Blended CAC Calculator
Separate blended CAC from paid CAC by removing organic customers — the acquisition cost your paid spend actually buys.
How it works
Blended CAC = total spend ÷ total new customers · Paid CAC = total spend ÷ (total − organic customers)
Blended CAC spreads all sales and marketing spend across every new customer, including those who arrived free through referrals, word of mouth or organic search. That flatters the number, because unpaid customers cost nothing to acquire. Paid CAC attributes the whole spend only to the customers paid channels actually won — a truer read on how efficiently your budget converts to customers. The gap between the two figures reveals how much of your growth is being carried by organic demand rather than paid acquisition.
Worked example
$60,000 of spend that produces 500 new customers is a $120 blended CAC. But if 150 of those came in organically, only 350 were bought — so paid CAC is 60,000 ÷ 350 = $171, meaningfully higher than the blended figure suggests.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between blended and paid CAC?
Blended CAC divides total spend by all new customers, including free organic ones. Paid CAC divides the same spend only by customers paid channels acquired, so it reflects how hard your budget is actually working.
Which CAC should I use?
Use both. Blended CAC tracks overall efficiency and is easy to report; paid CAC tells you whether your paid channels are sustainable. Relying on blended alone can hide a paid-acquisition problem masked by strong organic growth.
How does CAC relate to LTV?
Compare CAC to customer lifetime value — a common healthy target is an LTV-to-CAC ratio of about 3:1. If paid CAC approaches the margin-adjusted LTV, paid growth stops paying for itself.
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Educational estimate, not financial advice.