Guide
CSAT vs NPS vs CES: which customer metric should you use?
CSAT measures how one interaction went, NPS measures overall loyalty, and CES measures how easy something was. Most teams end up using two of them, at different moments.
The three metrics at a glance
| CSAT | NPS | CES | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measures | Satisfaction with one interaction | Overall loyalty | How easy something was |
| Typical question | “How satisfied were you with…?” | “How likely are you to recommend us…?” | “How easy was it to…?” |
| Scale | 1–5 | 0–10 | Often 1–7 |
| Score | % who chose 4 or 5 | % promoters − % detractors | Usually the average, or % who found it easy |
| Best after | A support ticket, delivery or call | A period of using you | A task: setup, checkout, getting help |
CSAT: customer satisfaction score
CSAT asks how satisfied someone was with a specific interaction. It is quick to answer, easy to understand and the standard metric for support teams. Because it is tied to one moment, it tells you little about whether a customer will stay. Work out yours with the CSAT calculator.
NPS: Net Promoter Score
NPS asks how likely someone is to recommend you. It reflects the whole relationship, so it moves slowly and is best tracked over months. It is good for spotting loyalty trends and finding fans, but on its own it doesn’t say what to fix, which is why the “why?” follow-up matters. Work out yours with the NPS calculator, and see what a good score is.
CES: Customer Effort Score
CES asks how easy it was to do something, like set up an account or get a problem solved. It is the most specific of the three and the best at finding friction in a process. Scales and scoring vary more between companies than for CSAT or NPS, so pick one method and stick to it.
Which should you use?
- Support team: CSAT after each closed ticket, and CES if you want to find where getting help is hard.
- Product or customer success: NPS every quarter or so, plus CES after key tasks like onboarding.
- E-commerce: CSAT after delivery, NPS a few times a year.
Whatever you choose, don’t ask the same person all three at once, and leave time between surveys.
How Rirofeed helps
Rirofeed has dedicated NPS and CSAT question types and calculates both automatically, with trends, sentiment and themes. A CES question can be asked with the opinion scale question type. Surveys can be sent automatically after a ticket closes or a deal is won, and every answer reaches your CRM. See NPS surveys and CSAT surveys.
What is the difference between CSAT and NPS?
CSAT measures satisfaction with one interaction, on a 1–5 scale. NPS measures how likely someone is to recommend you overall, on a 0–10 scale. CSAT suits support; NPS suits tracking loyalty over time.
Is CES better than CSAT?
Neither is better. CES is best at finding friction in a specific task; CSAT is best at measuring how an interaction felt. Many support teams use both.
Can I measure CSAT and NPS in the same survey?
You can, but it makes the survey longer and mixes a moment with the whole relationship. It usually works better to ask CSAT after interactions and NPS on a schedule.
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