Unit Economics
CAC Payback Period Calculator
How many months of a customer’s margin it takes to earn back what you spent to acquire them. Shorter payback means faster, safer growth.
Inputs
- Cost to acquire a customer — Sales + marketing spend ÷ new customers.
- Monthly revenue per customer — What one customer pays you per month on average.
- Gross margin — Share of that revenue left after the cost to deliver it.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your acquisition cost, monthly revenue per customer, and gross margin.
- The result is how many months of margin it takes to earn the acquisition cost back.
- Shorter payback means you can reinvest faster and need less cash to grow.
What each term means
- CAC payback
- Months of customer margin needed to recover acquisition cost.
- Gross margin
- Share of a customer's revenue left after the cost to serve them.
- Cash efficiency
- How quickly spend on growth returns as recovered cash.
Educational disclaimer: Outputs are simplified educational estimates built from the numbers you enter — they are not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice, and real decisions deserve verified figures and qualified professionals.