What is a North Star Metric?

A North Star Metric is the single number that best captures the core value your product delivers to customers, and predicts long-term sustainable growth. Sean Ellis coined the term; Amplitude, Lenny Rachitsky, and Reforge have all built on it.

How is this different from the SaaS Scorecard tool?

The SaaS Scorecard grades how you're doing on the metrics you already track. This tool answers a different question: which metric should you be tracking as your North Star in the first place? Run the scorecard for a health check; run this for a strategic compass.

How long does this take?

About five minutes. Three context questions, one hypothesis, four pressure-test questions, and a brief that takes a few seconds to render.

Do I need to sign up?

No. The tool is free and runs entirely without signup. The optional email gate at the result unlocks the full brief; connecting Stripe is only required if you want to track your North Star against your real numbers in the dashboard.

Which metrics do you consider?

Eleven, drawn from North Metric's engine library plus four external metrics for cases the engine doesn't cover: NRR, GRR, MRR, MRR Movement, CLV, Active Free Subscriptions, Trial-to-Paid Conversion, GMV (external), WAU (external), Consumption Volume (external), and LTV:CAC Ratio (external). The full bank and our rationale is on the methodology page.

How often should I reassess my North Star Metric?

Every 12–18 months as a default cadence, or any time your business model meaningfully changes. Dropbox went from MAU to paid customer growth; Spotify shifted to consumption when podcasts launched. The right metric for today isn't always the right metric next year.

North Star · 5-min brief

Find your North Star Metric.

A short diagnostic that picks the metric that should run your weekly leadership meeting — pressure-tested against the framework SaaS founders actually use.

01Context02Hypothesis03Pressure04Analysis05Brief

01·Context

Tell us about your business.

Seven quick questions. The right North Star depends on more than your stage — we cover every dimension the canon (Lenny, Amplitude, Balfour) says matters.

Find your North Star Metric.

Tell us about your business.

Which best describes your business?

Who buys, and how does the deal happen?

What does a customer pay for?

How do new users first get into the product?

Where are you on the journey?

Typical annual revenue per customer?

How often do customers ideally get value from your product?