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CAC calculator. Honest numbers.
Customer Acquisition Cost, payback period, LTV/CAC ratio — and a benchmark that tells you whether the numbers actually work.
Inputs (monthly)
Results
CAC
$500
per customer
Payback
5.21 mo
months to recover CAC
LTV
$2,400
gross profit lifetime
LTV / CAC
4.8
target ≥ 3
Benchmark
Healthy
LTV/CAC ≥ 3 and payback ≤ 12 months. This is investable territory.
How CAC is calculated.
Then the two ratios that decide whether CAC is healthy: payback (months to recover CAC from gross profit) and LTV/CAC (gross profit lifetime ÷ CAC). The rule of thumb: LTV/CAC ≥ 3 and payback ≤ 12 months.
FAQ.
What is CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)?+
CAC is the total cost of acquiring one new paying customer. Formula: (total marketing spend + total sales spend) ÷ number of new customers acquired in the same period.
What's a good CAC for B2B SaaS?+
There's no universal answer, but the rule of thumb is LTV/CAC ≥ 3 and payback ≤ 12 months. SMB SaaS often targets payback under 6 months; enterprise can tolerate 18–24 months if NRR is strong.
Should I include salaries in CAC?+
Yes — fully loaded CAC includes salaries, benefits, commissions, tools and overhead for everyone in marketing and sales. Paid-media-only CAC understates the real cost.
What's the difference between CAC and CPA?+
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) usually means cost per signup or lead. CAC is cost per paying customer. CAC is always higher because not every signup converts to paid.
How do I lower CAC?+
The fastest lever is conversion rate — squeezing more paying customers from the same traffic. Catch before they bounce helps by identifying which visitors are most likely to buy, so sales focuses on the right 20% and you stop burning spend on cold traffic. Starting at $5/month.