SaaS businesses require specific metrics to effectively measure success and growth. These specialized KPIs reflect the subscription-based business model and ongoing customer relationships that characterize SaaS products.

For SaaS product managers, these essential KPIs fall into several categories:

• Revenue metrics: Monthly recurring revenue (MRR), annual recurring revenue (ARR), and revenue growth rate track financial performance
• Customer metrics: Customer acquisition cost (CAC), customer lifetime value (CLV), and CLV ratio measure efficiency and sustainability
• Usage metrics: Active users, feature adoption, and product stickiness reveal how customers engage with the product
• Health metrics: Net promoter score (NPS), customer satisfaction score (CSAT), and support ticket volume indicate customer experience quality

While tracking multiple metrics is necessary, effective SaaS product managers focus on identifying relationships between these KPIs rather than viewing them in isolation. For example, improving feature adoption often correlates with higher retention rates and NPS scores.