Cost Per Acquisition (CAC) Calculator
Enter total marketing spend and new customers acquired in a period, choose period length, and optionally include team salaries and tools. Add average customer value and target CAC to see payback months and gap to goal.
Best for
Make the next pricing or planning decision with context
Check whether the campaign or investment behind your business offer earns back its cost before you scale it. It covers CAC from marketing spend and new customers, include salary and tool costs, and model payback.
Instant calculations · Editable fee assumptions · Export-ready results
Inputs
Values update results instantly. Adjust fee assumptions to match your seller dashboard.
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Spend
Ad spend, content, and direct marketing costs in period.
Results
New customers from this spend period.
Timing
Time window for this calculation.
Extra costs
Add marketing team salaries to total spend?
Payroll relevant to acquisition in same period.
Add software and tool costs?
Marketing tools, SaaS, freelancers in same period.
Value check
Optional. Used to estimate CAC payback and customer value needed.
Optional goal CAC to compare actual versus target.
Results
Live estimates based on your inputs and editable fee assumptions.
Total spend
$5,000.00
All acquisition costs combined.
New customers
50
Customers acquired in period.
CAC
$100.00
Cost to acquire one customer.
Value needed for 3x LTV:CAC
$300.00
Revenue needed per customer to hit healthy 3x ratio.
Payback months
0
Months to earn back CAC from avg customer value.
Gap to target CAC
$0.00
Target minus actual. Negative means over target.
What this means
Total $5000 for 50 customers = $100.00 CAC. Need $300 lifetime value for 3x ratio. Payback n/a months at $0 average value. Gap to $0 target is $0.00 under.
Cost per acquisition
Interactive breakdown of fees, costs, and remaining profit.
Distribution
- Total spend$5,000.0097.1%
- CAC$100.001.9%
- Customers$50.001.0%
Total $5,150.00 · 3 segments · interactive
Line-item breakdown
Dollar amounts, share of revenue, and visual proportion.
- Marketing spend
- $5,000.00
- Salary costs
- $0.00
- Tool costs
- $0.00
- Total spend
- $5,000.00
- New customers
- 50
- CAC
- $100.00
- Value needed for 3x
- $300.00
- Payback months
- 0
- Gap to target
- $0.00
Assumptions used
- • Total $5000 = $5000 + $0 salary + $0 tools
- • CAC $100.00 = 5000 ÷ 50
- • Add avg customer value for payback
Your next best moves
Use your Cost Per Acquisition result to make the next decision. These General Business tools follow the same cost and pricing thread.
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Explore General BusinessCost Per Acquisition Calculator
Generated 9/12/2026, 5:55:31 PM · Currency USD
Inputs
- Total marketing spend: 5000
- New customers acquired: 50
- Period: monthly
- Include salary costs: false
- Salary costs in period: 0
- Include tool costs: false
- Tool costs in period: 0
- Avg revenue per customer: 0
- Target CAC: 0
Results
- Marketing spend: $5,000.00
- Salary costs: $0.00
- Tool costs: $0.00
- Total spend: $5,000.00
- New customers: 50
- CAC: $100.00
- Value needed for 3x: $300.00
- Payback months: 0
- Gap to target: $0.00
Interpretation
Total $5000 for 50 customers = $100.00 CAC. Need $300 lifetime value for 3x ratio. Payback n/a months at $0 average value. Gap to $0 target is $0.00 under.
How it works
Methodology & formulas
This calculator is transparent by design. Review the steps and formulas so you can trust the estimate and adjust assumptions when your dashboard differs.
Calculation steps
- 1Sum all enabled cost pools for period.
- 2Divide by new customers for CAC.
- 3Multiply CAC by 3 for rough healthy customer value needed.
- 4If avg customer value provided, divide CAC by monthly share of annual value for payback.
- 5Compare to target CAC for gap.
Formulas
- totalSpend = marketing + (salary if enabled) + (tools if enabled)
- CAC = totalSpend ÷ newCustomers
- valueNeeded = CAC × 3
- paybackMonths = ceil(CAC ÷ (avgValue/12))
- gap = targetCAC − CAC
Important assumptions
- Total spend = marketing spend + salary costs if enabled + tool costs if enabled.
- CAC = totalSpend / newCustomersAcquired when customers > 0.
- Customer value needed for 3x rule = CAC × 3.
- Recovery months = ceil(CAC / (avgCustomerValue /12)) when avgCustomerValue >0.
- Target gap = targetCAC - CAC when target >0, negative means actual higher than target.
- Period used for labeling, does not alter math except for monthly payback interpretation.
Sources & review
Know what this estimate is built on
This calculator is intentionally platform-agnostic, so it does not attach a platform fee URL.
Official references
No single official fee page is attached here. The model keeps these inputs editable so you can use the terms that apply to your situation.
Use the current terms
This model uses editable planning assumptions. Confirm tax, payment, financing, or operating terms with the relevant provider, official authority, or adviser for your situation.
Defaults are editable estimates. Match them to your current account, provider statement, official authority, lender, or adviser before making a pricing or investment decision.
Calculator model reviewed: August 9, 2026. This date covers the page and calculator guidance, not a guarantee that every live platform rate or term was re-audited on that date.
Worked example
$5k spend for 50 customers
$5,000 marketing spend, 50 new customers, monthly period, no salary/tools, avg value $600, target $80.
FAQ
Common questions
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