CAC Calculator
Calculate your customer acquisition cost, CAC:LTV ratio, and per-channel breakdown. See if your unit economics support growth.
Monthly ad spend, content, etc.
Sales team, tools, overhead
Customers acquired this month
Optional — for CAC:LTV ratio
Don't know? Use our LTV Calculator
Customer Acquisition Cost
$76.47
Cost to acquire one customer
CAC:LTV Ratio
1:4.2
LTV return per $1 spent on acquisition
Your unit economics support aggressive growth. Each customer generates 4.2x return on acquisition cost.
CAC by Channel
| Channel | Spend | Customers | CAC | % of Spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta Ads | $3,000.00 | 45 | $66.67 | 46.2% |
| Google Ads | $2,000.00 | 30 | $66.67 | 30.8% |
| Organic/SEO | $0.00 | 10 | $0.00 | 0.0% |
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What is Customer Acquisition Cost?
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is the total cost of convincing a potential customer to buy from you. It includes all marketing spend (ads, content, influencers), sales costs (team salaries, tools, commissions), and any overhead directly tied to acquiring new customers.
The formula is straightforward:
For example, if you spent $5,000 on marketing and $2,000 on sales overhead last month, and acquired 100 new customers, your CAC is $70. This means you paid $70 to acquire each new customer.
CAC vs CPA: What's the Difference?
CAC and CPA are often confused, but they measure different things. CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) typically refers to the cost of a specific action from a single campaign — like a purchase from a Facebook ad. CAC is broader: it includes all costs across all channels to acquire a customer. Your CAC is always equal to or higher than your CPA because it accounts for the full cost of doing business.
How to Reduce Your CAC
- Improve your conversion rate. Even a 1% improvement in conversion rate can reduce your CAC by 20-30%. Optimize your landing pages, checkout flow, and product pages.
- Invest in organic channels. SEO, content marketing, and referral programs have high upfront costs but near-zero marginal cost per customer. Over time, they bring your blended CAC down significantly.
- Cut underperforming channels. Use per-channel CAC (calculated above) to identify which channels are too expensive. Shift budget from high-CAC channels to low-CAC ones.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a good CAC?
A "good" CAC depends entirely on your customer lifetime value (LTV). The benchmark is an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3:1. In absolute terms, e-commerce CAC typically ranges from $10 to $50, but this varies widely by industry and product price point. The per-channel breakdown above helps you identify which channels deliver the best value.
How does CAC relate to LTV?
The LTV:CAC ratio is the key indicator of business sustainability. If your LTV is $300 and your CAC is $100, your ratio is 3:1 — meaning each customer generates 3x what you spent to acquire them. Below 1:1 means you lose money on every customer. Use our LTV Calculator to calculate your customer lifetime value.
How often should I measure CAC?
Measure CAC monthly at minimum. Weekly is better if you are running paid ads, since you can catch rising costs before they eat into your margins. Tracking per-channel CAC helps you reallocate budget from expensive channels to efficient ones in near real-time.
What is the difference between CAC and CPA?
CAC measures the full cost of acquiring a customer across all channels and expenses. CPA measures the cost of a single conversion event (like a purchase) from a specific campaign. CAC is a company-level metric; CPA is a campaign-level metric. Your CAC will always be equal to or higher than your best CPA.
How to reduce CAC?
The most effective ways to reduce CAC are improving conversion rates on existing traffic, investing in organic channels (SEO, content, referrals), optimizing ad targeting to reduce wasted spend, and focusing budget on your lowest-CAC channels. Even small conversion rate improvements can dramatically lower your overall acquisition cost.
Related Tools
- LTV Calculator — Calculate your customer lifetime value and LTV:CAC ratio.
- ROAS Calculator — Measure your return on ad spend and find your break-even ROAS.
- Profit Margin Calculator — Calculate your true profit margin including all e-commerce costs.
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briefpeak calculates your real CAC from actual ad spend and sales data, automatically. No manual inputs.