How Much Can I Spend To Acquire a Customer?

Enter your average order value, margin, and repeat purchase behavior. Get your maximum and ideal CAC instantly — plus see how improving each metric changes what you can afford to spend.

Customer Economics

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%
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Percentage of customers who order again

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#

Compare Your CAC (Optional)

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Currency

Maximum CAC

$16.00

80% of first-order profit

Ideal CAC

$18.67

LTV ÷ 3 (3:1 ratio)

LTV Breakdown

Lifetime Value

$140.00

Gross LTV

$56.00

LTV:CAC Ratio

Gross LTV ÷ Max CAC

3.5:1

Healthy

Suggestions

Increasing repeat purchase rate by 10% raises your ideal CAC to $22.67.
Increasing AOV by $5 raises your max CAC to $17.60.

Next decision: break-even ROAS

Translate customer economics into ad efficiency so you know the minimum ROAS you must hold.

Did this help you set your maximum customer acquisition budget?

How it works

This calculator uses your gross margin and average order value to determine two key numbers: your maximum CAC (80% of first-order gross profit) and your ideal CAC (based on a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio).

The LTV:CAC ratio tells you if your acquisition spending is sustainable. A ratio above 3:1 is healthy — below 1:1 means you're losing money on every new customer.

Key Terms

Related Guides

Next Decision

Keep moving through the operating model instead of treating this tool as a one-off calculation.

Calculate Break-Even ROAS

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