SaaS Health Scorecard
Free tool · by Daniel HaketOne honest read on whether your SaaS is actually healthy. Enter your core numbers and this grades the seven metrics investors and operators care about — Rule of 40, burn multiple, NRR, GRR, quick ratio, CAC payback and LTV/CAC — against the commonly-cited benchmarks, with a plain verdict on each.
What this free tool is great for: a quick, one-off job with no signup — it runs entirely in your browser, so nothing leaves your device and there's nothing to manage.
Its honest limit: it's a one-time read from numbers you type in — it can't pull your live billing and CRM data, trend the metrics month over month, or alert your team the moment one slips out of the healthy zone.
Your SaaS has vital signs — this reads them
Revenue alone tells you almost nothing about the health of a subscription business. A company growing 100% while burning $3 for every $1 of net-new ARR is in more danger than one growing 30% that funds itself. The metrics on this scorecard are the vital signs investors and seasoned operators actually check — and, unlike a single number, they only make sense together.
The seven vital signs, in plain English
Rule of 40 — growth rate plus profit margin. You're allowed to lose money if you grow fast, or grow slowly if you're profitable, but together they should clear 40. Burn multiple — how much cash you torch for each dollar of net-new ARR; under 1 is elite, over 2 says growth is expensive. Net revenue retention — whether existing customers spend more over time; above ~110% means the base grows before you add a single new logo. Gross revenue retention — the same, minus the flattering effect of upsells, so it exposes real churn. Quick ratio — new plus expansion revenue divided by what you lost; it tells you whether you're filling the bucket faster than it leaks. CAC payback — how many months of gross profit it takes to earn back the cost of winning a customer. LTV/CAC — a customer's lifetime value versus what they cost to acquire; roughly 3x or better is the healthy zone.
Which ones matter when
Early on, retention and the quick ratio tell you whether you have something worth pouring fuel on — great growth on top of leaky retention just burns money faster. Once you're scaling, the Rule of 40, burn multiple and CAC payback take over, because the question shifts from existence to efficiency. A red flag in the wrong metric for your stage deserves more of your attention than a green one you were always going to pass.
Where the benchmarks lie to you
These are rules of thumb, not physics. A seed-stage company with tiny numbers can post a wild retention figure from one upsell; an enterprise business on annual contracts measures payback differently from a self-serve tool. Seasonality, contract length and how you count burn all move the goalposts. So use a red score as a question — why is this off, and does it matter for us — not as a verdict.
From a snapshot to a system
This is a point-in-time read from numbers you typed in. The real value is watching them trend month over month, pulled straight from your billing and CRM so nobody's copying figures into a spreadsheet. That's what a dashboard tool like Databox is for: the calculator tells you where you stand today; a live dashboard tells you which way you're moving.
Frequently asked questions
Which SaaS metrics does the scorecard grade?
Seven of the most-watched: Rule of 40, burn multiple, net revenue retention (NRR), gross revenue retention (GRR), quick ratio, CAC payback period and LTV/CAC. Each is graded green, amber or red against a commonly-cited benchmark, and you get an overall letter grade.
Where do the benchmarks come from?
They're standard industry rules of thumb — the kind SaaS investors and operators use — not invented numbers. They're guidance, not gospel: the right target shifts with your stage, business model and market, so use the grade to find what to dig into.
Is my data sent anywhere?
No. Everything is computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or logged, and there's no signup.
More free growth & marketing metrics
This tool is free and runs entirely in your browser. The link above is an affiliate link: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you, and it never changes our honest take.