{
  "schema_version": 1,
  "slug": "marketing-benchmarks",
  "title": "SaaS, AI and developer-tool marketing benchmarks",
  "purpose": "Find industry reports and surveys with visible cohorts, metric definitions and limitations.",
  "intro": "Read reported marketing, conversion, retention and growth numbers in context. Developer surveys are labeled as audience research; industry reports are separate from the scientific studies library.",
  "updated_on": "2026-10-08",
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "attribution": "Jon Bishop",
  "selection_note": "Selected industry reports and surveys, not experimental evidence. Unknown sample or collection details are stated explicitly; no universal performance targets or unsupported AI-specific baselines are invented.",
  "categories": {
    "growth": {
      "label": "Growth and spending",
      "intro": "Compare growth and spending with companies whose stage and financing resemble your own.",
      "compare": "Match ARR size, funding and accounting definitions; keep survey medians separate from targets."
    },
    "retention": {
      "label": "Revenue retention",
      "intro": "Understand the retained revenue and customer cohorts behind a retention comparison.",
      "compare": "Match GRR versus NRR, revenue concentration, ARPA, subscriber count and time window."
    },
    "conversion": {
      "label": "Landing-page conversion",
      "intro": "Compare measured page actions within the right traffic and product context.",
      "compare": "Check what counts as conversion and whether the page population resembles your complete signup-to-value path."
    },
    "audience": {
      "label": "Developer audience surveys",
      "intro": "Use survey context to form audience and content hypotheses.",
      "compare": "Check recruitment, eligibility, multiple-choice denominators and who is missing from the survey."
    },
    "email": {
      "label": "Email and messaging reports",
      "intro": "Explore aggregate message behavior without confusing attribution and causality.",
      "compare": "Match message type, commerce connection, observation dates and attribution rules before applying a comparison."
    }
  },
  "filter_fields": {},
  "attribute_labels": {
    "open_source": "Open source",
    "self_hosted": "Self-hosted",
    "pricing": "Pricing model",
    "integration": "Verified connection",
    "subcategory": "Subcategory",
    "license": "License scope",
    "format": "Format",
    "provider": "Provider",
    "task": "Task",
    "artifact": "Page type",
    "pattern": "Pattern",
    "metric": "Metric",
    "period": "Data period",
    "cohort": "Cohort",
    "execution": "Execution",
    "output": "Output",
    "stage": "Use at this point"
  },
  "records": [
    {
      "slug": "saas-capital-growth-2026",
      "title": "SaaS Capital: private B2B SaaS growth, 2026",
      "category": "growth",
      "summary": "The report presents a 22% overall median growth rate from more than 1,000 private B2B SaaS respondents.",
      "use_when": "A private B2B SaaS company needs a stage-appropriate growth comparison",
      "limitations": "Self-reported respondent data is not a census. The overall median mixes company sizes and does not supply an early-stage target.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://www.saas-capital.com/research/private-saas-company-growth-rate-benchmarks/",
          "title": "2026 Private B2B SaaS Company Growth Rate Benchmarks - SaaS Capital",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11baa-23bf-74aa-8cc8-4d4bf653f84a"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Annual revenue growth; check the report's size and funding breakdown before comparison",
            "Growth rate compares revenue across the specified annual window; use the same revenue basis and period"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Responding private B2B SaaS companies; more than 1,000 survey respondents",
            "2025 growth reported in the 2026 survey"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "Annual revenue growth"
        ],
        "period": [
          "2025 growth reported in the 2026 survey"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "Responding private B2B SaaS companies; more than 1,000 survey respondents"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    },
    {
      "slug": "saas-capital-spending-2026",
      "title": "SaaS Capital: spending, 2026",
      "category": "growth",
      "summary": "The reported medians are 8% of ARR for marketing and 15% for selling costs in the 2026 survey.",
      "use_when": "You are comparing a budget allocation with other private SaaS businesses",
      "limitations": "Respondent estimates and spending classifications may differ. The median is not a prescribed budget, and a company can need a different investment level.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://www.saas-capital.com/blog-posts/spending-benchmarks-for-private-b2b-saas-companies/",
          "title": "2026 Spending Benchmarks for Private B2B SaaS Companies - SaaS Capital",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11baa-85f6-757f-b852-00dc4c5ee2cf"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Department spending as a percentage of ARR; accounting categories require matching",
            "Department cost divided by the applicable annual recurring revenue; survey wording and category boundaries matter"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "More than 1,000 private B2B SaaS respondents; survey completed March 2026",
            "Q1 2026 survey of current spending"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "Department spending as a percentage of ARR"
        ],
        "period": [
          "Q1 2026 survey of current spending"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "More than 1,000 private B2B SaaS respondents; survey completed March 2026"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    },
    {
      "slug": "chartmogul-retention-2023",
      "title": "ChartMogul: SaaS retention, 2023",
      "category": "retention",
      "summary": "A retention report using anonymized aggregate data from over 2,100 SaaS businesses, with NRR, GRR and customer-retention distinctions.",
      "use_when": "You need to understand which retention measure and company cohort can answer your question",
      "limitations": "Platform and report inclusion can affect representativeness. This historical report does not establish today's benchmark or a causal link between retention and growth.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://chartmogul.com/reports/saas-retention-report/",
          "title": "SaaS Retention Report 2023 | ChartMogul",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11baa-a85e-720c-b6e0-94dd7b324b6a"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "NRR, GRR and customer retention, with size and ARPA cohorts",
            "NRR follows revenue from the existing customer cohort including expansion; GRR excludes expansion; customer retention counts customers"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Over 2,100 SaaS businesses in the publisher's analyzed data",
            "Historical comparisons through 2022; 2023 report"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "NRR, GRR and customer retention, with size and ARPA cohorts"
        ],
        "period": [
          "Historical comparisons through 2022; 2023 report"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "Over 2,100 SaaS businesses in the publisher's analyzed data"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    },
    {
      "slug": "chartmogul-retention-2024",
      "title": "ChartMogul: The New Normal for SaaS, 2024",
      "category": "retention",
      "summary": "The report analyzes over 2,500 SaaS businesses and presents retention comparisons segmented by ARR, ARPA and subscriber count.",
      "use_when": "An overall NRR comparison hides differences in contract size or subscriber base",
      "limitations": "Reported relationships are observational. Higher retention alongside higher growth does not prove that a particular retention tactic caused growth.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://chartmogul.com/reports/saas-retention-the-new-normal/",
          "title": "The SaaS Retention Report: The New Normal For SaaS | ChartMogul",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11baa-51a7-72e1-b456-d74952faed77"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "NRR and growth comparisons across SaaS cohorts",
            "Existing-customer revenue is the retention denominator; subscriber and revenue-size cohorts should be compared separately"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Over 2,500 SaaS businesses; segment definitions vary by chart",
            "Historical series through H1 2024"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "NRR and growth comparisons across SaaS cohorts"
        ],
        "period": [
          "Historical series through H1 2024"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "Over 2,500 SaaS businesses; segment definitions vary by chart"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    },
    {
      "slug": "unbounce-saas-2024",
      "title": "Unbounce: SaaS landing-page conversion, 2024",
      "category": "conversion",
      "summary": "The published SaaS median landing-page conversion rate is 3.8%, compared with a 6.6% all-industry baseline.",
      "use_when": "You need context for a landing-page action while keeping signup, activation and paid conversion separate",
      "limitations": "Customers and page goals differ across categories and channels. A configured lead action is not necessarily a customer; channel comparisons are not randomized causal tests.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://unbounce.com/conversion-benchmark-report/saas-conversion-rate/",
          "title": "Average SaaS conversion rate benchmark report by Unbounce",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11baa-d43e-718b-bb47-969533aa0554"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Median page conversion rate; the publisher's configured page actions define conversions",
            "Configured page conversions divided by eligible page visits, then summarized as a median across the publisher's comparison population; confirm precise eligibility in the full methodology"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "SaaS-category pages in the Unbounce benchmark dataset; category-specific sample size not stated in the inspected page",
            "2024 benchmark report; exact collection window not stated in the inspected category page"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "Median page conversion rate"
        ],
        "period": [
          "2024 benchmark report; exact collection window not stated in the inspected category page"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "SaaS-category pages in the Unbounce benchmark dataset; category-specific sample size not stated in the inspected page"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    },
    {
      "slug": "stack-overflow-survey-2025",
      "title": "Stack Overflow Developer Survey, 2025",
      "category": "audience",
      "summary": "The methodology reports 49,009 included responses from 177 countries, fielded May 29 to June 23, 2025.",
      "use_when": "You want to form hypotheses about developer interests and then check them with your intended users",
      "limitations": "Voluntary, channel-recruited responses are not a representative census. This methodology profile does not claim a verified technology-adoption percentage from every results chart.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://survey.stackoverflow.co/2025/methodology",
          "title": "Methodology | 2025 Stack Overflow Developer Survey",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11baa-f8ca-739d-9d46-3c87c7b5ded9"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Developer survey responses; each question can have a different response denominator",
            "Use each question's eligible unique responses; multiple-select percentages are not necessarily shares of all developers"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Respondents recruited primarily through Stack Overflow-owned channels with eligibility and consent screening",
            "May 29\u2013June 23, 2025"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "Developer survey responses"
        ],
        "period": [
          "May 29\u2013June 23, 2025"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "Respondents recruited primarily through Stack Overflow-owned channels with eligibility and consent screening"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    },
    {
      "slug": "mailchimp-peak-2025",
      "title": "Mailchimp: Peak Season 2025 messaging report",
      "category": "email",
      "summary": "The publisher describes aggregate analysis of more than 44 billion emails and 83 million SMS messages sent during peak season 2025.",
      "use_when": "You need examples of cohort and time-window distinctions in an email benchmark",
      "limitations": "Commerce-heavy seasonal data is not direct B2B SaaS evidence. Attribution is not incrementality, and AI-versus-non-AI campaign comparisons do not isolate a causal AI effect.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://mailchimp.com/newsroom/peak-season-marketing-insights/",
          "title": "Intuit Mailchimp Research Reveals Smarter Holiday Marketing Strategies | Mailchimp",
          "scope": "Primary page text retrieved; original interpretation is separate",
          "checked_on": "2026-10-08",
          "reference_id": "01a11bab-18c7-769f-aae9-7c7708e1a722"
        }
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "What is measured",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Message engagement, commerce order rate and attributed revenue; metric populations differ",
            "Message metrics and commerce metrics have different eligible populations; check attribution and denominator definitions in the full report"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "Cohort and collection window",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Active Mailchimp free and paid users; commerce metrics apply to users with a connected ecommerce store",
            "Oct 31\u2013Dec 31, 2025; BFCM Nov 28\u2013Dec 1"
          ]
        },
        {
          "heading": "A fair comparison",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Write your own metric definition and cohort beside the report's definition. If they differ, use the report to frame a question rather than assigning your company a percentile or target."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Match the metric, period and eligible population.",
        "Read the original method and subgroup notes; record exclusions and unknowns.",
        "Compare with your own cohort and choose an investigation rather than importing a universal target."
      ],
      "attributes": {
        "metric": [
          "Message engagement, commerce order rate and attributed revenue"
        ],
        "period": [
          "Oct 31\u2013Dec 31, 2025; BFCM Nov 28\u2013Dec 1"
        ],
        "cohort": [
          "Active Mailchimp free and paid users; commerce metrics apply to users with a connected ecommerce store"
        ]
      },
      "status": "Industry report or survey; observational",
      "reviewed_on": "2026-10-08"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "slug": "compare-without-false-targets",
      "title": "Compare a benchmark without inventing a target",
      "summary": "Check the population, denominator and timeframe before using an industry number.",
      "entries": [
        "saas-capital-growth-2026",
        "saas-capital-spending-2026",
        "chartmogul-retention-2024",
        "unbounce-saas-2024"
      ],
      "sections": [
        {
          "heading": "How the pieces fit",
          "paragraphs": [
            "Growth, spending, retention and page conversion answer different questions. An unmatched industry median can identify a measurement question but cannot establish whether your particular business is healthy."
          ]
        }
      ],
      "steps": [
        "Define your measure and comparison population first.",
        "Choose one matched report subgroup and retain the dates.",
        "Explain differences and decide which local evidence would justify action."
      ],
      "caution": "Benchmarks describe selected populations; they do not prescribe tactics or demonstrate causal effects."
    }
  ],
  "methodology": [
    {
      "heading": "Selection",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Resources must answer a distinct founder question and have concrete instructions, tradeoffs and source links. Inventory is deliberately selected rather than exhaustive."
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Evidence and interpretation",
      "paragraphs": [
        "Firecrawl retrieved primary pages and files. Entries say whether the source file or a search excerpt was reviewed. No product installation, conversion test or external AI execution is implied by source inspection."
      ]
    },
    {
      "heading": "Dates and maintenance",
      "paragraphs": [
        "The review date is the source inspection date. Dynamic plans, product features and repository files may change; verify the linked current source before acting."
      ]
    }
  ]
}