How do you calculate customer acquisition cost (CAC)?

CAC is your total sales and marketing spend for a period divided by the number of new customers acquired in that same period. If you spent $50,000 and added 100 new customers, your CAC is $500. This calculator does that math live and, if you add average customer LTV, also shows your LTV:CAC ratio.

What is a good LTV:CAC ratio?

A common benchmark for B2B SaaS is roughly 3:1 or higher, meaning a customer is worth at least three times what it costs to acquire them. A ratio around 1:1 to 3:1 is a watch zone, and below 1:1 you are paying more to acquire a customer than they are worth, which is unprofitable. Ratios are directional, not a verdict on the whole business.

CAC Calculator (Customer Acquisition Cost)

Your numbers

For one period (month, quarter or year)

Total sales & marketing spend ($)

Ad spend, content, tools, agencies and the team time you can attribute to acquisition.

New customers acquired

New paying customers added in the same period as the spend above.

Average customer LTV ($) optional

Lifetime value per customer. Add it to get your LTV:CAC ratio and a verdict.

Your result

Updates live

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

$500per customer

Average customer LTV—add LTV to unlock

LTV:CAC ratio—healthy is ≥3:1

The read

Enter spend and new customers to see your CAC.

Fix your unit economics → Demand generation

This is a planning estimate, not a verdict on your business. True CAC should use fully-loaded costs — salaries, tools and overhead attributable to acquisition — and blended CAC (all spend, all customers) will differ from paid CAC (paid channels only). Match the spend and customer counts to the same period and channel scope. To actually move the number, see B2B demand generation, fractional CMO cost and AI marketing consultant.