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Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Calculator

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Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is total sales and marketing spend divided by the number of new customers acquired in the same period. If you spent $20,000 and gained 40 customers, your CAC is $500. This calculator returns CAC instantly.

Your CAC

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How CAC is calculated

CAC = total sales and marketing spend ÷ new customers acquired in the same period. Include ad spend, salaries, tools, and agency fees for an accurate fully-loaded CAC. Comparing CAC to customer lifetime value (LTV) tells you whether your growth is profitable — a healthy LTV:CAC ratio is generally 3:1 or better.

FAQ

Questions

What should be included in CAC?

A fully-loaded CAC includes ad spend, marketing and sales salaries, software/tools, agency and contractor fees, and creative production — everything spent to acquire customers in the period.

What is a good LTV:CAC ratio?

3:1 or higher is the common benchmark for a healthy SaaS business. Below 1:1 means you lose money on every customer; above 5:1 may mean you're under-investing in growth.

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