Unit Economics
Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Understand the true cost of acquiring a new customer. Essential for evaluating marketing channel efficiency and scaling sales teams.
What this calculator does
The Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator calculate your blended and fully-loaded CAC, then compares your result against operator benchmarks (B2B SaaS typical: $200-$1,500. Enterprise: $5,000+). Enter your numbers below and you'll get a result, a benchmark band, and a plain-English interpretation in under two minutes.
Inputs
Include salaries, ads, tools, commissions
Results
Customer acquisition cost
$2,000
Fully-loaded blended CAC
Cost per day per customer
$66.67
Customers per $10k spend
5.0
CAC vs B2B SaaS benchmarks
Enterprise
What this means
$2,000 is enterprise-scale CAC. Justified only with high ARPU and multi-year contracts. If your deal sizes don't match, audit which channels are inflating blended CAC.
Formula
CAC = Total Sales & Marketing Spend / New Customers AcquiredBenchmarks: B2B SaaS typical: $200-$1,500. Enterprise: $5,000+
Sources: OpenView 2024 SaaS Benchmarks, ChartMogul Retention Reports, ProfitWell Pricing Studies, and Pressense operator data.
Frequently asked questions
Should salaries be included in CAC?
Yes. Fully-loaded CAC must include salaries, commissions, benefits, tools, and overhead for your sales and marketing teams, not just ad spend. Excluding people cost is the most common way teams flatter their CAC.
What's the difference between blended and channel CAC?
Blended CAC divides total spend by total customers (including organic). Channel CAC isolates spend and customers for a specific channel like paid search. Use blended CAC for board metrics; use channel CAC for internal allocation decisions.
Should organic customers be included in CAC?
There are two valid approaches. 'Paid CAC' divides paid spend by paid customers only, useful for ad efficiency. 'Blended CAC' includes everyone, useful for understanding the real cost-to-acquire across your business model.
What's a healthy CAC by ACV?
Rule of thumb: CAC should be under one-third of first-year ACV for SMB SaaS, and under one-half for mid-market. Enterprise can support higher ratios because contracts are longer and expansion is bigger.
How do I lower CAC without hurting growth?
Audit channel-by-channel CAC and shut off the worst 20% of spend, usually it's a non-trivial portion. Improve mid-funnel conversion (demo show rate, proposal-to-close). Compress sales cycle by raising lead quality through sharper ICP filtering.
About this calculator
Built and reviewed by the Pressense team, a strategy and systems partner working with B2B SaaS operators on unit economics, retention, GTM, and positioning. Every calculator in this library uses public benchmarks from OpenView, ChartMogul, ProfitWell, and KeyBanc, supplemented with anonymised data from the operators we partner with.
Disclaimer: This calculator is for educational and planning purposes only. Outputs are estimates based on the inputs you provide and industry benchmarks, not financial, tax, legal, or investment advice. Validate all results with a qualified professional before making decisions about funding, valuation, hiring, or capital allocation.