Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Fully-loaded acquisition spend divided by customers acquired, with payback period and the LTV ratio that decide whether it is affordable. The definition argument is what counts as fully loaded: salaries and tooling belong in it, and leaving them out flatters the number.
Also called: customer acquisition cost calculator, cost per customer.
It costs ₹2,000 to acquire a customer. Enter revenue per customer to see how long the spend takes to repay. Enter a churn rate to see lifetime value and whether the spend is recoverable. No organic customers separated, so blended and paid CAC are the same figure here.
How this is calculated
Total sales and marketing cost for a period over the customers that period produced. The honest version includes salaries, commissions, tooling and overhead, not just ad spend, and excluding people is the most common way this gets quoted at half its real value. Three optional inputs turn the figure into a decision. Separating organic customers gives paid CAC, which is what the next marketing rupee actually buys, where blended CAC uses free customers to flatter the paid ones. Revenue and margin give the payback period, which is the cash flow constraint. And churn gives lifetime value, which is what says whether the spend is recoverable at all.
the division is the easy part; payback and the LTV ratio are what decide whether the number is acceptable- S&M
- Fully-loaded sales and marketing spend (currency)
- m
- Gross margin
Method and limits
What it assumes
- Spend and customers measured over the same period, with no acquisition lag.
What it deliberately does not model
- Long sales cycles mean this period customers came from last period spend, which distorts both.
- Blended CAC falls as organic grows even when paid acquisition gets worse.
- Lifetime value from a constant churn rate overstates, because real churn curves flatten.
Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · India · Report a problem with this calculator
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as fully loaded?
- Salaries, commissions, tooling and overhead as well as ad spend. Quoting CAC on media cost alone typically halves it and is the most common way the number is misstated.
- Should I use blended or paid CAC?
- Paid, for deciding whether to spend more, since that is what the next rupee buys. Blended is useful for reporting overall efficiency and misleading for a spending decision.
- What payback period is acceptable?
- Under twelve months for most subscription businesses, because the cash has to be funded until it returns. Beyond eighteen months growth consumes cash faster than it generates it.