cust.co / Concepts / NPS vs CSAT

NPS vs CSAT - when to measure each

Both are customer satisfaction surveys. NPS asks about loyalty and is longitudinal. CSAT asks about a specific event and is point-in-time.

NPS (Net Promoter Score)

Single question: 'Would you recommend us?' (0-10). Score = % promoters - % detractors.

(% scoring 9-10) - (% scoring 0-6)

B2B SaaS top quartile: >50. Median: 30-40.

Full definition →

CSAT (Customer Satisfaction)

Survey after a specific event (ticket close, demo). Usually 1-5 or 1-7 scale.

% who scored 4 or 5 (top boxes)

Support CSAT: >85% top boxes is good.

Full definition →

When each matters

Use NPS to track overall customer sentiment over time and benchmark against peers. Use CSAT to measure operational quality (how well are we resolving tickets, onboarding, etc.). NPS predicts retention better; CSAT predicts operational efficiency better.

Related concepts

Glossary terms that show up in this comparison.

Customer Health Score →Net Promoter Score (NPS) →Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) →

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Benchmark your retention

See how public B2B SaaS companies actually perform on these metrics, with full historical time series.

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