CAC Calculator
Calculate your customer acquisition cost, LTV:CAC ratio, and payback period. Understand your unit economics and know exactly when each customer becomes profitable.
How It Works
1
Enter Your Spend
Input your monthly marketing and sales costs plus how many new customers you acquired
2
Add Customer Value
Enter ARPU, gross margin, and average lifespan to calculate LTV and LTV:CAC ratio
3
See Your Unit Economics
Get CAC, LTV:CAC ratio, payback period, and a visual timeline showing when each customer becomes profitable
Acquisition Costs
Enter your monthly marketing and sales spend
Monthly Marketing Spend ($)
Monthly Sales Spend ($)
New Customers Acquired (Monthly)
Customer Value
Used to calculate LTV and LTV:CAC ratio
Avg Monthly Revenue per Customer ($)
Gross Margin (%)
Avg Customer Lifespan (Months)
Key Insights
Target LTV:CAC of 3:1 or higher — below 3:1 means you can't scale profitably
CAC payback under 12 months is considered healthy for SaaS
If LTV:CAC is above 5:1, you may be underinvesting in growth — consider scaling spend
Key Results
Your customer acquisition metrics
Customer Acquisition Cost
$500LTV:CAC Ratio
7.2:1CAC Payback Period
3.3 moCAC Payback Timeline
When cumulative gross profit exceeds acquisition cost
SaaS Benchmarks
How your metrics compare to industry standards
Your CAC
vs. B2B SaaS median: $200-$500$500
Your LTV:CAC
Target: 3:1 to 5:17.2:1
Your Payback Period
SaaS median: 15-18 months3.3 months
Understanding Customer Acquisition Cost
The metric that determines whether your SaaS business can scale profitably
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures the total cost of acquiring a new paying customer. It includes every dollar spent on marketing and sales — from ad spend and content creation to sales salaries and tooling. For SaaS companies, CAC is the single most important unit economics metric because it determines how much you can afford to spend on growth while staying profitable.
How to Calculate CAC
The basic CAC formula is straightforward:
CAC = (Total Marketing Spend + Total Sales Spend) / Number of New Customers
What to include in the numerator:
Marketing costs: Ad spend, content production, SEO tools, events, sponsorships, marketing team salaries
Sales costs: Sales team salaries and commissions, CRM software, sales enablement tools, travel
Example: If you spend $10,000 on marketing and $15,000 on sales in a month, and acquire 50 new customers, your CAC is ($10,000 + $15,000) / 50 = $500 per customer.
What Is a Good CAC for SaaS?
CAC varies widely by segment and sales model:
Self-serve / PLG: $50-$200
Low-touch model where customers sign up and onboard themselves. Marketing-driven with minimal sales involvement.
SMB SaaS: $200-$500
Mix of inbound marketing and inside sales. Short sales cycles (1-3 months) with some demo/trial touchpoints.
Mid-market SaaS: $500-$2,000
Dedicated sales reps, longer cycles (3-6 months), and multi-stakeholder deals. Higher CAC but higher ACV.
Enterprise SaaS: $5,000-$20,000+
Field sales, 6-12+ month cycles, RFPs, security reviews, and executive alignment. Justified by six-figure+ ACVs.
The absolute CAC number matters less than the LTV:CAC ratio. A $5,000 CAC is excellent if your LTV is $25,000 (5:1 ratio).
LTV:CAC Ratio Explained
The LTV:CAC ratio compares the lifetime value of a customer to the cost of acquiring them. It's the most important indicator of SaaS business health:
Below 1:1: You're losing money on every customer. Unsustainable without fixing either retention or acquisition costs.
1:1 to 3:1: Marginal economics. After factoring in overhead and R&D, profitability is difficult. Most investors consider this too low to fund.
3:1 to 5:1: The sweet spot. Enough margin to reinvest in growth while maintaining healthy unit economics. This is what investors look for.
Above 5:1: You may be underinvesting in growth. Consider scaling marketing and sales spend — your economics support it.
CAC Payback Period
CAC payback period measures how many months it takes for a customer's gross profit to cover the cost of acquiring them:
Payback Period = CAC / (Monthly Revenue per Customer x Gross Margin %)
According to KeyBanc's SaaS survey, the median CAC payback period for SaaS companies is 15-18 months. Top-performing companies achieve payback in under 12 months.
Under 12 months: Excellent — fast cash recovery supports aggressive growth
12-18 months: Good — sustainable for funded companies with runway
18-24 months: Concerning — requires significant capital to sustain growth
Above 24 months: Dangerous — capital-intensive and risky, especially for bootstrapped companies
How to Reduce CAC
Optimize Conversion Rates
Website conversion: A/B test landing pages, CTAs, and signup flows to increase visitor-to-trial rates
Trial-to-paid: Improve onboarding to get users to the "aha moment" faster
Sales qualification: Focus reps on high-intent leads to improve close rates
Invest in Organic Channels
Content marketing and SEO: Organic traffic has near-zero marginal cost per visitor
Product-led growth: Let the product sell itself through freemium tiers or free tools
Referral programs: Turn happy customers into an acquisition channel
Improve Targeting
ICP definition: Narrow your ideal customer profile to reduce wasted spend on poor-fit leads
Channel optimization: Double down on channels with the lowest CAC and cut underperformers
CAC by Acquisition Channel
Different channels produce very different CAC. Track CAC by channel to optimize spend allocation:
Organic search (SEO): Typically lowest CAC long-term, but requires upfront investment in content
Paid search (SEM): Predictable volume but CAC rises with competition and keyword costs
Social media ads: Good for awareness but often higher CAC for B2B SaaS than search
Referrals: Lowest CAC and highest LTV — referred customers convert faster and churn less
Outbound sales: Higher CAC but necessary for enterprise deals with large contract values
Common Mistakes When Calculating CAC
Excluding salaries: Your sales team's compensation is an acquisition cost — don't ignore it
Counting existing customers: Only count net-new customers in the denominator, not upsells or renewals
Ignoring time lag: Marketing spend in January may generate customers in March. Use cohort-based CAC for accuracy
Blending channels: Blended CAC hides expensive channels. Track per-channel CAC to optimize spend
Ready to optimize your unit economics?
Founderpath helps SaaS founders scale acquisition without giving up equity.
Once you know your CAC and LTV:CAC ratio, the next step is funding your growth efficiently. Founderpath provides non-dilutive capital so you can scale proven channels while keeping 100% of your equity.
Monitor customer acquisition costs by channel — paid, organic, referral, outbound — and allocate budget to the highest-performing sources.
See how your unit economics evolve as you scale. Get alerts when LTV:CAC dips below healthy thresholds.
Compare your CAC and payback period to SaaS companies at your stage and ARR range using anonymized industry data.
Model different spend levels and conversion rates to see how they impact CAC, payback, and overall profitability.
Use non-dilutive capital to scale your proven acquisition channels. Keep your equity while extending your runway.
Frequently Asked Questions
© 2026 Founderpath, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
