{
  "slug": "cac",
  "title": "Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator",
  "heading": "Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cac",
  "summary": "Blended CAC, paid CAC, and cost per lead.",
  "description": "Blended CAC divides all sales and marketing spend by every new customer, including organic ones. Paid CAC isolates the customers your ad spend actually bought — that is the number to optimise.",
  "formula": "CAC = (Marketing + Sales spend) ÷ New customers.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=cac",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "marketing",
      "label": "Marketing spend",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 24000,
      "unit": "$/mo",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "sales",
      "label": "Sales team cost",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 18000,
      "unit": "$/mo",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "customers",
      "label": "New customers",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 60,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "paidCustomers",
      "label": "Of which came from paid",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 38,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "leads",
      "label": "Leads generated",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 900,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "blended",
      "label": "Blended CAC",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "paid",
      "label": "Paid CAC",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "cpl",
      "label": "Cost per lead",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "conversion",
      "label": "Lead to customer rate",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "organicShare",
      "label": "Share of customers from organic",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Marketing spend: 24000 $/mo",
      "Sales team cost: 18000 $/mo",
      "New customers: 60",
      "Of which came from paid: 38",
      "Leads generated: 900"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Blended CAC: $700.00",
      "Paid CAC: $631.58",
      "Cost per lead: $26.67",
      "Lead to customer rate: 6.67%",
      "Share of customers from organic: 36.7%"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter marketing spend ($/mo).",
      "Enter sales team cost ($/mo).",
      "Enter new customers.",
      "Enter of which came from paid.",
      "Enter leads generated.",
      "Read your blended cac on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "marketing": 14500,
        "sales": 11000,
        "customers": 36,
        "paidCustomers": 23,
        "leads": 540
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "marketing": 24000,
        "sales": 18000,
        "customers": 60,
        "paidCustomers": 38,
        "leads": 900
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "marketing": 38500,
        "sales": 29000,
        "customers": 96,
        "paidCustomers": 61,
        "leads": 1440
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the customer acquisition cost calculator work?",
      "a": "Blended CAC divides all sales and marketing spend by every new customer, including organic ones. Paid CAC isolates the customers your ad spend actually bought — that is the number to optimise. The underlying maths is: CAC = (Marketing + Sales spend) ÷ New customers."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "5 values: marketing spend, sales team cost, new customers, of which came from paid, and leads generated. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the blended cac result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/ltv",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/saas-payback",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/roas"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cac)"
}