About the Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Customer acquisition cost is what you spend, on average, to win one new customer. Enter your sales and marketing spend and the customers it produced to get CAC, and add lifetime value to see the all-important LTV:CAC ratio.
How it’s calculated
CAC = total sales & marketing spend ÷ new customers acquired. LTV:CAC = customer lifetime value ÷ CAC.
Example calculation
Spending $10,000 to acquire 100 customers is a $100 CAC; at $300 lifetime value that's a healthy 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio.
Frequently asked questions
What's a healthy LTV:CAC ratio?
A ratio around 3:1 is often cited as sustainable — you earn about three times what a customer costs to acquire. Below 1:1 means you lose money on each customer.
What counts as acquisition spend?
Include the full cost of winning customers — ad spend, marketing salaries and tools, sales commissions — divided by the customers gained in the same period.
This tool provides estimates for general informational and educational purposes only. Results are based on the values you enter and standard formulas, and may not reflect your specific circumstances.