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LTV:CAC Explained
LTV:CAC is the single most important unit economics metric for any subscription or recurring business. It tells you whether your growth is sustainable.
LTV = (Avg Revenue/Month × Gross Margin%) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate
LTV:CAC = LTV ÷ CAC
Payback Period = CAC ÷ (Monthly Revenue × Gross Margin%)
LTV:CAC = LTV ÷ CAC
Payback Period = CAC ÷ (Monthly Revenue × Gross Margin%)
LTV:CAC Benchmarks
- <1:1 — Losing money on every customer. Stop spending on acquisition immediately.
- 1:1 – 3:1 — Marginal. You'll survive but won't scale efficiently.
- 3:1 — The benchmark. Healthy growth, sustainable acquisition spend.
- 5:1+ — Strong. You could spend more on acquisition and grow faster.
What is a good CAC payback period?
12 months or less is considered healthy for most SaaS businesses. Under 6 months is excellent. Over 18 months means you're tying up a lot of capital in customer acquisition before seeing returns.