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Free CAC calculator

CAC Calculator: know your true customer acquisition cost

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is your marketing and sales spend divided by the new customers it wins. Enter your revenue, costs and growth target to see your CAC, how many customers your budget can realistically buy, and whether that spend is sustainable at your margins.

Company details

Estimates are fine — everything stays editable after you see results.

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Optional — used to compare against the recommendation

Maintain protects margin · Grow is steady · Aggressive buys share

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How the math works

Base budget
Annual revenue × an industry base percentage (4.5% for manufacturing up to 11% for tech/SaaS), divided by 12 for a monthly figure.
Adjustments
That base is multiplied by your company size, business model, growth goal, market reach, marketing maturity, and sales cycle length. Aggressive goals and new brands push spend up; market leaders and local reach pull it down.
Conservative / Moderate / Aggressive
Moderate is the adjusted base. Conservative is 82% of it, Aggressive is 118% — a realistic planning range rather than a single false-precision number.
Channel allocation
The selected budget is split across SEO, content, digital advertising, email, and experimentation. The split shifts with your business model and growth goal, and every line is editable.
CAC check
CAC is sales and marketing spend ÷ new customers won. Customers needed = (annual revenue × target growth %) ÷ annual revenue per customer; multiplying that by CAC gives the spend required, which is compared with your annual budget for shortfall or headroom. LTV = revenue per customer × gross margin × lifespan, so LTV:CAC = LTV ÷ CAC and payback = CAC ÷ monthly gross profit per customer.

These are directional benchmarks, not financial advice. Industry, margin profile, and sales cycle all shift the right number.

Frequently asked questions

What is customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
CAC is the total sales and marketing spend required to win one new customer. It includes paid ads, agency fees, software, team salaries, and commissions allocated to acquiring customers.
How do you calculate CAC?
Divide your total sales and marketing spend in a period by the number of new customers acquired in that same period. For example, $10,000 spent to win 50 customers equals a $200 CAC.
What is a good CAC for my business?
A good CAC depends on your customer lifetime value (LTV), payback period, and margins. A common rule of thumb is LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or higher. SaaS and subscription businesses often target payback in under 12 months.
How does this CAC calculator work?
Enter your revenue, operating costs, growth target, and estimated CAC. We calculate the budget needed to hit your growth goal and compare it to a recommended marketing budget based on your revenue.
Should I use monthly or annual revenue?
Use whichever is easier to estimate accurately. The calculator converts annual to monthly and vice versa, so the final budget and CAC outputs stay consistent.
Why does my budget show a shortfall?
A shortfall means your recommended marketing budget, at the percentage you selected, is not enough to buy the new customers required to hit your growth target. You can lower your CAC, increase your marketing percentage, or stretch the goal over a longer timeline.