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CAC Payback Period Calculator

Months to earn back what a customer costs to acquire.

Enter your values

ⓘ Live results

Results
CAC payback period
8 months
Customer acquisition cost
$1,500.00
Gross margin per customer per month
$187.20
Expected customer lifetime
40 months
LTV
$7,488.00
LTV:CAC ratio
4.99:1
Benchmark
Healthy — under 12 months

Quick answer

CAC payback = customer acquisition cost ÷ (monthly revenue per customer × gross margin). Under 12 months is the usual SaaS benchmark.

Payback months = CAC ÷ (ARPU × gross margin)

How to use the CAC Payback Period Calculator

  1. 1Enter total sales and marketing spend for the period.
  2. 2Enter the number of new customers it produced.
  3. 3Add revenue per customer, gross margin and monthly churn.

Worked example

Using the values the calculator loads with:

Inputs

  • Sales and marketing spend120000 $
  • New customers acquired80
  • Monthly revenue per customer240 $
  • Gross margin78 %
  • Monthly churn2.5 %

Results

  • CAC payback period8 months
  • Customer acquisition cost$1,500.00
  • Gross margin per customer per month$187.20
  • Expected customer lifetime40 months
  • LTV$7,488.00
  • LTV:CAC ratio4.99:1
  • BenchmarkHealthy — under 12 months

Frequently asked questions

Should CAC include salaries?

Yes — fully loaded CAC includes sales and marketing salaries, commissions, tools and ad spend. Ad-only CAC flatters the number badly.

What LTV:CAC ratio should I aim for?

3:1 is the classic target. Much higher can mean you are under-investing in growth; below 2:1 the model is usually unsustainable.

About this calculator

Results are estimates for general information. For medical, legal, structural or financial decisions, confirm with a qualified professional.