Free tool
Customer Acquisition Cost Calculator
Add up what you spend to win customers and see the true cost of each one. Enter your ad spend, tools, agency fees and sales cost alongside how many customers you acquired.
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The CAC formula
CAC = Total sales & marketing cost ÷ New customers acquiredEverything you spent to attract and convert customers, divided by how many you actually won.
Example calculation
In one month you spend $2,000 on ads, $200 on tools, $500 on a freelancer and $300 on sales — a total of $3,000. You acquired 25 new customers. Your CAC is 3,000 ÷ 25 = $120 per customer.
What your CAC means
CAC only makes sense next to value. If a customer is worth far more than $120 in profit over time, $120 is a bargain. If they are worth less, you are buying customers at a loss.
Common mistakes
- Counting only ad spend and ignoring tools, agencies and sales time.
- Mismatching the period — costs from one month, customers from another.
- Looking at CAC without comparing it to customer lifetime value.
The number tells you where you are. Not what to do next.
Knowing what a customer costs is only half the picture — the other half is what to do about it.
Cleverlio decides what your business should do this week and writes the work — the posts, the messages, the website copy. You review it and publish it yourself.
See what Cleverlio would doCommon questions
What is customer acquisition cost (CAC)?
CAC is the total sales and marketing cost it takes to win one new customer. It includes ad spend, tools, agency or freelancer fees, and sales costs — divided by the number of new customers you acquired.
What costs should I include in CAC?
Include everything spent to attract and convert customers in the period: advertising, marketing software, agency and freelancer fees, and the sales effort. Exclude product and fulfilment costs — those belong in margin, not acquisition.
What is a good CAC?
There is no universal number. A good CAC is one that is comfortably below the profit a customer brings over their lifetime. Compare it to your customer lifetime value using the LTV:CAC ratio.
How do I lower my CAC?
Improve conversion rates, lean on channels that bring customers organically (referrals, SEO, repeat buyers), tighten targeting, and remove spend that does not produce customers.
What time period should I use?
Use a period long enough to be meaningful but recent enough to reflect how you market today — usually a month or a quarter. Make sure costs and customers come from the same window.