CAC Calculator: Customer Acquisition Cost

CAC stands for Customer Acquisition Cost, the average amount your business spends to win one new paying customer. It is a core marketing and sales metric used to judge whether growth is efficient, sustainable, and worth scaling.

In marketing, CAC measures the total cost of acquisition efforts, paid ads, campaigns, marketing tools, agency fees, and sales compensation, divided by the number of new customers those efforts produce. Marketers use CAC to compare channels, set budgets, and decide which campaigns deserve more spend.

Divide total acquisition spend by new customers acquired in the same period: CAC = Total Acquisition Spend ÷ New Customers. Include all sales and marketing costs tied to winning customers, and align both numbers to the same time window. For example, $80,000 in spend and 160 new customers gives a CAC of $500. Use this calculator to run your numbers instantly.

Include paid media, sales salaries and commissions, marketing software (CRM, automation, ad platforms), agency and contractor fees, and campaign production costs. Exclude product engineering, customer success, and general admin unless you allocate a specific percentage to acquisition. The test: if the cost would not exist without trying to win new customers, include it.

Blended CAC divides total acquisition spend across all channels by total new customers, useful for board reporting but it hides efficiency gaps. Channel CAC isolates spend and customers per source (e.g., paid search vs outbound). A blended CAC of $375 might mask $250 search CAC and $750 outbound CAC. Always track both, but optimize using channel-level data.

There is no universal "good" CAC, it depends on customer value. Compare CAC to LTV and payback period: many SaaS companies target an LTV:CAC ratio of 3:1 or higher and CAC payback under 12 months. Self-serve SaaS often sees CAC from $50–$300; mid-market $1,500–$10,000; enterprise $10,000+. A "good" CAC is one that leaves healthy margin after LTV and cash recovery.

Yes, this CAC calculator is free with no signup required. Enter your total acquisition spend and new customers acquired to get your customer acquisition cost instantly. Use it alongside our LTV calculator and LTV:CAC ratio tool for full unit economics.