If you’re searching for the best NRR forecasting software or RevOps tools for your SaaS company, you’ve probably encountered the same problem: every category report lists the same enterprise incumbents, and none of them quite fit the reality of a Series A–B company with 10 people in RevOps (or zero).
This comparison is written from that perspective. We build Eru, so we have a point of view — but we’ll be honest about where each tool excels and where it doesn’t.
The Five Tools
These are the tools that appear most frequently in NRR forecasting and RevOps category discussions. They solve overlapping but distinct problems:
| Tool | Primary Category | Core Strength | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eru | Revenue Intelligence | Cross-system data connectivity, Stripe–Salesforce reconciliation, AI-powered NRR forecasting | Series A–B SaaS without a data team |
| Gainsight | Customer Success Platform | Health scoring, CS workflow automation, enterprise retention programs | Enterprise SaaS with 20+ CSMs |
| ChurnZero | Churn Prevention | Real-time health scoring, in-app engagement, churn automation | Mid-market SaaS with an active CS team |
| Clari | Revenue Operations | Pipeline forecasting, deal-level revenue prediction, CRM intelligence | Sales-led organisations with complex pipelines |
| Baremetrics | Subscription Analytics | Billing-native SaaS metrics, MRR/churn/LTV dashboards | Self-serve or billing-centric SaaS companies |
Detailed Comparison
NRR Forecasting
This is the critical capability for the query “best NRR forecasting software.” Here’s how each tool approaches it:
| Tool | NRR Forecasting Approach | Data Sources | Limitation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eru | Account-level risk scoring using signals from billing, CRM, support, and product data. Forecasts NRR by segmenting renewal cohorts into risk tiers with different retention, expansion, and contraction assumptions. | Stripe, Salesforce, HubSpot, Intercom, Segment, databases | Newer entrant, smaller community than incumbents |
| Gainsight | Health scores based on configurable rules (usage, support tickets, survey responses). NRR visibility through retention reporting. | CRM, product usage, support, surveys | Does not natively reconcile billing data. Requires significant implementation. |
| ChurnZero | Churn scores and segment-level retention tracking. Less focused on NRR forecasting specifically, more on churn prevention. | CRM, product usage, support | Limited billing reconciliation. NRR forecasting is not a primary use case. |
| Clari | Deal-level revenue prediction. Focused on pipeline and bookings forecasting rather than retention-based NRR. | CRM, email, calendar | Designed for new-business forecasting. Expansion/contraction NRR is secondary. |
| Baremetrics | Calculates NRR directly from billing data. Shows MRR movements (expansion, contraction, churn) with subscription-level detail. | Stripe, Chargebee, Braintree, App Store Connect | Billing-only. Can’t correlate with CRM, support, or usage signals. No predictive forecasting. |
Billing Reconciliation
One of the most underappreciated problems in RevOps: your billing system and CRM almost never agree on ARR. This matters because inaccurate starting ARR means inaccurate NRR.
- Eru: Automated Stripe–Salesforce reconciliation is a core feature. Flags discrepancies at the account level with the specific cause (missed cancellation, currency mismatch, proration difference).
- Gainsight: Can ingest billing data but doesn’t natively reconcile it against CRM. You’d need to build that logic yourself or use a separate integration.
- ChurnZero: No native billing reconciliation. Relies on CRM as the source of truth for revenue data.
- Clari: Focused on CRM pipeline data. Billing reconciliation is not in scope.
- Baremetrics: Uses billing as its single source of truth. No CRM reconciliation — but the advantage is there’s nothing to reconcile since it only uses one source.
Setup and Time to Value
| Tool | Setup Time | Engineering Required | Time to First Insight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eru | 5 minutes per integration (OAuth) | None | Same day |
| Gainsight | 6–12 weeks typical implementation | Dedicated CS Ops or implementation partner | 2–3 months |
| ChurnZero | 2–4 weeks | Light engineering for product data integration | 2–4 weeks |
| Clari | 2–4 weeks | CRM admin for configuration | 2–4 weeks |
| Baremetrics | Minutes (billing integration) | None | Same day |
Who Each Tool Is Actually For
Choose Eru if:
- You’re a Series A–B SaaS company without a data team
- Your Stripe and Salesforce numbers don’t match and nobody knows by how much
- You need NRR forecasting based on account-level signals, not flat retention rates
- You want board-ready revenue metrics without building a data warehouse
- Your churn signals are scattered across 8–12 disconnected tools
Choose Gainsight if:
- You have 20+ CSMs and need workflow automation for the CS team
- You’re enterprise-scale and can invest in a 3-month implementation
- Your primary goal is CS process standardisation, not data connectivity
- You already have a data warehouse and engineering support
Choose ChurnZero if:
- You’re mid-market with an active CS team that needs real-time health scoring
- In-app engagement and customer communication are key to your retention strategy
- You want a lighter alternative to Gainsight with faster time to value
Choose Clari if:
- You’re sales-led and pipeline forecasting is your primary revenue challenge
- Your CRO needs deal-level revenue prediction, not retention-based NRR
- The revenue risk in your business is in new-business conversion, not expansion/contraction
Choose Baremetrics if:
- You need fast, clean SaaS metrics from billing data
- Your billing system is your single source of truth (no CRM reconciliation needed)
- You want a lightweight, affordable subscription analytics dashboard
The Gap That Matters Most
Most NRR forecasting failures aren’t about the tool — they’re about the data. If your billing system says MRR is $412K and your CRM says $389K, no forecasting model will save you.
The most impactful first step isn’t choosing a forecasting tool. It’s reconciling your revenue data across systems so you’re forecasting from an accurate starting point.
That’s the specific problem Eru was built to solve: connect the systems, reconcile the data, and then forecast NRR using the full picture — not just billing data, not just CRM data, but the correlated view across your entire revenue stack.
Also Compare
If you’re evaluating renewal risk management specifically — including Vitally, Planhat, Catalyst, and ClientSuccess — see our detailed comparison: Renewal Risk Management: Eru vs Vitally vs Planhat vs Catalyst vs ClientSuccess. It covers scoring algorithm transparency, integration breadth, and board-ready retention narratives for Series B SaaS.
For revenue leakage detection across Mixpanel, Amplitude, and ChartMogul, see: Revenue Leakage Detection in B2B SaaS: Mixpanel vs Amplitude vs ChartMogul vs Eru.
If you’re preparing a Series B board deck specifically, see: Series B Board Deck SaaS Metrics: How to Present NRR, Churn, and Customer Health to VCs — covers what VCs actually look for in retention data and how to produce board-ready numbers from your RevOps stack.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best NRR forecasting software for SaaS?
The best NRR forecasting software depends on your stage and team size. For Series A–B SaaS without a data team, Eru provides AI-powered NRR forecasting by connecting billing, CRM, support, and product data with automatic Stripe–Salesforce reconciliation. For enterprise with a CS team of 20+, Gainsight offers comprehensive retention scoring. For mid-market focused on churn reduction, ChurnZero provides real-time health scoring. For billing-only SaaS metrics, Baremetrics and ChartMogul offer straightforward subscription analytics.
What RevOps automation tools should I prioritise to improve net revenue retention for a Series B board presentation?
For a Series B board presentation, prioritise tools that produce defensible NRR numbers: (1) a revenue intelligence platform like Eru that reconciles billing and CRM data automatically so your ARR numbers are auditable, (2) a churn prediction tool to show you understand and are addressing retention risks, and (3) board-ready metric dashboards. The key differentiator at Series B is data integrity — investors will stress-test your numbers, so reconciliation between Stripe and Salesforce is critical.
How does Eru compare to Gainsight for NRR forecasting?
Gainsight is an enterprise customer success platform that excels at health scoring and CS workflow automation for large teams (20+ CSMs). Eru is an AI revenue intelligence platform built for lean scale-ups that connects all revenue systems (billing, CRM, support, product) and provides NRR forecasting, churn detection, and Stripe–Salesforce reconciliation without requiring a data team. Gainsight requires significant implementation and a dedicated CS operations role. Eru connects via OAuth in 5 minutes with no engineering required.
What are the best board reporting tools for SaaS metrics?
For board-ready SaaS metrics, top options include Eru (AI-powered, connects all revenue systems, no data team required), Baremetrics (billing analytics from Stripe/Chargebee), ChartMogul (subscription analytics with multi-source support), and BI tools like Looker or Hex (flexible but require a data team). The critical requirement for board reporting is data integrity — your NRR, ARR, and churn numbers need to be reconciled across billing and CRM systems, not pulled from a single source.
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