CAC Calculator
Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is what you pay, on average, to win one new customer. Calculate paid CAC for a single channel or blended CAC across everything.
CAC Calculator
It costs $50 to acquire one customer through paid channels.
Paid CAC = Paid ad spend ÷ Customers attributed to paid.
Formula
CAC = Acquisition spend ÷ New customers acquired
Paid CAC uses paid ad spend and the customers attributed to paid. Blended CAC uses total sales + marketing spend and all new customers, including organic — it is always lower than paid CAC and is the truer picture of efficiency.
Worked example
You spend $10,000 on paid ads and acquire 200 customers from those ads. Paid CAC = 10,000 ÷ 200 = $50. If total sales + marketing spend was $30,000 and you gained 500 customers in total, blended CAC = 30,000 ÷ 500 = $60.
What this tells you
CAC is the denominator of nearly every growth decision: it sets your break-even on LTV, caps your ad budget, and tells you whether a channel is sustainable. The trap is mixing definitions — blended CAC flatters paid performance because organic customers dilute the number. Track both, and be explicit about which one you mean.
Benchmarks
CAC only means something next to LTV — these are the LTV:CAC ratios most teams steer by.
| LTV : CAC ratio | Read |
|---|---|
| Below 1× | Losing money on every customer |
| 1× – 3× | Profitable but little room to scale |
| 3× – 5× | Healthy, reinvestable unit economics |
| Above 5× | Often underspending on growth |
Directional ranges only — your targets depend on margins, business model, and stage.
Common mistakes
Reporting blended CAC as if it were paid CAC — organic customers flatter the number.
Leaving sales salaries, tools, and agency fees out of a 'fully-loaded' CAC.
Looking at CAC in isolation instead of against LTV and payback period.
Ignoring that CAC usually rises as you scale spend past your best audiences.
When to use it
- Setting a maximum CAC target before launching campaigns
- Checking CAC against LTV to confirm unit economics work
- Comparing paid vs blended efficiency as organic scales
FAQ
What's the difference between paid and blended CAC?
Paid CAC divides paid ad spend by customers attributed to paid channels. Blended CAC divides total sales + marketing spend by every new customer, including organic and referral. Blended CAC is lower and is the honest measure of overall acquisition efficiency.
Should CAC include salaries and tools?
For a fully-loaded blended CAC, yes — include sales/marketing salaries, software, and agency fees. For channel-level paid CAC used to optimize campaigns, most teams use media spend only. Be consistent.
What is a healthy CAC?
CAC only means something next to LTV. A common benchmark is an LTV:CAC ratio of at least 3×. Use the LTV:CAC calculator to check yours.
Related calculators
Let Soku run the math — and the ads
Soku AI tracks ROAS, CAC, and MER live across Meta, Google, and TikTok, then optimizes spend toward your targets automatically.
Start free