NPS vs CSAT vs CES: Which Customer Feedback Metric Should You Use?

The short answer: Use NPS to measure long-term loyalty, CSAT to gauge satisfaction with specific interactions, and CES to identify friction points. Most successful companies use all three at different touchpoints rather than picking just one.

But here's the thing: picking the "best" metric isn't the real challenge. The challenge is knowing when to deploy each one and actually acting on what you learn.

Let's break this down.

TL;DR: Quick Comparison Table

Metric	Measures	Best For	When to Use	Scale
NPS	Loyalty & advocacy	Overall brand health	Quarterly/biannually	0-10
CSAT	Immediate satisfaction	Specific touchpoints	After interactions	1-5 (typically)
CES	Ease of experience	Process optimization	After support/tasks	1-7 (typically)

If you're in a hurry, here's the decision framework:

• Want to know if customers will stick around and refer others? Use NPS.
• Need feedback on a specific feature, interaction, or transaction? Use CSAT.
• Trying to identify where customers struggle? Use CES.

Now let's dig into the details.

Quick Overview: The Big Picture

Before we dive into each metric, let's understand what we're dealing with.

These three metrics dominate the customer feedback space for good reason. According to research, 49% of companies that use NPS also measure at least one additional metric. Over 33% pair NPS with CSAT, and 1 in 6 add CES to the mix.

Why? Because each metric answers a different question:

• NPS asks: "Would you recommend us?"
• CSAT asks: "Were you satisfied with this experience?"
• CES asks: "Was this easy?"

Different questions, different insights, different actions.

What is NPS? (Net Promoter Score)

The Origin Story

Fred Reichheld, a partner at Bain & Company, created NPS in 2003. He introduced it in a Harvard Business Review article titled "The One Number You Need To Grow."

The premise was simple: stop asking customers dozens of satisfaction questions. Ask one question that actually predicts growth.

Today, two-thirds of Fortune 1000 companies use NPS. It's become the default metric for measuring customer loyalty.

The Question

"On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend [company/product] to a friend or colleague?"

That's it. One question.

How to Calculate NPS

Based on their response, customers fall into three categories:

• Promoters (9-10): Your fans. They'll recommend you and buy more.
• Passives (7-8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic. Vulnerable to competitors.
• Detractors (0-6): Unhappy customers who can damage your brand.

NPS Formula:

NPS = % Promoters - % Detractors

The result ranges from -100 (everyone's a detractor) to +100 (everyone's a promoter).

Example: You survey 100 customers. 60 are promoters, 25 are passives, and 15 are detractors.

NPS = 60% - 15% = +45

What's a Good NPS?

This varies wildly by industry. According to benchmark data:

• Specialty stores: +56 (highest)
• SaaS companies: +30 to +40 (typical)
• Internet services: -3 (ouch)

Generally speaking:

• Above 0: More promoters than detractors (good)
• Above 30: Strong performance
• Above 50: Excellent
• Above 70: World-class

One advantage of NPS: response rates typically hit 10-30%, compared to around 3% for typical surveys.

NPS Pros

• Simple and memorable: One number, easy to track over time
• Benchmarkable: Industry benchmarks exist, so you can compare
• Predicts growth: Correlates with revenue and retention
• High response rates: People actually complete it
• Executive buy-in: The C-suite understands it

NPS Cons

Here's where we need to be honest. NPS has real limitations:

• No "why" context: A score of 7 tells you nothing about why they feel that way. HBR research found the score alone doesn't reveal what needs fixing.

• Behavior vs. intent gap: Saying you'd recommend something isn't the same as actually recommending it. Studies show people's behavior often doesn't match their NPS responses.

• Cultural variation: Rating tendencies vary by country. Research shows customers in the Netherlands rate consistently lower than Americans for the same experience.

• Score volatility: With smaller sample sizes, NPS can swing wildly based on recent experiences or mood.

• Ignores market context: NPS only looks at existing customers. It tells you nothing about competitive positioning or why prospects don't convert.

When to Use NPS

• Quarterly or biannual brand health checks
• After major product updates (wait a few weeks for dust to settle)
• To track loyalty trends over time
• When you need a single metric for board reporting

Don't use it for real-time feedback or to diagnose specific problems.

What is CSAT? (Customer Satisfaction Score)

The Origin Story

Unlike NPS, CSAT doesn't have a single creator. It's been around since customer research began. It's the most straightforward of the three metrics: just ask people if they're satisfied.

The Question

"How satisfied were you with [specific experience/interaction/product]?"

The beauty of CSAT is its flexibility. You can ask about anything: a support call, a checkout flow, a new feature, or even your onboarding process.

How to Calculate CSAT

CSAT typically uses a 1-5 scale:

1. Very unsatisfied
2. Unsatisfied
3. Neutral
4. Satisfied
5. Very satisfied

CSAT Formula:

CSAT = (Number of Positive Responses / Total Responses) x 100

"Positive responses" usually means 4s and 5s (satisfied and very satisfied).

Example: You get 200 responses. 150 rated 4 or 5.

CSAT = (150 / 200) x 100 = 75%

Some companies calculate average score instead (e.g., "Our average is 4.2/5"). Both approaches work.

What's a Good CSAT Score?

According to industry data:

• 75-85%: Generally considered good
• Above 80%: Strong performance
• SaaS industry average: High 60s to low 70s

The average CSAT across industries hovers around 78% (or 8.59 out of 10 on a 10-point scale).

CSAT Pros

• Versatile: Works for any touchpoint or interaction
• Immediate feedback: Captures sentiment right after an experience
• Specific insights: You know exactly what's being rated
• Easy to understand: Everyone gets "satisfaction"
• Flexible scales: Use 1-5, 1-10, stars, emojis, whatever works

CSAT Cons

Again, let's be real about the downsides:

• No depth: CSAT tells you that customers are satisfied, not why. A 4/5 doesn't explain what would make it a 5.

• Response bias: People with extreme experiences (very good or very bad) are more likely to respond, skewing results.

• Recency bias: Someone having a bad day might rate lower regardless of your actual performance. External factors influence scores.

• Short-term focus: A great CSAT today doesn't mean customers will stick around tomorrow. It measures moments, not relationships.

• Benchmarking challenges: Without standardized questions and scales, comparing CSAT across companies or industries gets messy.

• Cultural bias: Individualistic vs. collectivist cultures rate differently. Your international customers may skew results.

When to Use CSAT

• After support interactions ("How satisfied were you with the help you received?")
• Post-purchase ("How satisfied are you with your order?")
• After feature launches ("How satisfied are you with the new dashboard?")
• During onboarding ("How satisfied were you with the setup process?")

Use it whenever you need feedback on something specific and recent.

What is CES? (Customer Effort Score)

The Origin Story

CES was created by the Corporate Executive Board (CEB, now part of Gartner) in 2010. The researchers published their findings in a Harvard Business Review article called "Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers."

Their controversial finding: trying to "delight" customers doesn't build loyalty. Reducing effort does.

After studying over 75,000 customer interactions, they found that making things easy matters more than making things amazing. Customers don't want to be wowed. They just want to get things done without friction.

The Question

The original CES (1.0) asked:

"How much effort did you personally have to put forth to handle your request?"

But "effort" doesn't translate well internationally, so CES 2.0 reframed it:

"To what extent do you agree: [Company] made it easy for me to handle my issue."

The shift from "effort" to "easy" improved clarity and cross-cultural consistency.

How to Calculate CES

CES typically uses a 1-7 scale:

1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Somewhat disagree
4. Neutral
5. Somewhat agree
6. Agree
7. Strongly agree

CES Formula:

CES = Sum of All Scores / Number of Responses

Higher is better (more agreement that it was easy).

Example: You get 50 responses with a total score of 275.

CES = 275 / 50 = 5.5

What's a Good CES Score?

This is where CES gets tricky. There's no widely accepted industry benchmark because:

• Companies use different scales (1-5, 1-7, 1-10)
• Cultural rating tendencies vary
• The metric is newer than NPS and CSAT

That said, Nicereply data shows their customers average 5.99 out of 7. So aim for 5+ on a 7-point scale.

The Research Behind CES

The original CEB research found some compelling numbers:

• 96% of high-effort customers become disloyal, compared to just 9% of low-effort customers
• 94% of customers with low-effort experiences intend to repurchase
• 88% of low-effort customers said they'd increase spending
• Improving CES from 1 to 5 (on a 7-point scale) increases loyalty by 22%

In the original HBR study, CES outperformed both CSAT and NPS at predicting customer service loyalty.

CES Pros

• Strong loyalty predictor: Backed by solid research linking low effort to retention
• Actionable: Identifies specific friction points you can fix
• Process-focused: Great for optimizing workflows and support
• Universal concept: "Easy" translates better than "effort" or "satisfaction"
• Reduces churn: High-effort experiences drive customers away

CES Cons

CES isn't perfect either:

• Narrow focus: CES measures one interaction, not the overall relationship. Someone might find support easy but still hate your product.

• No brand perception: A low-effort experience doesn't mean customers love your brand. It just means you didn't make their life difficult.

• External factors: Slow internet or device issues can skew results even when your process is fine.

• No segmentation: Different customer types might perceive effort differently. Power users vs. beginners have different baselines.

• Limited benchmarking: No standardized industry benchmarks exist yet. Hard to know if 5.2 is good or bad without internal historical data.

When to Use CES

• After support interactions ("How easy was it to resolve your issue?")
• After self-service tasks ("How easy was it to find what you needed?")
• After completing key workflows ("How easy was it to set up your account?")
• When troubleshooting specific processes (checkout, onboarding, returns)

Use CES when you want to find and eliminate friction.

NPS vs CSAT vs CES: Head-to-Head Comparison

Let's put them side by side:

Criteria	NPS	CSAT	CES
What it measures	Loyalty & advocacy	Satisfaction with specific interaction	Ease of experience
Time horizon	Long-term relationship	Immediate/short-term	Transactional
Best use case	Brand health tracking	Touchpoint feedback	Process optimization
Industry benchmarks	Yes, widely available	Some available	Limited
Actionability	Low (no context)	Medium	High (specific friction)
Response rates	High (10-30%)	Medium	Medium
Created by	Bain & Company (2003)	Industry standard	CEB/Gartner (2010)
Typical scale	0-10	1-5 or 1-10	1-7
Question flexibility	Fixed	Very flexible	Somewhat flexible

Correlation to Business Outcomes

Different metrics predict different outcomes:

Outcome	Best Predictor
Word-of-mouth referrals	NPS
Immediate satisfaction	CSAT
Customer service loyalty	CES
Long-term retention	NPS + CES combined
Product feedback	CSAT
Process improvement	CES

Which Metric Should You Choose? A Decision Framework

Let's make this practical. Here's how to decide:

Choose NPS If...

• You need a single metric for executive reporting
• You want to track brand health over time
• Benchmarking against competitors matters to you
• You're measuring overall relationship strength
• You have enough volume for statistically significant results

Typical use: Quarterly surveys to all customers

Choose CSAT If...

• You need feedback on specific features or interactions
• You're iterating on product or support experiences
• You want to monitor quality across touchpoints
• You need flexibility in what you're measuring
• You care about immediate sentiment, not just loyalty

Typical use: Post-interaction surveys, feature feedback, support follow-ups

Choose CES If...

• You're focused on reducing customer friction
• Support optimization is a priority
• You want to improve specific processes
• You believe (correctly) that easy > delightful
• You're troubleshooting high-churn touchpoints

Typical use: After support tickets close, after key workflows complete

The Real Answer: Match the Metric to the Moment

If you're struggling to turn scattered feedback into a coherent strategy, our feedback chaos to product clarity playbook walks through the full process.

Here's a practical mapping:

Customer Journey Stage	Recommended Metric	Why
Awareness/Acquisition	None (they're not customers yet)	-
Onboarding	CES + CSAT	Was it easy? Were they satisfied?
First value moment	CSAT	Did they get what they expected?
Support interactions	CES (primary) + CSAT (secondary)	Was it easy? Was the agent helpful?
Feature releases	CSAT	Are they satisfied with the new thing?
Quarterly check-in	NPS	Overall relationship health
Renewal time	NPS	Will they stick around and recommend you?
Post-churn	CSAT or open-ended	Why did they leave?

Can You Use All Three?

Yes. And you probably should.

Research shows that using multiple metrics gives you a complete picture:

• NPS = the strategic view (overall loyalty)
• CSAT = the touchpoint view (immediate satisfaction)
• CES = the operational view (process friction)

How to Use Them Together

Here's a practical framework:

Layer 1: Relationship (NPS)

• Send NPS surveys quarterly or biannually
• Track trends over time
• Segment by customer type (new vs. long-term, high-value vs. low-value)
• Use it for strategic planning

Layer 2: Touchpoints (CSAT)

• Send after key interactions: support calls, feature usage, purchases
• Monitor specific experiences
• Identify which touchpoints need attention
• Use it for tactical improvements

Layer 3: Processes (CES)

• Send after customers complete important tasks
• Focus on high-effort moments: onboarding, support, self-service
• Identify and eliminate friction
• Use it for operational optimization

A Practical Example

Let's say you're a SaaS company:

1. User signs up > Send CES ("How easy was it to create your account?")
2. User completes onboarding > Send CSAT ("How satisfied are you with the setup process?")
3. User contacts support > Send CES ("How easy was it to resolve your issue?") + CSAT ("How satisfied were you with the support you received?")
4. 30 days in > Send NPS ("How likely are you to recommend us?")
5. Quarterly > Send NPS to track relationship health

You're not surveying constantly. You're surveying at meaningful moments with the right question.

Watch Out for Survey Fatigue

A word of caution: don't over-survey your customers. Nobody wants to rate everything.

Best practices:

• Limit surveys to 1-2 per customer per month max
• Rotate which customers get surveyed instead of hitting everyone
• Make it easy - one question, not twenty
• Act on feedback - if customers never see changes, they'll stop responding

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Before we wrap up, let's cover what not to do:

1. Obsessing Over the Score

The number isn't the point. The insights are.

A company with NPS +50 that ignores feedback will eventually lose to a company with NPS +30 that acts on every response.

2. Gaming the Metrics

"Please give us a 10!" destroys the validity of your data. If you're coaching customers to inflate scores, you're measuring nothing useful.

3. Measuring Without Acting

If you're not going to do anything with the data, don't waste customers' time collecting it. Survey fatigue is real, and customers notice when nothing changes.

4. Using One Metric for Everything

NPS won't tell you why someone had a bad support experience. CSAT won't predict long-term loyalty. CES won't reveal overall brand perception. Use the right tool for the job.

5. Ignoring the "Why"

The score is just a signal. The real value comes from follow-up questions:

• "What's the main reason for your score?"
• "What could we do better?"
• "What almost stopped you from completing this task?"

A +45 NPS with no qualitative context is just a number on a dashboard. Understanding the difference between qualitative and quantitative feedback is key to getting the full picture.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between NPS and CSAT?

NPS measures customer loyalty and likelihood to recommend your company to others, using a 0-10 scale. CSAT measures satisfaction with a specific interaction or experience, typically using a 1-5 scale. NPS is relationship-focused (long-term), while CSAT is transaction-focused (short-term).

Which metric is best for SaaS companies?

Most SaaS companies benefit from using all three. Use NPS quarterly to track overall loyalty, CSAT after key touchpoints (onboarding, feature releases, support), and CES after support interactions and self-service tasks. The combination gives you a complete picture of customer health.

How often should I send NPS surveys?

For most companies, quarterly or biannual NPS surveys work best. More frequent surveys (monthly) risk survey fatigue and don't give you enough time to act on feedback between measurements. Less frequent (annual) misses important trends.

What's a good NPS score for startups?

For early-stage startups, anything above 0 is a reasonable starting point. As you grow, aim for +30 or higher. World-class companies achieve +50 to +70. Context matters though - compare against your industry and track your own trend over time rather than chasing a universal benchmark.

Can CES replace NPS?

No. CES and NPS measure different things. CES predicts loyalty in service interactions specifically, while NPS measures overall brand advocacy. Research shows CES outperforms NPS for customer service contexts, but NPS is better for overall relationship health. Use both for different purposes.

How do I calculate CSAT score?

CSAT = (Number of positive responses / Total responses) x 100. "Positive responses" typically means ratings of 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale. For example, if 75 out of 100 respondents rate you 4 or 5, your CSAT is 75%.

What's the biggest limitation of NPS?

NPS doesn't explain why customers gave their score. A detractor might be unhappy about price, product, support, or something unrelated to you. Without follow-up questions, NPS is just a number without actionable context. Additionally, stated intent to recommend doesn't always match actual behavior.

Should I use the original CES question or CES 2.0?

Use CES 2.0 ("To what extent do you agree: [Company] made it easy..."). The word "easy" translates better across languages and cultures than "effort," and the agree/disagree scale is more intuitive. The original "effort" framing caused confusion in international surveys.

How do response rates compare between NPS, CSAT, and CES?

NPS typically achieves the highest response rates (10-30%), compared to typical survey response rates of around 3%. CSAT and CES response rates vary based on implementation, but generally fall between these extremes. Keep surveys short and send them at relevant moments to maximize responses.

What should I do if my scores are low?

Low scores are an opportunity, not a crisis. First, add qualitative follow-up questions to understand why. Then prioritize the most common issues, make changes, and close the loop by telling customers what you fixed. Track whether scores improve after your changes. The worst response to low scores is to ignore them or stop measuring.

Start Measuring What Matters

Here's the bottom line: NPS, CSAT, and CES each answer different questions. The "best" metric depends on what you're trying to learn.

• NPS tells you about loyalty and advocacy
• CSAT tells you about immediate satisfaction
• CES tells you about friction and effort

Most companies do best with a combination, using each metric at the right moment in the customer journey.

The real challenge isn't choosing a metric. It's building a system that collects feedback consistently, analyzes it meaningfully, and drives actual improvements. That's what a proper feedback analysis process is all about. If you're evaluating tools to help, check out our guide to the best feedback tools for startups.

That spreadsheet with 47 tabs of feedback you've been ignoring? That's the real problem to solve.

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Want to collect NPS, CSAT, and CES feedback in one place? FeedSense helps you gather all three metrics from multiple channels, analyze sentiment automatically, and actually act on what customers tell you. Explore our features to see how it works, or try it free and see your feedback data come together. Or learn how to build a complete Voice of Customer program around these metrics.

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Sources

• Bain & Company - Net Promoter System
• Harvard Business Review - Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers (2010)
• Harvard Business Review - Where Net Promoter Score Goes Wrong (2019)
• Gartner - Customer Effort Score
• Nicereply - Benchmarking CSAT, NPS, and CES
• Retently - Customer Satisfaction Metrics to Track
• CustomerGauge - NPS vs CSAT vs CES
• IBM - What is CSAT
• Hotjar - Customer Effort Score