SaaS CAC & LTV Calculator
Unit economics for subscription businesses
LTV = (ARPU × Gross Margin %) / Churn Rate % · CAC Payback = CAC / (ARPU × Gross Margin %)
For informational purposes — validate assumptions with your finance team.
Technical Specification
Customer Acquisition Cost & Lifetime Value Analytics
Overview
The ToolsForges CAC-LTV calculator helps SaaS founders, marketers, and business analysts compute the cost of acquiring a single customer against the projected lifetime revenue that customer generates. Input total marketing and sales expenditure, number of new customers acquired, average revenue per user, and expected customer lifespan to receive an instantaneous breakdown of CAC, LTV, LTV-to-CAC ratio, and payback period. All computations run client-side, keeping sensitive financial and customer data entirely within your browser.
Feature Specifications
- CAC and LTV ComputationCalculate customer acquisition cost by dividing total sales and marketing spend by new customers acquired. Compute lifetime value from average revenue per user multiplied by customer lifespan.
- LTV-to-CAC Ratio AnalysisReceive an instant ratio indicating whether each dollar spent on acquisition generates sufficient long-term revenue. Ratios above three are generally considered healthy.
- Payback Period CalculationDetermine how many months it takes for a customer's revenue to recoup the acquisition cost, a critical metric for cash-flow planning in subscription businesses.
- Scenario Comparison ModeRun multiple CAC-LTV scenarios with different spend levels and revenue assumptions to identify the optimal acquisition strategy before committing real budget.
Architecture
The calculator employs React useState for form inputs and derives computed metrics through pure functions. The results panel uses a responsive grid that displays all key metrics simultaneously without requiring navigation or tab switching.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a healthy LTV-to-CAC ratio?
A ratio of 3:1 or higher is generally considered healthy, meaning you earn three dollars in lifetime value for every dollar spent on acquisition. Ratios below 1:1 indicate you are losing money on each customer.
How do I calculate CAC if I have multiple marketing channels?
Sum all marketing and sales costs across all channels for a given period, then divide by the total number of new customers acquired in that same period. This gives you a blended CAC.
Does this calculator handle churn rate?
The current implementation uses customer lifespan as a direct input. To factor in churn, divide one by your monthly churn rate to derive average customer lifespan in months.
Is my revenue data stored anywhere?
No. All input values and computed metrics exist only in your browser's memory during the active session. Nothing is transmitted to external servers or stored persistently.