The short answer
- A good ROAS is any ROAS above your break-even ROAS, and break-even ROAS is 1 / contribution margin.
- At a 40% margin you break even at 2.5; at 25% you need 4.0; at 70% only 1.43.
- Average ROAS varies by channel. IRP Commerce’s September 2026 UK data implies about 8.9x for Google paid search and 2.0x for paid Facebook on last-click attribution.
- For B2B LinkedIn, ZenABM’s 2026 benchmarks put the median at 1.62x in influenced pipeline, with top performers at 2.79x.
Break-even ROAS: the number that defines "good"
ROAS is revenue from ads divided by ad spend. It says nothing about profit until you set it against your margin. The ROAS at which ads exactly pay for themselves is:
Break-even ROAS = 1 / contribution margin
Contribution margin is what is left of each sale after the costs that come with it: product cost, shipping, packaging, payment fees and returns. It is not gross margin from the accounts, which often leaves out shipping and fees.
| Contribution margin | Break-even ROAS | Profitable ROAS starts above |
|---|---|---|
| 20% | 5.00 | 5.0x |
| 25% | 4.00 | 4.0x |
| 30% | 3.33 | 3.3x |
| 40% | 2.50 | 2.5x |
| 50% | 2.00 | 2.0x |
| 60% | 1.67 | 1.7x |
| 70% | 1.43 | 1.4x |
| 80% | 1.25 | 1.3x |
This is why the same ROAS can be great for one business and ruinous for another. A 3.0 ROAS is strong for a software company at 80% margin and loses money for a store at 25%. Plug in your own figures with the ROAS calculator.
Worked example: finding your break-even
A store sells a $80 product. Here is its contribution per order:
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Price | $80.00 |
| Product cost | -$28.00 |
| Shipping and packaging | -$8.00 |
| Payment fees (3%) | -$2.40 |
| Contribution | $41.60 (52%) |
Break-even ROAS is 1 / 0.52 = 1.92. Every dollar of ads must bring back $1.92 in revenue just to cover itself. A campaign at 2.4 ROAS earns about $0.25 of contribution per ad dollar; one at 1.6 loses about $0.17.
From break-even to a target ROAS
Break-even is the floor, not the goal. To keep a set share of revenue as profit after ad spend, use:
Target ROAS = 1 / (contribution margin - desired profit margin)
| Contribution margin | Keep 10% of revenue | Keep 15% of revenue | Keep 20% of revenue |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% | 5.00 | 6.67 | 10.00 |
| 40% | 3.33 | 4.00 | 5.00 |
| 52% | 2.38 | 2.70 | 3.13 |
| 60% | 2.00 | 2.22 | 2.50 |
| 70% | 1.67 | 1.82 | 2.00 |
For the $80 product above, keeping 15% of revenue after ads means running at about 2.7 ROAS. That is the number to put into a Target ROAS bid strategy, not a figure borrowed from someone else’s account.
Average ROAS by channel in 2026
Published ROAS averages are rare, because most studies report costs rather than revenue. Two named 2026 sources give usable figures.
UK ecommerce, by traffic source
IRP Commerce publishes monthly benchmarks from first-party trading data of UK online retailers. It reports marketing cost as a percentage of revenue for each paid source, on last-click attribution. ROAS is the inverse of that percentage.
| Traffic source | Cost as % of revenue (Sept 2026) | Implied ROAS | Share of all sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google paid search | 11.19% | 8.9x | 61.58% |
| Bing and Yahoo paid search | 11.53% | 8.7x | 1.89% |
| AWIN (affiliates) | 8.73% | 11.5x | 3.36% |
| Facebook paid | 49.76% | 2.0x | 0.47% |
| Email marketing | 0.85% | 118x | 9.96% |
| All tracked marketing | 9.29% | 10.8x | n/a |
Source: IRP Commerce, Ecommerce Market Data, September 2026. Implied ROAS calculated as 100 divided by the cost percentage.
Read the Facebook figure with care. Last-click attribution credits the final touch before purchase, and that is usually a search, an email or a direct visit. Social ads that started the journey get little of the credit, so their last-click ROAS understates what they contribute. Search, brand terms and email look strongest under the same model.
B2B LinkedIn
ZenABM’s 2026 LinkedIn ABM Performance Benchmarks, covering 211 B2B companies and $5.5M in ad spend, report a median ROAS of 1.62x and 2.79x for top performers, measured as pipeline influenced by the ads rather than closed revenue. The same report finds the median company generates $5.21 in pipeline per dollar spent. B2B ROAS on LinkedIn has to be judged on deal size and close rate, which LinkedIn ads benchmarks covers in detail.
When a lower ROAS is still good
- Repeat customers. If a new customer buys three times a year, first-order ROAS understates the return. Judge acquisition on lifetime contribution; estimate it with the LTV calculator.
- Prospecting vs retargeting. Prospecting campaigns find new buyers and post lower ROAS than retargeting, which mostly reaches people already about to buy. Blend them before you judge.
- Incrementality. Platform-reported ROAS counts some sales that would have happened anyway. A lower-ROAS campaign that brings in new customers can be worth more than a high-ROAS brand campaign. ROAS vs profit is covered in ROAS vs ROI.
How to raise ROAS
- Raise the margin side. Bundles and higher order values lift contribution per order, which lowers break-even ROAS.
- Cut waste first. Irrelevant search terms, overlapping audiences and fatigued ads lower ROAS without adding sales.
- Fix conversion rate. A store converting at 2% instead of 1% doubles ROAS on the same traffic. Compare yours in ecommerce conversion rate benchmarks.
- Bid to your target. Set Target ROAS from the formula above, not a guess, and give it enough conversions to learn.
For click and lead costs by industry, see Google Ads benchmarks; for how Meta ads are built and how long they run, the Meta ad benchmarks.
Where Sprites fits
Sprites runs Google and Meta campaigns toward a ROAS goal you set: it audits for wasted spend, moves budget toward what converts and refreshes creative, and stages every change for your approval. Plans start at $66 a month billed yearly; see pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good ROAS?
A good ROAS is one above your break-even ROAS, which is 1 divided by your contribution margin. At a 40% margin you break even at 2.5 and need more to profit; at a 70% margin you break even at about 1.43. There is no universal good number without your margin.
What is the average ROAS?
It depends heavily on channel and attribution. IRP Commerce's September 2026 UK ecommerce data, on last-click attribution, implies about 8.9x for Google paid search and about 2.0x for paid Facebook. ZenABM's 2026 LinkedIn benchmarks put the median B2B ROAS at 1.62x, measured on influenced pipeline.
How do you calculate break-even ROAS?
Divide 1 by your contribution margin, where margin is revenue minus product cost, shipping, payment fees and other variable costs, as a share of revenue. A product with a 50% contribution margin breaks even at a ROAS of 2.0.
Is a 4:1 ROAS good?
Only if your contribution margin is above 25%. At a 25% margin, 4:1 is exactly break-even; at 50% it leaves half of each ad-driven sale's margin as profit. Judge any ROAS against your own break-even, not a rule of thumb.
Is a 2:1 ROAS good?
A 2:1 ROAS breaks even at a 50% contribution margin and is profitable above it. For software or services with 70-80% margins, 2:1 is comfortably profitable; for a store with a 30% margin it loses money on every order.
Why is my Meta ROAS lower than my Google ROAS?
Partly attribution. Last-click models credit the final touch, which is usually a search or an email, so social ads that started the journey get little credit. IRP Commerce's last-click data shows paid Facebook at about 2.0x against about 8.9x for Google paid search for that reason, among others.