Calculate customer lifetime value using three proven methodologies. Benchmark your LTV:CAC ratio and payback period against SaaS industry standards.
Enter your SaaS metrics below to calculate your customer lifetime value and key unit economics.
Enter your monthly revenue per customer, churn rate, and gross margin to see your customer lifetime value and unit economics breakdown.
Get your customer lifetime value in under 60 seconds. Enter three core SaaS metrics and instantly unlock your LTV, LTV:CAC ratio, payback period, and annualised revenue impact — no spreadsheet required.
Input your average monthly recurring revenue per paying customer (ARPU). This is your total MRR divided by the number of paying customers — the foundation of every LTV formula.
RequiredEnter the percentage of customers who cancel each month (churn rate) and your gross margin. Gross margin strips out infrastructure and support costs so your LTV reflects true profitability.
RequiredEnter your customer acquisition cost to unlock the LTV:CAC ratio and payback period benchmarks. Add your annual growth rate to switch to the Predictive LTV method for forward-looking valuations.
OptionalSee your LTV, customer lifespan, LTV:CAC ratio, payback period, and a colour-coded benchmark rating — plus an annualised impact breakdown showing the true cost of your current churn rate.
InstantLTV is the anchor metric for almost every major SaaS business decision — calculate it often, not just once.
Your LTV defines how much you can profitably spend to acquire a customer. Without it, you're guessing your marketing budget.
LTV:CAC ratio is one of the first unit economics metrics investors ask for. A ≥ 3:1 ratio is the baseline expectation for Series A and beyond.
Measure how a price increase or new pricing tier affects LTV. Even a 10% ARPU lift compounds dramatically over customer lifespan.
Quantify exactly how much LTV improved after a new onboarding flow, CS programme, or retention campaign — in dollars, not percentages.
Calculate LTV separately for each customer plan, company size, or industry. High-LTV segments deserve more acquisition spend and more CS attention.
LTV combined with your new customer acquisition rate gives you a reliable 12- and 24-month revenue projection — essential for board reporting and hiring plans.
Everything you need to know about calculating, benchmarking, and improving your SaaS customer lifetime value.
LTV is the total net revenue you expect to earn from a single customer over their entire subscription. It answers the question: "How much is a new customer worth to my business?"
There's no universal "good" LTV in absolute dollars — it depends entirely on what you spent to acquire the customer. What matters is the LTV:CAC ratio.
Simple LTV = ARPU ÷ Monthly Churn Rate — a quick estimate that ignores all costs. Traditional LTV = (ARPU × Gross Margin %) ÷ Monthly Churn Rate — adjusts for the real profit margin on each dollar of revenue.
The LTV:CAC ratio measures the return on your acquisition investment. A 3:1 ratio means you earn $3 in lifetime profit for every $1 spent acquiring a customer — the minimum benchmark most VCs use to assess SaaS health.
Payback period is the number of months needed to recover your CAC from gross profit. Best-in-class SaaS companies target under 12 months. Above 18 months strains cash flow significantly.
Low LTV is caused by three levers: low ARPU (underpricing or wrong customer segment), high churn (customers leaving before generating meaningful value), or low gross margins (high infrastructure, support, or implementation costs). Reducing churn has the most powerful compounding effect on LTV of all three.
Churn is the denominator in the LTV formula, so its impact is non-linear and extreme. Reducing churn from 10% to 5% monthly doubles your customer lifespan — and therefore doubles your LTV. Even a 1% monthly churn reduction can increase LTV by 20–25% and meaningfully improve your LTV:CAC ratio.
The three highest-impact LTV levers are:
Predictive LTV adjusts the traditional formula by incorporating an expected annual growth rate — reflecting expansion revenue from upsells and seat growth in existing cohorts. Use it when you have strong evidence of net negative churn or when pitching investors with a high-growth story. For most early-stage SaaS, Traditional LTV is more defensible and less likely to be challenged.
No. The SaaS LTV Calculator runs entirely in your browser. Your ARPU, churn rate, gross margin, CAC, and all other inputs are never sent to or stored on any server. All data clears automatically when you close or refresh the page.
UltraGrowthMedia helps B2B SaaS companies build a high-efficiency acquisition engine — cold email, LinkedIn, and SEO — to lower CAC and improve unit economics at scale.