CAC Calculator

Calculate your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to understand how much you spend to acquire each new customer.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all sales and marketing expenses. It's one of the most critical metrics for understanding the efficiency of your growth engine. By tracking CAC over time and across channels, you can optimize your marketing spend, improve sales processes, and ensure your unit economics are sustainable. A high CAC relative to customer lifetime value (LTV) signals that your business model may need adjustment. Conversely, a low CAC indicates efficient growth. This calculator helps you measure and monitor your CAC so you can make data-driven decisions about where to invest your acquisition budget.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your total sales and marketing spend, additional costs, and the number of new customers acquired in the period.
The calculator will compute your CAC.
Compare CAC across different channels and time periods to identify the most efficient growth strategies..

Formula & Worked Example

CAC = (Sales Costs + Marketing Costs) ÷ New Customers Acquired:

For example, if you spend $10,000 on sales and $5,000 on marketing and acquire 50 new customers: CAC = ($10,000 + $5,000) ÷ 50 = $300 per customer..

Industry Benchmarks

Average SaaS CAC varies by business model: self-serve SMB products average $50-200 CAC, sales-assisted SMB averages $500-2,000, enterprise sales averages $5,000-50,000+. According to First Round Capital and Pacific Crest SaaS surveys, the median SaaS company has a payback period of 12-18 months. For healthy unit economics, aim for an LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or higher across all channels. Analyze channel-level CAC with ProfitWell.

Metric	Value	Source
Self-Serve SMB CAC	$50 - $200	First Round Capital
Sales-Assisted SMB CAC	$500 - $2,000	First Round Capital
Enterprise CAC	$5,000 - $50,000+	Pacific Crest SaaS Survey
Healthy Payback Period	12 - 18 months	SaaS Capital
Target LTV:CAC Ratio	3:1 or higher	Industry Standard

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good CAC?expand_more

A healthy CAC depends on your LTV. Aim for an LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or higher. If your CAC is too high, focus on organic channels, improve sales efficiency, or reduce marketing spend on low-performing channels.

How often should I calculate CAC?expand_more

Monthly is standard for SaaS businesses. Tracking trends over time matters more than any single data point. Compare CAC month-over-month and year-over-year.

What costs should I include in CAC?expand_more

Include all sales team salaries and commissions, marketing salaries, advertising spend, content creation costs, sales tools and software, and any overhead allocated to acquisition. Exclude product development and support costs. Tools like Baremetrics can help track acquisition costs.

Should I calculate CAC by channel?expand_more

Yes. Channel-level CAC reveals which acquisition channels are most efficient. Compare paid channels (ads, sponsorships) vs organic (SEO, referrals, content marketing) to optimize budget allocation. Use ProfitWell to track channel-level unit economics.

What is the difference between CAC and blended CAC?expand_more

Blended CAC averages acquisition costs across all channels. Channel-specific CAC isolates costs for individual channels. Track both for a complete picture.

How does CAC change over time?expand_more

CAC typically increases as you scale due to market saturation and channel competition. Early adopters acquired through organic channels are cheapest; later growth often requires paid acquisition.

What is a good CAC payback period?expand_more

A payback period under 12 months is ideal for SaaS. Under 18 months is acceptable. Above 24 months signals potential unit economics issues.

How does product-led growth affect CAC?expand_more

PLG companies often have lower CAC because users self-serve. Self-serve CAC can be 2-10x lower than sales-assisted CAC, though conversion rates may differ.