CAC Calculator
Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost and your LTV:CAC ratio — the key metric for sustainable growth.
Results are for general guidance only — not professional advice. Learn more.
How to use this tool
Enter the total sales and marketing spend for a given period and the number of new customers acquired in that same period. The calculator divides spend by customers to give you your CAC.
Optionally, enter your Customer LTV to see the LTV:CAC ratio and what percentage of LTV your acquisition cost represents. These ratios help assess the efficiency and sustainability of your growth.
Make sure the spend and customer numbers cover the same time period for accurate results.
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Frequently asked questions
What is CAC?
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of sales and marketing required to acquire one new customer over a given period. It is calculated by dividing total sales and marketing spend by the number of new customers acquired in that same period.
What is a good CAC?
What constitutes a good CAC depends heavily on your industry and business model. The key benchmark is how it compares to your Customer LTV. A LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or higher is generally considered healthy. A low CAC is meaningless without understanding the quality and longevity of the customers acquired.
What is a good LTV to CAC ratio?
A 3:1 ratio (LTV three times higher than CAC) is the commonly cited benchmark for a healthy SaaS or subscription business. A ratio below 1:1 means you are losing money on every customer. Ratios above 5:1 can indicate room to invest more aggressively in growth.
What costs should be included in CAC?
CAC should include all direct sales and marketing costs: advertising spend, salaries and commissions for sales and marketing staff, marketing tools and software, agency and contractor fees, content production costs, and any other costs directly attributable to acquiring customers.