Zombie Revenue
The most fragile MRR you have — real today, attached to customers who have stopped using the product.
What is it?
Zombie Revenue is the MRR sitting in paying-but-dormant accounts — real money today, but attached to customers who have stopped using the product. It is the dollar counterpart to the paying-dormant count.
It is the most fragile revenue you have. Because these customers derive little value, they are the first to churn when they notice the line item, the first cut in a budget review, and the least likely to expand. Counting it separately keeps you honest about how much of your MRR is genuinely healthy.
How to calculate?
Sum the MRR of accounts classified as dormant — paying but below your activity threshold. Three thousand dollars of zombie revenue is three thousand at elevated risk of silent churn, and worth excluding when you gauge the durable core of your book.
Track it against total MRR: a growing zombie share means an increasing portion of your revenue is running on inertia rather than value, which is exactly the revenue a downturn exposes.