Break-even CPA Calculator
The most you can pay for a lead or a click before you lose money — from your price, margin, and close rate.
Free · no signup · last reviewed August 29, 2026
$1,000
Break-even per customer
$200
Break-even per lead
$8.00
Break-even per click
Our recommendation (and the reasoning): plan campaigns at half your break-even numbers — $100 per lead, $4.00 per click. Break-even means working for free; the buffer pays for learning-phase waste, no-shows, and being wrong about your close rate.
First-purchase math only — if customers repeat or refer, your true ceiling is higher. That’s deliberate: surviving on first-purchase economics means repeat business is profit.
Methodology & honest limits
How it works: break-even per customer = revenue × gross margin. Multiply down the funnel by your close rate for break-even per lead, and by your visitor-to-lead rate for break-even per click. Above those numbers you lose money on acquisition; at them you work for free.
Honest limits: first-purchase math only — repeat business and referrals raise your true ceiling, but planning on first-purchase economics keeps you safe when retention disappoints. The half-of-break-even target is our recommendation, not a law of nature; the reasoning is stated next to it.
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Everything here is free to use yourself — that’s the point. If you’d rather a senior marketer just handle it, in your accounts and your name: 20-minute call, no pitch deck.