About the CAC Calculator
This CAC calculator works out your customer acquisition cost — the average amount you spend on sales and marketing to win one new paying customer. Enter the marketing spend, sales cost and any other acquisition costs for a period, plus the number of new customers you closed in that same period, and you get blended CAC split into its marketing and sales components.
It is built for SaaS founders, growth marketers and finance teams preparing a board deck or checking whether a channel is worth scaling. Adding the average monthly revenue per new customer and your gross margin turns CAC into the metrics investors actually ask about: how many months of gross profit it takes to pay back CAC, and how much new MRR each dollar of spend buys.
Use spend and customers from the same period (a month or a quarter), and include salaries, commissions, tools and agency fees — not just ad spend — for a fully loaded CAC. This is a blended figure: it divides all spend by all new customers, including organic sign-ups.
With the default inputs, the blended cac is $500.00. Change any value above to recalculate instantly.
How to use the cac calculator
- 1Enter total marketing spend for the period, including salaries and tools.
- 2Enter sales spend — salaries, commissions and sales software — for the same period.
- 3Add any other acquisition costs such as agencies or referral bonuses.
- 4Enter the number of new paying customers won in that period.
- 5Add monthly revenue per new customer and gross margin to see payback and efficiency.
Formula and method
Blended CAC divides every dollar spent on acquiring customers during a period by the number of new paying customers won in that period. Marketing CAC and sales CAC use the same denominator, so they add up to blended CAC when there are no other costs.
CAC payback converts CAC into months by dividing it by the monthly gross profit a new customer produces (monthly revenue × gross margin). New MRR per dollar of spend (sometimes called CAC efficiency) is new monthly recurring revenue divided by total spend. The calculation assumes spend and customers belong to the same period and ignores churn during payback.
- CAC
- Customer acquisition cost per new customer
- ARPU
- Average monthly revenue from a new customer
- Gross margin
- Share of revenue left after cost of revenue
Worked examples
SMB SaaS: $60k spend, 120 new customers
Spending $25,000 on marketing and $35,000 on sales to win 120 customers gives a blended CAC of $60,000 ÷ 120 = $500. At $99/month and an 80% gross margin each customer produces $79.20 of monthly gross profit, so CAC is recovered in about 6.3 months.
Enterprise sales-led motion
A $300,000 quarter that closes 25 enterprise deals means CAC of $12,000. Each account pays $2,000/month at 75% margin, or $1,500 of gross profit, so payback is 12,000 ÷ 1,500 = 8 months.
Self-serve product with content marketing
With no sales team, $15,000 of marketing brings in 600 customers for a CAC of $25. At $25/month and 85% margin, payback is just over one month, and every dollar of spend adds a dollar of new MRR.
Frequently asked questions
What costs should be included in CAC?+
A fully loaded CAC includes paid ads, content and events, marketing and sales salaries and benefits, commissions, sales and marketing software, and agency fees. Product development, customer support and account management for existing customers are normally excluded.
What is a good CAC?+
There is no universal number — CAC is only good or bad relative to what a customer is worth. A common SaaS rule of thumb is an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3:1 and a CAC payback period under about 12 months.
What is the difference between blended and paid CAC?+
Blended CAC divides all acquisition spend by all new customers, including organic and referral sign-ups. Paid CAC divides only paid-channel spend by customers attributed to paid channels, so it is usually higher and better for judging ad performance.
How do I reduce customer acquisition cost?+
Improve website and trial conversion rates, invest in SEO and content that compounds, add referral incentives, tighten ad targeting, shorten the sales cycle, and move smaller deals to self-serve so expensive sales time goes to larger accounts.
Should I use monthly or quarterly data?+
Either works as long as spend and new customers cover the same period. Quarterly data smooths out lumpy months, and many teams lag spend by one period when the sales cycle is long.
Results are estimates for educational purposes and are not financial advice. Rates, fees and terms vary — confirm with your lender or a licensed advisor before making decisions.