Ads, tools, agencies, content and the sales and marketing team, for the period.
New paying customers won in the same period.
CAC
–
Enter sales and marketing cost and new customers.
Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
The CAC formula
CAC = sales and marketing cost ÷ new customers
Example: You spend $12,000 on ads, tools and your marketing team in a month and win 80 new customers: $12,000 ÷ 80 = $150 CAC. At the same CAC, 100 new customers would cost $15,000.
What is CAC?
Customer acquisition cost is the full cost of winning a customer. Where CPA counts only ad spend per conversion, CAC adds everything it takes: salaries, agencies, tools, content and sales commissions, divided by new paying customers.
Blended CAC uses all new customers, including those who found you without ads. Paid CAC counts only paid channels and the customers they bring. Both are useful, as long as you say which one a number is.
What is a good CAC?
It depends on what you sell and to whom: a low-priced online shop and a B2B software company live in different worlds. Compare against your own history and lifetime value first.
| Where | Typical | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Shopify DTC brands, median Top 10% of brands $15, bottom quarter $112; 2025 data from 77M customers | $54 | AMP, 2025 DTC Mega Report |
How to lower your CAC
- Move budget toward the channels whose customers cost least, and check that those customers stay as long as the others.
- Raise conversion rates on your pricing and sign-up pages, so the same visitors bring more customers.
- Grow channels without a cost per click, such as search, referrals, partners and content that AI assistants quote.
- Shorten the sales cycle for small deals with self-serve sign-up or a free trial.
What CAC doesn't tell you
- CAC alone doesn't say whether a customer is worth it. Compare it with lifetime value, or with how many months it takes to earn it back.
- Costs and customers rarely line up in the same month: a campaign can bring customers weeks later. Longer periods give a steadier number.
OneLence helps marketing teams find growth opportunities, know what to do next, and grow more efficiently without simply spending more. It puts ads, search, AI assistants and affiliate partners side by side, with the visitors and sales each one brings, and says where to invest, hold or cut back. See how it works.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate customer acquisition cost?
Divide all sales and marketing cost for a period by the new customers won in it. $12,000 ÷ 80 new customers = $150 CAC.
What should be included in CAC?
Ad spend, agency and freelancer fees, marketing and sales tools, content production, and the salaries and commissions of the people who win customers. Leave out the cost of serving existing customers.
What is the difference between CAC and CPA?
CPA is ad spend per conversion, and a conversion can be a lead or a sign-up. CAC is the full sales and marketing cost per new paying customer.
What is a good CAC?
One well below what a customer is worth. Many subscription businesses aim for a lifetime value at least three times CAC, and to earn CAC back within a year.
More free calculators
Want to see which channels bring customers, not just clicks? Start the 7-day free trial.