Disclosed methodology or platform policy
A source documents its sample and method, or is an official platform policy. This does not make its sample universally representative.
OUR EVIDENCE STANDARDS
A source isn’t the same as certainty.
We show the definition, source, and limitations behind every comparison. A planning assumption is always called a planning assumption.
What the grades mean
Credible, self-selected sample
Industry research with a self-selected or vendor-specific population.
Limited methodology
Vendor content without enough methodological detail for a strong comparison.
Planning assumption
A test cutoff, rate, ranking weight, or capacity estimate. Explicit and editable in the ruleset; not an industry fact.
The comparisons currently supported
Match the measurement first, then consider the population. These broad industry references are not precise ACV, geography, or company-stage peer groups. Percentiles and reported averages remain distinct.
Freemium software: Free signup → paid within six months · 3–5% median performance band
Customers from one signup cohort who pay within six months ÷ all signups in that same cohort. Cohort must have completed six months.
January 2026 survey of 200 software products. Self-selected, mixed B2B/B2C sample; typical respondent ARR $1–10M and monthly revenue per customer $50–249. Directional context, not an exact peer group.
ChartMogul · Growth Unhinged · ProductLedSoftware trials without a card: Free signup → paid within six months · 4–6% median performance band
Customers from one signup cohort who pay within six months ÷ all signups in that same cohort. Cohort must have completed six months.
January 2026 survey of 200 software products. Self-selected, mixed B2B/B2C sample; typical respondent ARR $1–10M and monthly revenue per customer $50–249. Directional context, not an exact peer group.
ChartMogul · Growth Unhinged · ProductLedSoftware trials requiring a card: Free signup → paid within six months · 25–35% median performance band
Customers from one signup cohort who pay within six months ÷ all signups in that same cohort. Cohort must have completed six months.
January 2026 survey of 200 software products. Self-selected, mixed B2B/B2C sample; typical respondent ARR $1–10M and monthly revenue per customer $50–249. Directional context, not an exact peer group.
ChartMogul · Growth Unhinged · ProductLedFreemium software: Website visit → free signup · 9% reported reference
Free signups ÷ website visits during the same period. This is a reported reference funnel, not a percentile or a causal target.
January 2026 survey of 200 software products. Self-selected, mixed B2B/B2C sample; typical respondent ARR $1–10M and monthly revenue per customer $50–249. Directional context, not an exact peer group.
ChartMogul · Growth Unhinged · ProductLedSoftware trials (all card requirements): Website visit → free signup · 4.5% reported reference
Free signups ÷ website visits during the same period. This is a reported reference funnel, not a percentile or a causal target.
January 2026 survey of 200 software products. Self-selected, mixed B2B/B2C sample; typical respondent ARR $1–10M and monthly revenue per customer $50–249. Directional context, not an exact peer group. The visit-to-signup reference combines trials with and without a card; no separate no-card reference is published.
ChartMogul · Growth Unhinged · ProductLedSoftware trials requiring a card: Website visit → free signup · 3.5% reported reference
Free signups ÷ website visits during the same period. This is a reported reference funnel, not a percentile or a causal target.
January 2026 survey of 200 software products. Self-selected, mixed B2B/B2C sample; typical respondent ARR $1–10M and monthly revenue per customer $50–249. Directional context, not an exact peer group.
ChartMogul · Growth Unhinged · ProductLedSoftware: Website visit → qualified inquiry or sale · 7.6% average
Qualified inquiries or sales attributed to website sessions, including forms and calls, ÷ sessions in the same period. Not sales-qualified leads only or all unqualified form fills.
110M+ sessions across 13 industries. Conversion means a qualified lead or sale, including online and offline inquiries. The publisher labels this the 2026 dataset but does not specify exact collection dates. Qualification can differ between businesses.
Ruler AnalyticsProfessional services: Website visit → qualified inquiry or sale · 6.1% average
Qualified inquiries or sales attributed to website sessions, including forms and calls, ÷ sessions in the same period. Not sales-qualified leads only or all unqualified form fills.
110M+ sessions across 13 industries. Conversion means a qualified lead or sale, including online and offline inquiries. The publisher labels this the 2026 dataset but does not specify exact collection dates. Qualification can differ between businesses.
Ruler AnalyticsMarketing and advertising: Website visit → qualified inquiry or sale · 6.2% average
Qualified inquiries or sales attributed to website sessions, including forms and calls, ÷ sessions in the same period. Not sales-qualified leads only or all unqualified form fills.
110M+ sessions across 13 industries. Conversion means a qualified lead or sale, including online and offline inquiries. The publisher labels this the 2026 dataset but does not specify exact collection dates. Qualification can differ between businesses.
Ruler AnalyticsEducation: Website visit → qualified inquiry or sale · 6.3% average
Qualified inquiries or sales attributed to website sessions, including forms and calls, ÷ sessions in the same period. Not sales-qualified leads only or all unqualified form fills.
110M+ sessions across 13 industries. Conversion means a qualified lead or sale, including online and offline inquiries. The publisher labels this the 2026 dataset but does not specify exact collection dates. Qualification can differ between businesses.
Ruler AnalyticsB2B SaaS & AI software: CAC payback · 16 months median
Months to recover acquisition cost from customer gross profit.
2025 results from the 2026 study of 342 software companies. This measure: 198 responses. Broad context; not a matched peer group.
BenchmarkitB2B SaaS & AI software: LTV:CAC · 4.1× median
Customer lifetime value divided by customer acquisition cost.
2025 results from the 2026 study of 342 software companies. This measure: 146 responses. Broad context; not a matched peer group.
BenchmarkitB2B SaaS & AI software: New-customer CAC ratio · 1.63× median
Sales and marketing cost per unit of new-customer annual recurring revenue. This is a ratio, not cost per customer.
2025 results from the 2026 study of 342 software companies. This measure: 128 responses. Broad context; not a matched peer group.
BenchmarkitB2B SaaS & AI software: Gross revenue retention · 84% median
Annual recurring revenue retained, excluding expansion.
2025 results from the 2026 study of 342 software companies. This measure: 226 responses. Broad context; not a matched peer group.
BenchmarkitB2B SaaS & AI software: Net revenue retention · 102% median
Annual recurring revenue retained, including expansion.
2025 results from the 2026 study of 342 software companies. This measure: 230 responses. Broad context; not a matched peer group.
BenchmarkitB2B SaaS & AI software: Gross margin · 76% median
Total revenue after direct delivery costs, divided by total revenue.
2025 results from the 2026 study of 342 software companies. This measure: 228 responses. Broad context; not a matched peer group.
BenchmarkitDigital agencies: Net profit margin · 13% average
After-tax net profit divided by revenue. Not gross margin.
119 agency leaders surveyed in February 2026, mainly North America. Broad context; company size and service mix vary.
Promethean ResearchDigital agencies: Annual revenue growth · 7.5% average
Change in annual revenue from 2024 to 2025.
119 agency leaders surveyed in February 2026, mainly North America. Broad context; company size and service mix vary.
Promethean ResearchReviewed 25 September 2026. Publication year and measurement period are shown separately. Older traffic and landing-page references have been removed. A median performance band is a range reported by the source, not a confidence interval.
Coverage still missing
We do not yet have recent matched benchmarks for monthly traffic, absolute CAC or LTV, product-specific activation, or sales-call-to-customer conversion. SaaS payback, LTV:CAC and retention references are broad context; agency growth and net margin references cover digital agencies. CAC ceilings and channel cutoffs in your report are planning calculations, not industry benchmarks.
Professional services and education conversion references are broad. Government procurement has no comparable peer group in these sources.
What we refuse to make up
- A universal 0–100 marketing score.
- A lead-to-opportunity-to-won benchmark with no traceable source.
- A fixed LinkedIn invitation limit for every account.
- An attribution claim such as “angle #2 worked” when the input does not include angle-level results.
- A channel verdict when tracking is incomplete or test exposure is insufficient.
The language model can extract the company profile. Versioned deterministic rules choose the channel, calculate the math, and evaluate the test.
See this in a sample report