STARTUP · UNIT ECONOMICS
Unit Economics Calculator
Evaluate LTV:CAC ratio, payback period, and per-customer viability.
Result
- Churn rate implies a lifespan of 33.3 months, but you entered 24 months. Your LTV projection may be optimistic.
LTV vs CAC
Compare lifetime value against acquisition cost.
How to use it
- Enter CAC, monthly ARPU, gross margin percent, average customer lifespan in months, and monthly churn percent. Lifespan and churn should broadly agree because 5% monthly churn implies about 20 months of expected life, while 2% implies about 50 months.
- Read monthly contribution, LTV, LTV:CAC ratio, CAC payback months, unit profit, implied lifespan from churn, and the verdict. Below 1 is unsustainable, 1-3 is marginal, 3-5 is healthy, and above 5 is excellent but can also suggest under-investment in growth.
- Take warnings seriously when implied lifespan from churn differs from your entered lifespan by more than about 20%. That usually means your LTV is being flattered by optimistic assumptions rather than actual retention behavior.
- Use the result to choose the highest-impact fix: lower CAC, higher ARPU, better gross margin, or lower churn. If LTV:CAC is healthy but payback is still long, cash flow rather than profitability is the bottleneck and pricing or onboarding may matter more than top-line growth.
- Re-run every month by channel, plan tier, or segment. Track LTV:CAC and payback together because ratios can improve while capital efficiency still worsens if gross contribution takes too long to recover CAC.
Questions people usually ask
What is a good LTV:CAC ratio?
3:1 or higher is generally considered healthy. Below 1:1 means you spend more to acquire a customer than they're worth. Above 5:1 may indicate you're under-investing in growth.
How is this different from the CLV calculator?
The CLV calculator focuses on computing customer lifetime value in isolation. This tool combines CAC, LTV, payback, and viability scoring into a single decision framework for business model assessment.
Why does churn rate matter if I set lifespan manually?
Churn provides a cross-check. If your stated lifespan implies much lower churn than your actual rate, the tool warns you — your LTV projection may be optimistic.
Is this tool free and private to use?
Yes. All calculations run locally in your browser. No data is sent to any server, no account is required, and no cookies are set.
Use in an agent
Same math, same result shape as the UI above — as a static ES module. No HTTP request, no auth, no rate limit.
import { compute } from "https://aibizhub.io/engines/unit-economics-calculator.js";Contract: /contracts/unit-economics-calculator.json Types: /engines/unit-economics-calculator.d.ts Full agent guide →
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Precomputed reference table
Skip the inputs: this tool's engine also powers a full reference grid you can cite or download as CSV.
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Decision Workflows
Step-by-step guides that use this tool.