Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Result
True cost per SQL
$200
Cost per opportunity
$333
Cost per raw lead
$40.00
Cost per MQL
$80.00
Blended lead-to-opportunity rate
12.00%
Opportunities generated
60.0
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How to use this
- 1Enter total campaign spend ($).
- 2Enter raw leads generated.
- 3Enter lead-to-mql rate (%).
- 4Enter mql-to-sql rate (%).
- 5Enter sql-to-opportunity rate (%).
- 6Read your true cost per sql on the right — it updates as you type.
- 7Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Cost per lead is a vanity metric on its own because lead quality varies enormously by channel and campaign, and a cheap lead that never qualifies is more expensive per useful outcome than an expensive one that converts reliably. This calculator walks spend through the full funnel: raw leads, the share that become marketing-qualified leads (MQLs), the share of those that become sales-qualified leads (SQLs), and the share of SQLs that become opportunities, then computes true cost per SQL and cost per opportunity alongside the blended lead-to-opportunity conversion rate. This is the number that should actually drive channel budget decisions, not top-of-funnel CPL, since a channel with 2x the CPL but 3x the lead-to-SQL rate is cheaper per real sales outcome. It also flags where in the funnel you're losing the most volume proportionally, which tells you whether the fix is lead quality (upstream — targeting, offer, channel) or handoff process (downstream — MQL-to-SQL definitions, sales follow-up speed) rather than just 'we need more leads.'
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Total campaign spend: 20000 $
- Raw leads generated: 500
- Lead-to-MQL rate: 50 %
- MQL-to-SQL rate: 40 %
- SQL-to-opportunity rate: 60 %
Results
- True cost per SQL: $200
- Cost per opportunity: $333
- Cost per raw lead: $40.00
- Cost per MQL: $80.00
- Blended lead-to-opportunity rate: 12.00%
- Opportunities generated: 60
What each field means
Inputs
- Total campaign spend ($)
- The total campaign spend used in the calculation, measured in $. Starts at 20000 $ so you have a working example on load.
- Raw leads generated
- The raw leads generated used in the calculation. Starts at 500 so you have a working example on load.
- Lead-to-MQL rate (%)
- The lead-to-mql rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 50 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–100 %.
- MQL-to-SQL rate (%)
- The mql-to-sql rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 40 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–100 %.
- SQL-to-opportunity rate (%)
- The sql-to-opportunity rate used in the calculation, measured in %. Starts at 60 % so you have a working example on load. Accepted range: 1–100 %.
Results
- True cost per SQL
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Cost per opportunity
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Cost per raw lead
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Cost per MQL
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Blended lead-to-opportunity rate
- Returned as a percentage. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Opportunities generated
- Returned as a whole number. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why is cost per SQL a better metric than cost per lead for budget decisions?
Cost per lead only measures top-of-funnel efficiency and ignores whether those leads are any good. A channel generating cheap, unqualified leads that die in the funnel is wasting sales team time and produces a worse cost per real outcome than a pricier channel with a much higher qualification rate. Cost per SQL or opportunity reflects what you actually paid for a lead sales can work.
How do I know if my problem is lead quality or funnel process?
Compare your MQL and SQL rates against channel-level benchmarks or your own historical averages. If a specific channel has a much lower MQL rate than others, that's a targeting/offer problem upstream. If MQL-to-SQL rate is uniformly low across all channels, that's more likely a sales follow-up speed or lead routing problem, not a marketing sourcing problem.
What's a typical MQL-to-SQL conversion rate benchmark?
B2B SaaS commonly sees 30-50% MQL-to-SQL rates when lead scoring and sales alignment are reasonably tight; below 20% usually signals a scoring threshold set too low, letting too many low-intent leads through as 'qualified.'
Should I compare cost per SQL across channels with very different volumes?
Yes, that's the point — it normalizes channels with wildly different CPLs and volumes down to a comparable unit economics figure. Just make sure sample sizes are large enough (generally 30+ SQLs per channel) before drawing firm conclusions, since small-sample conversion rates swing a lot.
Accuracy and 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.
Related tools
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Cost Per Lead to SQL Funnel Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cost-per-lead-to-sql-funnel-calculator
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cost-per-lead-to-sql-funnel-calculator" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cost Per Lead to SQL Funnel Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Cost Per Lead to SQL Funnel Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/cost-per-lead-to-sql-funnel-calculator) (2026).