CAC Calculator
Calculate Customer Acquisition Cost from total marketing and sales spend.
Knowing your CAC allows you to determine whether your go-to-market spending is sustainable. If it costs $400 to acquire a customer who only generates $300 in lifetime profit, the business model is structurally unprofitable no matter how fast revenue grows. Conversely, a low CAC relative to customer value signals strong unit economics and room to scale.
The inputs to a comprehensive CAC calculation include all marketing expenses such as advertising, content production, tools, and agency fees, as well as all sales expenses including salaries, commissions, travel, and CRM software. Some businesses calculate a blended CAC across all channels, while others break it down by channel to identify which acquisition paths are most cost-effective.
CAC tends to increase as companies move beyond early adopters and into more competitive market segments. Monitoring CAC over time reveals whether acquisition efficiency is improving or degrading. Pairing CAC with Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) via the LTV:CAC ratio gives a complete picture of customer-level profitability.
This calculator takes your total marketing spend, total sales spend, and the number of new customers acquired during the same period. It returns your Customer Acquisition Cost per customer and the combined total acquisition spend.
Calculator
Results
How to Use
- Enter your total marketing spend for the measurement period
- Enter your total sales spend for the same period
- Enter the number of new customers acquired during that period
- Click Calculate to see your Customer Acquisition Cost and total spend
- Compare CAC across different periods or channels to find the most efficient growth paths
FAQ
How is Customer Acquisition Cost calculated?
CAC is calculated by adding all marketing and sales expenses over a given period, then dividing by the number of new customers acquired during that same period. The formula is CAC = (Total Marketing Spend + Total Sales Spend) / New Customers Acquired.
What is a good CAC?
A good CAC depends entirely on the revenue and profit each customer generates. The key benchmark is the LTV:CAC ratio, which should be at least 3:1 for a sustainable business. A low absolute CAC is meaningless if customer value is also low, and a high CAC can be acceptable if lifetime value is proportionally higher.
What costs should be included in CAC?
CAC should include all costs directly related to acquiring customers. On the marketing side, include advertising spend, content creation, marketing tools, events, and agency fees. On the sales side, include salaries, commissions, bonuses, CRM costs, travel, and sales enablement tools. Exclude costs related to product development, customer success, and general administration.
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