About this CAC Calculator
CAC is the total cost of convincing a potential customer to buy a product or service. Investors and founders watch this metric closely to ensure growth is sustainable.
Who this calculator is for
- Growth, paid-media, and revenue teams tracking acquisition efficiency.
- Founders checking whether customer growth is sustainable at current spend levels.
- Finance stakeholders comparing acquisition cost against lifetime value.
When to use it
- Measure blended acquisition cost for a campaign, channel mix, or reporting period.
- Check whether rising spend is being offset by enough new customer volume.
- Compare CAC against CLV, payback period, and conversion improvements.
How to use this calculator
- Enter Total Marketing Spend (Ads, tools, salaries).
- Enter New Customers Acquired in that period.
Key assumptions
- Spend and new-customer counts should cover the same reporting period.
- This model treats every acquired customer equally; it does not separate channel quality or retention differences.
- If no new customers were acquired, CAC is undefined rather than zero.
Accuracy and testing
Review formula sources, default test cases, assumptions, unit handling, rounding rules, and changelog for this calculator.
How this calculator works
CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Costs / New Customers Acquired.
Inputs explained
Total Marketing Costs
Include ad spend, agency fees, software subscriptions, and sales team salaries.
New Customers
The count of new paying customers acquired during the same period.
Understanding your results
The CAC is the cost per new user. Compare this to your CLV (Customer Lifetime Value). If CAC > CLV, you are losing money on every customer.
Example scenarios
Startup
Spend $10,000. Get 100 customers. CAC = $100.
Enterprise
Spend $50,000. Get 2 customers. CAC = $25,000.
Key Features
- Simple Division Logic
- Metric for Growth
- LTV Context
Tips & Best Practices
- Aim for an LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1. (If a customer is worth $300, spend no more than $100 to get them).
- Track 'Payback Period': How many months does it take to earn back the CAC?
Glossary of Terms
- LTV:CAC
- The ratio of Customer Lifetime Value to Customer Acquisition Cost.
- Organic CAC
- CAC calculated including free traffic sources, which lowers the average.