Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Calculator

Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) from sales & marketing spend. Compare blended vs paid CAC, break down by channel, and compute fully-loaded CAC with payback period.

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Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
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Revenue Needed to Break Even —
Extended More scenarios, charts & detailed breakdown ▾
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Blended CAC
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Target LTV (CAC × 3) —
Cost per New Customer —
Professional Full parameters & maximum detail ▾
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Fully-Loaded CAC

Fully-Loaded CAC —
Total S&M Spend —

Efficiency & Payback

Payback Period (months) —
CAC Efficiency Ratio —
Target CAC (LTV/3 rule) —

How to Use This Calculator

  1. Enter total S&M spend and new customers for blended CAC.
  2. Use Paid CAC tab to separate paid vs organic customers.
  3. Use By Channel tab to compare up to 3 acquisition channels.
  4. Switch to Professional for fully-loaded CAC with salaries, tools, and payback period.

Formula

CAC = Total S&M Spend / New Customers

Payback = CAC / Monthly Gross Profit per Customer

Target CAC = LTV / 3 (rule of thumb)

Example

Example: $50,000 spend, 100 new customers → CAC = $500. At $49/mo ARPU and 70% GM: payback = 500 / (49×0.7) = 14.6 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost to acquire one new customer. Formula: CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Spend / Number of New Customers Acquired in the same period.
  • Blended CAC includes all customers (paid and organic). Paid CAC excludes organic/free acquisition channels. Paid CAC is higher but more relevant for decisions about paid spend ROI.
  • Fully-loaded CAC includes all costs: salaries, tools, advertising, content, PR, events, and allocated overhead. It gives a more accurate picture than just counting ad spend.
  • CAC must be evaluated against LTV. The LTV:CAC rule of 3:1 means your lifetime value should be 3× your acquisition cost. CAC payback should be under 12 months for SMB SaaS, 12–18 months for mid-market, and 18–24 months for enterprise.
  • CAC efficiency = (New Customers × ACV) / S&M Spend. Above 1.0 means you generate more than $1 in ACV for every $1 spent — also known as a "Magic Number" above 1.0.

Related Calculators

⚖️ LTV:CAC Ratio ⏳ CAC Payback Period 💎 Customer LTV 📈 MRR Calculator
Sources & References (6) ▾
  1. CAC Guide — HubSpot — HubSpot
  2. State of the Cloud — Bessemer — Bessemer Venture Partners
  3. SaaS Metrics — OpenView Partners — OpenView Partners
  4. SaaS Metrics 2.0 — David Skok — For Entrepreneurs (David Skok)
  5. CAC & LTV — ChartMogul — ChartMogul
  6. ProfitWell SaaS Metrics Glossary — ProfitWell