Net Promoter Score Calculator
Compute the Net Promoter Score (NPS): promoters% minus detractors%, a measure of customer loyalty and recommendation.
Input Data
Results
At a glance:NPS gauges customer loyalty from a 0-10 recommendation score. Promoters = 9-10, passives = 7-8, detractors = 0-6. NPS = (promoters ÷ total × 100) − (detractors ÷ total × 100); passives are included in the total but do not move the score. NPS ranges from −100 to 100.
Formula
Promoters% = promoters ÷ total × 100; detractors% = detractors ÷ total × 100.
NPS = promoters% − detractors%.
$$\text{NPS} = \%\text{Promoters} - \%\text{Detractors}$$$$\%\text{Promoters} = \dfrac{\text{Promoters}}{\text{Total}} \times 100\%$$How to Use
- Enter the number of promoters, passives and detractors.
- Read the total respondents and the NPS.
- Compare the NPS over time or against peers.
FAQ
How is the Net Promoter Score (NPS) calculated?
NPS rests on one classic question: 'How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?' on a 0-10 scale. Respondents are split into three groups: Promoters (9-10, enthusiastic and loyal), Passives (7-8, satisfied but not keen) and Detractors (0-6, unhappy). Then: promoters% = promoters ÷ total respondents; detractors% = detractors ÷ total respondents; NPS = promoters% − detractors%. A common pitfall: passives (7-8) do NOT add or subtract from the score, but they ARE counted in the total as the denominator. With 1,000 responses — 600 promoters, 250 passives, 150 detractors — promoters are 60%, detractors 15%, so NPS = 60% − 15% = 45. The result ranges from −100 (everyone a detractor) to +100 (everyone a promoter).
What is a good NPS score, and what does a negative score mean?
NPS ranges from −100 to +100. A positive score means promoters outnumber detractors; a negative score means detractors outnumber promoters; zero means they are equal. Generally any positive NPS is a decent starting point, and the higher the better. But there is no universal 'pass mark' — benchmarks differ sharply by industry, so compare against your own industry, not across industries. More important than a single number is the trend over time: a rising NPS means your improvements are working. A negative NPS is a clear warning that unhappy customers outnumber advocates.
What should I watch out for when using the NPS calculator?
A few points. First, the cut-offs are fixed (promoters 9-10, passives 7-8, detractors 0-6) — keep them standard so your NPS is comparable. Second, remember passives dilute the promoters' and detractors' percentages (because they sit in the denominator) even though they don't change the score; even with zero detractors, lots of passives stop NPS reaching 100. Third, small or biased samples make NPS unstable, so get enough representative responses. Fourth, NPS is only a summary number — pair it with an open follow-up ('why did you give this score?') to learn the 'why'. Fifth, complement it with CSAT (satisfaction) and CES (customer effort) for a fuller picture.
Why are passives (7-8) excluded from the NPS score but still counted?
NPS focuses on the two emotional extremes — advocates who actively promote you and detractors who drag you down. Passives sit in the middle: satisfied but not enthusiastic, they neither recommend nor complain, so their net effect on word-of-mouth is near-neutral and they are left out of the add/subtract. But they are real customers and must be in the denominator, which lowers the promoters' and detractors' percentages and indirectly affects NPS. This reveals a business insight: passives are a 'fragile middle' — easily poached by a competitor's offer, yet also convertible into promoters. Even with no detractors, a surplus of passives prevents a perfect 100, signalling you should work on converting satisfied-but-lukewarm customers into enthusiastic advocates.
How are NPS, CSAT and CES different, and which should I use?
In one line: CSAT asks 'are you satisfied?', NPS asks 'will you recommend?', CES asks 'how much effort did this take?'. NPS measures recommendation intent and long-term loyalty — a relationship-level macro metric good for tracking brand health over time. CSAT measures satisfaction with a specific transaction or product, usually asked immediately after (e.g. 'how satisfied were you with this service?') — a transactional, real-time metric. CES measures how much effort a customer had to exert to get something done, based on the idea that reducing hassle builds loyalty better than delight — ideal for diagnosing friction in support, returns or sign-up flows. Which to use depends on your goal: track long-term loyalty and word-of-mouth → NPS; measure one-off satisfaction → CSAT; find and fix effortful processes → CES. They are complementary, not mutually exclusive.
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References
Content review: Calculatorism Finance Team. Results are for reference only; please refer to the relevant authorities for the official figures.