📈 Business & Marketing

CAC Calculator (Customer Acquisition Cost)

Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost in seconds. Track sales + marketing spend per new customer for any SaaS or D2C business.

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What This Calculator Tells You

Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the average amount you spend on sales and marketing to win one new paying customer. If you spent $75,000 last quarter and gained 150 customers, each one cost you $500.

On its own, CAC tells you little. It becomes useful next to what a customer is worth: compare it with customer lifetime value (LTV) and with how many months it takes to earn the cost back.

What to Enter

Sales spend ($) — the full cost of your sales effort for the period: salaries, commissions, sales software and travel. Enter 0 if you sell entirely self-serve.
Marketing spend ($) — ad spend, content, events, agencies, marketing salaries and tools for the same period.
New customers acquired — new paying customers won in that period. Do not count leads, free trials, sign-ups or returning customers.

Use the same time window for all three inputs — a month or a quarter is typical.

Worked Examples

1. A B2B SaaS company, one quarter (fully loaded CAC)

Sales team cost $45,000 (salaries, commissions, CRM) and marketing cost $30,000. The company signed 150 new paying customers.

Enter $45,000, $30,000 and 150 → CAC $500, total spend $75,000.

2. A direct-to-consumer skincare brand, one month

No sales team. Marketing spend was $18,000 ($14,000 on Meta ads, $3,000 on creators, $1,000 on tools), bringing in 600 first-time buyers.

Enter $0, $18,000 and 600 → CAC $30.

3. Paid CAC versus blended CAC

Back at the SaaS company, $12,000 of the quarter's marketing went to paid ads, which are credited with 30 of the 150 customers.

Enter $0, $12,000 and 30 → paid CAC $400.
The blended CAC of $500 (example 1) includes salaries and organic channels. Track both: paid CAC shows whether ads are efficient; blended CAC shows what growth really costs.

How It’s Calculated

CAC = (Total Sales Spend + Total Marketing Spend) ÷ Number of New Customers Acquired in the same period.

CAC: Customer Acquisition Cost

How to Read Your Result

Compare with LTV. A widely used rule of thumb is that LTV should be at least three times CAC. In example 1, a customer paying $80 a month at an 80% gross margin with 3% monthly churn has an LTV of about $2,133 — roughly 4.3× the $500 CAC.
Check the payback period. Divide CAC by the monthly gross profit per customer: $500 ÷ ($80 × 80%) ≈ 7.8 months to earn back the acquisition cost.
Watch the trend. A rising CAC usually means your best channels are saturating or your conversion rate is falling.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Counting leads or trials as customers. CAC is cost per paying customer. Use the cost per lead calculator for leads.
Leaving out salaries and tools. Ad spend alone gives paid CAC, not the full cost of acquisition.
Mismatched timing. If deals take three months to close, this quarter's customers came from last quarter's spend. Lag the spend to match your sales cycle.
Mixing in existing customers. Upgrades and renewals are not new acquisitions.
Relying only on a blended number. A cheap organic channel can hide an expensive paid one.

Built and maintained by GenAlpha Tools Editorial. Formula tested against known answers and edge cases · last reviewed October 2026. How we calculate · Report an error

When to Use This Calculator

Check whether growth is profitable by comparing CAC with LTV.
Set a maximum bid or budget per customer for paid channels.
Report unit economics to investors or your board.
Spot when a channel is getting more expensive over time.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between CAC and CPA?

CPA (cost per acquisition) can measure the cost of any action — a sign-up, a lead or a sale — and is usually limited to ad spend. CAC is the cost of a new paying customer and normally includes all sales and marketing costs. See the CPA calculator.

What is a good CAC?

There is no universal number — a $500 CAC is excellent for a customer worth $5,000 and ruinous for one worth $300. Judge CAC against LTV and payback period.

Should I include salaries in CAC?

For fully loaded (blended) CAC, yes: the people who sell and market are part of what it costs to win customers. Track paid-only CAC separately if you want to judge ad efficiency.

How often should I calculate CAC?

Monthly or quarterly, using the same definitions each time so the trend is meaningful.

What is blended CAC?

Blended CAC divides all sales and marketing spend by all new customers, including those from organic and referral channels. It is lower than paid CAC when free channels bring in customers.

Do you store the values I enter?

No. All calculations happen in your browser. Your data never leaves your device.

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