=CalculateMyStuff

Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator

Calculate your CAC by dividing total marketing and sales spend by new customers acquired. See the breakdown of marketing vs. sales cost per customer.

$

Ads, content, SEO, tools, salaries, agencies

$

Sales team salaries, commissions, CRM, tools

Number of new customers gained in the period

The period these numbers cover

Enter your spend and customer data, then click Calculate to find your customer acquisition cost.

How Customer Acquisition Cost Works

What is CAC?

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) measures how much it costs to acquire a single new customer. It encompasses all marketing and sales expenses dedicated to winning new business.

The Formula

**CAC = (Total Marketing Spend + Total Sales Spend) / Number of New Customers Acquired**

What to Include in CAC

**Marketing costs:** advertising spend, content creation, SEO tools, marketing software, marketing team salaries, agency fees, event costs, sponsorships.

**Sales costs:** sales team salaries and commissions, CRM software, sales tools, travel expenses, sales training, and support costs during the sales process.

CAC:LTV Ratio

The most important context for CAC is how it compares to Customer Lifetime Value (LTV):

  • **1:1 or lower** — You are losing money on each customer. Unsustainable.
  • **1:3** — The healthy benchmark. Each customer generates 3x their acquisition cost.
  • **1:5 or higher** — You may be under-investing in growth and leaving market share on the table.

CAC by Time Period

Calculate CAC monthly, quarterly, and annually to spot trends. Seasonal variations are normal — Q4 may have higher CAC due to competitive holiday advertising. Track the trend over time rather than obsessing over a single month.

Improving CAC

Focus on both sides of the equation: reducing acquisition costs through channel optimization AND increasing conversion rates to get more customers from the same spend.

Frequently asked questions

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all marketing and sales expenses. It is calculated by dividing total acquisition spend (marketing + sales) by the number of new customers acquired during a specific period. CAC is a critical metric for evaluating the efficiency of your growth strategies.

A "good" CAC depends on your industry and business model. The key metric is the CAC:LTV (Lifetime Value) ratio. A healthy ratio is 1:3, meaning each customer generates 3x what it costs to acquire them. SaaS companies typically see CAC of $200-$1,000+ for B2B and $50-$200 for B2C. E-commerce CAC ranges from $10-$50. The lower your CAC relative to LTV, the more sustainable your growth.

The ideal CAC:LTV ratio is generally 1:3 — meaning your customer lifetime value should be at least 3x your acquisition cost. A ratio below 1:1 means you are losing money on each customer. A ratio of 1:5 or higher may indicate you are under-investing in growth and could scale faster. Track this ratio monthly to ensure sustainable growth.

To reduce CAC: improve conversion rates at each funnel stage, invest in organic channels like SEO and content marketing, implement referral programs, optimize ad targeting and landing pages, use marketing automation to nurture leads efficiently, focus on high-intent channels, improve sales team productivity with better tools and training, and retain existing customers (which is 5-7x cheaper than acquiring new ones).

Related calculators

ROAS Calculator

Measure return on advertising spend

Break Even Calculator

Find how many units to sell to cover all costs

Churn Rate Calculator

Calculate customer churn rate and retention