Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator (CAC)
Calculate CAC from sales and marketing spend and new customers. Optional payback from gross margin and ARPA.
Use the Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator (CAC)
Enter sales and marketing costs and new customers acquired. Optionally add gross margin % and ARPA for payback.
Acquisition spend
Sales & marketing costs for the period and new customers acquired.
Results
CAC
$50
Total acquisition cost
$25,000
CAC = Total acquisition costs ÷ New customers. Use with LTV and payback to judge efficiency.
What this metric means
CAC is the average cost to acquire one customer. Use it with LTV and payback to judge efficiency of growth spend.
How to improve
Improve conversion rates, retention, and pricing to raise LTV. Optimise channels and creative to lower CAC. Balance both for sustainable growth.
FAQs
What counts in acquisition cost?▾
Sales and marketing costs: ads, salaries for S&M, tools, content, events. Exclude one-off costs if you want a recurring CAC view.
How do I use payback?▾
Payback = CAC ÷ (ARPA × Gross margin %). It’s how many months of gross margin it takes to recover the cost of acquiring one customer.
What’s a good CAC?▾
CAC should be low relative to LTV (e.g. LTV:CAC of 3:1 or better). Use payback and LTV to judge whether CAC is acceptable.
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