B2B SaaS Funnel & Unit Economics
Walk your B2B SaaS funnel from ad spend through trial and paid conversions to see CAC, LTV, and LTV:CAC flagged against industry benchmarks.
LTV
CAC
LTV/CAC Ratio
Inputs & Outputs
What the simulator takes, what it returns.
- Marketing team/agency costs (€/month)
- Investment in Paid Media ads (€/month) and CPC (€).
- Invalid clicks (%) — fraudulent or accidental clicks to discount.
- Organic Visitors (monthly).
- Visitor to Trial conversion rate and Trial to Paid conversion rate (%).
- Average MRR per customer (€) and average paid months per customer.
- Unique paid visitors, total visitors, new trials — derived from spend, CPC, invalid-click rate, organic traffic, and conversion rates.
- New paid customers (monthly).
- LTV (€) — average MRR × average paid months.
- CAC (€) — total marketing cost ÷ new paid customers.
- LTV:CAC ratio — flagged against the 3:1 rule of thumb.
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Check IncubatorTips to Improve Each Metric
Marketing Team / Agency Costs
Reduce without losing output
- →Start with a fractional CMO or growth agency before committing to full-time hires.
- →Track cost-per-qualified-lead per channel to justify where headcount adds real value.
- →Invest in content and SEO early to reduce long-term dependency on paid channels.
Investment in Paid Media Ads
Spend smarter, not more
- →Run small A/B tests on creatives and copy before scaling any campaign budget.
- →Pause channels where CAC exceeds LTV immediately — don't wait for month-end reviews.
- →Reinvest at least 10–15% of MRR back into paid acquisition once you find a channel that works.
CPC — Cost Per Click
Lower cost, same quality
- →Improve ad relevance and Quality Score on Google — a higher score directly lowers your CPC.
- →Target long-tail keywords with lower competition and higher intent.
- →Retargeting campaigns typically have 2–3× lower CPC than cold-audience campaigns.
Invalid Clicks Rate
Protect your ad budget
- →Use IP exclusion lists in Google Ads to block known bots and competitor IPs.
- →Enable a click-fraud protection tool (e.g., ClickCease, TrafficGuard) to automate filtering.
- →Review placement reports regularly and exclude bot-heavy display and content networks.
Organic Visitors
Build a free traffic engine
- →Create SEO content targeting high-intent queries like "best [category] software for [ICP]".
- →List your product on directories like G2, Capterra, and Product Hunt to earn backlinks and referrals.
- →Optimize Core Web Vitals and page speed — technical SEO has compounding returns.
Visitor → Trial Conversion Rate
Turn more visitors into leads
- →Add social proof (customer logos, testimonials, case study numbers) above the fold.
- →Reduce signup friction: fewer form fields and remove the credit card requirement from trials.
- →Use exit-intent overlays with a targeted offer for visitors who are about to leave.
Trial → Paid Conversion Rate
Convert more free users to paying
- →Send a targeted onboarding email sequence in the first 7 days guiding users to their "aha moment".
- →Offer a live demo or success call before the trial expires for high-intent accounts.
- →Add in-app upgrade prompts triggered when users hit a trial limit or reach a value milestone.
Average MRR per Customer
Increase revenue per seat
- →Introduce higher pricing tiers with features your best customers are already asking for.
- →Add usage-based upsells: more seats, API calls, storage, or advanced integrations.
- →Offer annual plan discounts — they increase upfront cash and signal commitment from customers.
Average Paid Months per Customer
Keep customers longer
Methodology
Building a sustainable B2B SaaS business requires more than just a great product; it requires a math equation that works. This calculator helps you visualize your marketing funnel and understand the unit economics that determine your startup's viability.
The Funnel: Traffic to Revenue
Traffic Sources & Conversion
Your growth engine starts with Visitors. We separate Paid (Ads) from Organic traffic because they have different costs. The efficiency of your funnel is measured by conversion rates: Visitor-to-Trial and Trial-to-Paid. Small improvements here compound significantly over time.
The Golden Metrics
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
How much do you spend to get one customer? This includes ad spend, tools, and team salaries. If your CAC is too high, you burn cash too fast.
Formula: (Marketing Spend + Salaries) / New Customers
LTV (Lifetime Value)
How much is a customer worth? LTV is the total revenue you expect from a single customer before they churn. Higher retention (longer lifespan) and higher pricing (MRR) drive this up.
Formula: Average MRR × Average Lifespan (Months)
The LTV:CAC Ratio
This ratio tells you if your business model is scalable. A 3:1 ratio (3x return on spend) is a common rule of thumb for healthy SaaS.
- < 1:1: You lose money on every customer.
- 3:1: Healthy growth.
- > 5:1: You might be under-investing in growth.
FAQ
What does this simulator calculate?
It models your B2B SaaS marketing funnel end-to-end: from visitors (paid and organic), through trial conversion, paid conversion, average MRR, and retention. The output is your unit economics — primarily CAC, LTV, and the LTV:CAC ratio — visualized against industry benchmarks.
What is CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)?
CAC is the total cost to acquire one new paying customer. The formula is (Marketing Spend + Sales & Marketing Salaries) / New Customers. A high CAC means you're burning cash to grow, which becomes unsustainable unless LTV is proportionally higher.
What is LTV (Lifetime Value)?
LTV is the total revenue you expect from a single customer before they churn. Basic formula: Average MRR × Average Customer Lifespan (months). Improving LTV means either raising prices, expanding revenue per customer (upsells), or keeping customers longer (lower churn).
What's a healthy LTV:CAC ratio?
A common rule of thumb for healthy SaaS is around 3:1. Below 1:1 means you lose money on every customer. Around 3:1 suggests your acquisition spend is earning back a meaningful multiple. Above 5:1 often means you're under-investing in acquisition and leaving growth on the table. Treat these as orientation — your stage, vertical, and payback period matter more than hitting a specific number.
Is this calculator only for B2B SaaS?
It's optimized for B2B SaaS — subscription pricing, trial funnels, MRR-based LTV. You can approximate B2C SaaS or other recurring-revenue models, but the assumptions (trial conversions, paid media CPCs, ACVs) will be less representative. For non-SaaS businesses the unit-economics framework still applies, but the specific inputs won't map cleanly.
Where do the benchmarks come from?
The ranges shown are general B2B SaaS rules of thumb compiled from publicly reported industry data. They're meant to orient you, not to serve as targets — your specific vertical, pricing model, GTM motion, and stage will legitimately shift the numbers.
My CAC looks too high — which inputs should I change first?
Three highest-leverage levers: (1) Visitor → Trial conversion — landing-page optimization and reducing signup friction; (2) Trial → Paid conversion — onboarding sequences and time-to-value; (3) Paid media CPC — ad relevance, long-tail keywords, retargeting. The Tips to Improve Each Metric section on this page has concrete tactics per input.
How often should I recalculate my unit economics?
Monthly for the headline metrics (CAC, LTV, MRR, churn). Quarterly for cohort-level retention analysis. If you just changed pricing, launched a new channel, or adjusted your ICP, recalculate immediately to see the effect on the model.
Should I include founder salaries in CAC?
If founders are actively doing sales and marketing work, yes — use a market-rate equivalent salary for their time, not their actual pay. Undercounting true costs inflates your LTV:CAC ratio and hides an unsustainable model.
Is my data saved?
Yes, locally in your browser via localStorage. Nothing is sent to our servers. Use Reset to defaults to clear it.