net new MRR = new + expansion − contraction − churned. A monthly waterfall of these components is the single most useful revenue chart.

What data does MRR need?

• Active subscriptions with their status and quantity.
• The plan/price behind each subscription, with amount and billing interval.
• A single reporting currency (convert multi-currency with a documented rate).
• For movement and trends, a monthly MRR model — one row per subscription per month.

SQL patterns

SELECT
  ROUND(SUM(
    CASE p.interval
      WHEN 'year'  THEN p.unit_amount / 100.0 / 12.0
      WHEN 'month' THEN p.unit_amount / 100.0
      WHEN 'week'  THEN p.unit_amount / 100.0 * 52.0 / 12.0
      WHEN 'day'   THEN p.unit_amount / 100.0 * 365.0 / 12.0
    END * si.quantity / NULLIF(p.interval_count, 0)
  ), 2) AS mrr_now
FROM subscription_items si
JOIN prices p        ON p.id = si.price_id
JOIN subscriptions s ON s.id = si.subscription_id
WHERE s.status IN ('active', 'past_due');

-- Requires a monthly MRR model: one row per subscription per month
SELECT
  month,
  ROUND(SUM(mrr), 2)                         AS mrr,
  ROUND(SUM(mrr) - LAG(SUM(mrr)) OVER (ORDER BY month), 2) AS net_new_mrr
FROM modeled_mrr
GROUP BY month
ORDER BY month;

Pitfalls

Where this metric applies

• Stripe + Metabase — subscription items × prices
• Chargebee + Metabase — subscriptions × plans/item prices
• Paddle + Metabase — subscription items × prices
• Recurly + Metabase — subscriptions × plans

Related

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