SaaS Churn & LTV Calculator
LTV, average lifetime and LTV:CAC from MRR and churn.
Lifetime value
$3,200
Avg lifetime
33.3 mo
LTV : CAC
5.33x
CAC payback
6.3 mo
LTV = ARPA × margin × (1 ÷ monthly churn). Aim for an LTV:CAC of 3x or better.
SaaS Retention Checklist by Churn Band
Benchmarks by segment, then the interventions that match your actual churn number.
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About this tool
Lifetime value tells you how much you can afford to spend acquiring a customer. Enter average revenue per account, monthly churn rate, gross margin and optional CAC to get LTV, expected lifetime and your LTV to CAC ratio.
How to calculate LTV
Average customer lifetime in months is 1 divided by your monthly churn rate. LTV is ARPA times gross margin times that lifetime. A 3 percent monthly churn implies roughly 33 months of expected lifetime.
What LTV to CAC ratio to aim for
Three to one is the widely used benchmark. Below that, acquisition is eating your margin; far above it, you are probably underinvesting in growth.
How to use SaaS Churn & LTV Calculator
- 1
Enter ARPU
Average revenue per account per month, net of discounts.
- 2
Enter churn
Monthly percentage of customers (or revenue) lost. Divide annual churn carefully — it does not scale linearly.
- 3
Add margin and CAC
Gross margin and blended acquisition cost turn the output into a decision, not trivia.
- 4
Read the ratios
Use lifetime, LTV and LTV:CAC together to decide whether to spend more on acquisition or on retention.
Example input
ARPU $80 · 3% monthly churn · 80% margin · CAC $600
Expected output
Lifetime ≈ 33 months · LTV ≈ $2,133 · LTV:CAC ≈ 3.6:1
Best practices
- Measure churn on a consistent cohort basis — blending monthly and annual plans into one rate produces a number you cannot act on.
- Track revenue churn alongside logo churn; losing ten small accounts is not the same as losing one enterprise contract.
- Use gross margin, not revenue, in the LTV numerator so the ratio reflects money you actually keep.
- Aim for LTV:CAC of 3:1 or better and a CAC payback under 12 months for SMB, under 18 for enterprise.
- Recompute quarterly — LTV built on a churn rate from a year ago is a story, not a metric.
Why SaaS Churn & LTV Calculator matters
Churn compounds: a 5% monthly loss caps your customer lifetime at 20 months no matter how good acquisition gets.
Investors and boards evaluate SaaS on retention economics first — getting these numbers right changes both strategy and valuation.
Related free & paid tools
| Tool name | Type | Key features | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChartMogulOffer | Paid | Subscription analytics, cohorts and LTV by segment | Visit |
| BaremetricsOffer | Paid | MRR, churn and LTV dashboards for Stripe | Visit |
| Stripe SigmaOffer | Paid | SQL over your own billing data | Visit |
| Google Sheets | Free | Roll your own cohort model while you are small | Visit |
Links marked Offer may be partner links. They cost you nothing extra and never affect which tools we recommend.