Model your business economics with precision. Calculate CAC, LTV, payback periods, and ROAS for both SaaS subscriptions and e-commerce businesses.
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Enter your basic business metrics to calculate unit economics
Total marketing spend per month
Number of customers acquired monthly
Average monthly revenue per customer
How long customers stay on average
Your key business metrics and health indicators
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Step-by-step guide to get accurate results with Unit Economics Calculator
Select between subscription (SaaS/apps) or one-time payment (e-commerce) models. Each has different calculation methods.
Pro Tip: If you have both models, calculate them separately for clearer insights
Enter your advertising spend, impressions, click rates, and conversion data. Be as accurate as possible with recent data.
Pro Tip: Use data from your best-performing channel first, then expand to other channels
Input your subscription prices, transaction fees, product costs, and operational expenses. Include all variable costs.
Pro Tip: Don't forget hidden costs like payment processing, customer support, and refunds
Set your churn rates and repeat purchase behavior. This heavily impacts LTV calculations.
Pro Tip: Use cohort data if available - first-month churn is usually higher than later months
Review your CAC, LTV, LTV:CAC ratio, and payback period. Look for improvement opportunities.
Pro Tip: Healthy SaaS: LTV:CAC > 3:1, Payback < 12 months. E-commerce: LTV:CAC > 2:1
Test scenarios by adjusting conversion rates, pricing, or costs. Focus on metrics with biggest impact.
Pro Tip: Small improvements in retention often have bigger impact than acquisition improvements
Unit economics analysis evaluates the direct revenues and costs associated with acquiring and serving individual customers in your business model. Key metrics include Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Customer Lifetime Value (LTV), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), and payback period. Our unit economics calculator supports both subscription models (SaaS, apps) and transactional models (e-commerce) with comprehensive funnel analysis, churn modeling, and profitability projections to determine business model viability.
Understanding unit economics is fundamental to sustainable business growth and investor confidence. Poor unit economics are the leading cause of startup failure, with 70% of failed companies citing inability to achieve profitable customer acquisition. Venture capitalists require strong unit economics (LTV:CAC > 3:1 for SaaS) before investing. Companies with optimized unit economics achieve 2-3x higher growth rates and command premium valuations compared to those with unclear customer profitability.
Select your business model (subscription or one-time purchase) and input marketing funnel data including ad spend, conversion rates, pricing, and retention metrics. For SaaS models: Include trial conversions, churn rates, and subscription tiers. For e-commerce: Add product costs, shipping, and repeat purchase behavior. The calculator provides instant analysis of CAC, LTV, ROAS, payback periods, and profitability projections with optimization recommendations.
CAC is the total cost to acquire one paying customer, including all marketing and sales expenses (ad spend, salaries, tools, agencies). Calculate it by dividing total acquisition costs by the number of customers acquired in that period. Include fully-loaded costs: if you spend $10,000 and acquire 100 customers, your CAC is $100. Exclude one-time setup costs but include ongoing operational expenses.
For subscriptions: LTV = (Average Monthly Revenue per User × Gross Margin %) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate. For e-commerce: LTV = (Average Order Value × Purchase Frequency × Gross Margin % × Customer Lifespan). Use cohort-based analysis rather than averages for accuracy. Factor in expansion revenue, downgrades, and seasonality for precise calculations.
SaaS: 3:1 minimum, 5:1+ excellent. E-commerce: 2:1 minimum, 3:1+ good. Mobile apps: 2:1 minimum (shorter lifespans). B2B services: 4:1+ typical. Higher ratios indicate efficient growth, but ratios >8:1 may suggest under-investment in growth. Focus on improving both metrics simultaneously rather than just the ratio.
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) measures revenue generated per dollar spent on advertising (Revenue ÷ Ad Spend). ROI includes all costs and measures profit (Profit ÷ Total Investment). ROAS focuses on marketing efficiency, while ROI shows overall business profitability. For sustainable growth, you need both strong ROAS (2-4x) and positive ROI (>20% typically).
SaaS: 12-18 months is good, <12 months is excellent. E-commerce: 3-6 months typical. Mobile apps: 6-12 months. B2B enterprise: 18-24 months acceptable due to higher LTV. Shorter payback periods enable faster reinvestment and growth. If payback >24 months, focus on reducing CAC or increasing early revenue per customer.
SaaS: LTV:CAC 3-5:1, Payback 12-18 months, Gross margin 70-80%, Monthly churn <5%. E-commerce: LTV:CAC 2-3:1, Payback 3-6 months, Gross margin 20-40%, Repeat purchase 25-40%. Mobile apps: LTV:CAC 2-4:1, Day 1 retention 25%, Day 30 retention 10%. Marketplace: Take rate 15-30%, GMV per user growth 20%+ annually.
Focus on these investor-critical metrics: 1) Achieve LTV:CAC >3:1 with <18 month payback, 2) Show improving trends in both CAC efficiency and LTV growth, 3) Demonstrate channel diversification beyond paid advertising, 4) Prove cohort-based retention improvement over time, 5) Display clear path to profitability with unit economics, 6) Show defensible competitive advantages in customer acquisition.
Red flags requiring immediate attention: LTV:CAC ratio <1.5:1, Payback period >36 months, Rising CAC with flat LTV trends, Negative gross margins, Customer acquisition plateau despite increased spend, Cohort retention declining over time. Yellow flags needing monitoring: Payback >18 months, CAC increasing >20% quarterly, Single channel dependency >70% of customers.
Segment by acquisition channel, customer type, geographic region, or pricing tier. Calculate separate LTV:CAC for each segment to identify your most profitable customers. Often 20% of segments drive 80% of profit. Focus marketing spend on highest-performing segments while testing improvements for others. Enterprise vs SMB, organic vs paid, and geography often show dramatically different unit economics.