Choose a cohort period
Match acquisition costs with customers influenced by that spending window.
CAC Calculator
Calculate customer acquisition cost and understand how efficiently your startup turns sales and marketing spend into new customers.
Free customer economics calculator
Calculate your CAC
Use acquisition spend and new customers from the same period.
What customer acquisition cost measures
Customer acquisition cost, or CAC, shows the average investment required to win a new paying customer. It connects marketing, sales, and onboarding costs to customer growth and is essential for evaluating channel efficiency and unit economics.
Include advertising, sales compensation, marketing payroll, commissions, relevant software, agencies, and attributable creative expenses. Use the same period for cost and acquired customers, while accounting for a longer sales cycle when necessary.
CAC formula
Total sales and marketing acquisition spend ÷ new customers acquiredCalculate CAC with useful boundaries
A blended company CAC is a starting point. Channel and customer-segment CAC reveal where efficient growth actually comes from.
Include full costs
Add people, tools, commissions, agencies, and paid media—not advertising alone.
Compare with value
Review CAC alongside LTV, payback period, gross margin, and retention.
CAC calculator FAQ
What costs should be included in CAC?
Include the sales and marketing resources used to acquire customers, including payroll, commissions, advertising, agencies, events, and acquisition software.
What is a good CAC?
A good CAC depends on customer lifetime value, gross margin, payback time, capital efficiency, and the company’s growth stage.
Why calculate CAC by channel?
Blended CAC can hide meaningful differences. Channel-level analysis helps allocate budget toward sources that attract valuable, retained customers efficiently.