Enter spend and conversions for your cost per acquisition. Add order value and margin to see the most an acquisition can cost before the first order loses money.
Purchases, leads or sign-ups: the action you pay for.
Or the value of one lead.
Under break-even. Each first order clears its ad cost by $9.50.
The calculator gives you the number instantly. Leave your email and we will look at your actual accounts and send back what we would change first.
CPA = ad spend ÷ conversions. $4,000 for 100 purchases is a $40 cost per acquisition. A conversion is whatever you are paying to get: a sale, a lead, a booked demo, a trial start.
Break-even CPA = average order value × gross margin. A $90 order at a 55% margin leaves $49.50 to pay for the ad that won it. Spend more than that per acquisition and the first order loses money.
For lead generation, use the value of a lead: close rate × average deal value × margin. A lead that closes 20% of the time on a $5,000 deal at 40% margin is worth $400.
Repeat-purchase and subscription businesses can buy customers above first-order break-even when lifetime value covers it. The ceiling then comes from LTV, not from the first order. Use the LTV calculator to find it, and hold the CPA target there instead.
Google Ads and Meta both let you bid to a cost-per-result target. Set it from your break-even or LTV ceiling, leave headroom, and give the algorithm enough conversions to learn: a target the account cannot reach starves delivery, and one set far above what you can afford spends it.