Customer Lifetime Value Calculator

Know exactly what each customer is worth to your business — and how reducing churn dramatically increases that number.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV or CLV) is one of the most important SaaS metrics. This calculator uses your ARPU, gross margin, and churn rate to compute the average total revenue a customer generates over their lifetime. Optionally enter your CAC to see your LTV:CAC ratio — the key indicator of sustainable growth.

Your Numbers

$

Average monthly revenue per customer across all plans.

%

Your gross margin percentage. Most SaaS companies are 70-85%.

%

Percentage of customers who churn each month.

$

Average cost to acquire a new customer. Leave at 0 to skip LTV:CAC.

Results

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)

$1,300

Average Customer Lifespan

25.0 months

Monthly Gross Profit per Customer

$52

LTV:CAC Ratio

4.3:1

Formula

LTV = (ARPU x Gross Margin) / Monthly Churn Rate

LTV is calculated by dividing the monthly gross profit per customer (ARPU times gross margin) by the monthly churn rate. This assumes steady-state churn and no expansion revenue. Average customer lifespan is 1 / monthly churn rate (in months). The LTV:CAC ratio divides LTV by your acquisition cost — a ratio above 3:1 is generally considered healthy for SaaS.

How to Interpret Your Results

Unsustainable

LTV:CAC under 1:1

You are spending more to acquire customers than they generate. Reduce CAC or increase retention urgently.

Below Target

LTV:CAC 1:1 to 3:1

Unit economics are marginal. Focus on reducing churn to increase LTV — this is often easier than reducing CAC.

Healthy

LTV:CAC 3:1 to 5:1

Good unit economics. You can profitably invest in growth while maintaining sustainable margins.

Excellent (or Under-Investing)

LTV:CAC over 5:1

Strong economics. Consider if you are under-spending on acquisition — you can likely afford to grow faster.

Industry Benchmarks

SegmentBenchmarkContext
SMB SaaS$500-$2,000 LTVLower ARPU and higher churn cap LTV. Volume compensates.
Mid-Market SaaS$5,000-$25,000 LTVSweet spot of decent ARPU and moderate churn yields strong unit economics.
Enterprise SaaS$50,000-$500,000+ LTVHigh ARPU and low churn create enormous lifetime values.
Consumer Subscriptions$100-$500 LTVLow ARPU and high churn mean you must acquire cheaply to be profitable.

How Rezoki Can Improve These Numbers

Rezoki is an AI-powered revenue recovery platform purpose-built for SaaS. It combines smart payment retries (timed for maximum approval rates), personalized dunning email sequences, and AI voice calls to recover failed payments before they become permanent churn.

  • Average 70% recovery rate across all customers
  • 5-minute integration with Stripe — no engineering needed
  • Uses your own SMTP for zero-cost email delivery
  • AI voice calls for high-value invoices that need a personal touch

Related Tools

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does churn rate have such a big impact on LTV?+
Because churn is in the denominator of the LTV formula. Cutting monthly churn from 5% to 2.5% doubles your LTV. This is why churn reduction is often the highest-leverage growth activity for SaaS companies.
Should I include expansion revenue in LTV?+
This calculator uses a simplified model without expansion. In practice, if customers upgrade over time, your true LTV is higher. Some companies calculate "gross LTV" (including expansion) vs "base LTV" (subscription only).
What LTV:CAC ratio do investors look for?+
Most VCs want to see at least 3:1 LTV:CAC for SaaS companies. Best-in-class companies achieve 5:1 or higher. Below 3:1 suggests either acquisition is too expensive or retention needs work.
How does recovering failed payments improve LTV?+
Every failed payment that goes unrecovered is a customer lost prematurely, reducing their actual lifetime value. If your average customer lifespan is 25 months but a payment fails at month 8, you have lost 17 months of revenue. Recovery tools extend actual customer lifespans toward the theoretical maximum.
Is LTV useful for early-stage startups?+
LTV becomes meaningful once you have 6-12 months of retention data. Before that, the churn rate is still stabilizing and LTV calculations will be unreliable. Focus on cohort retention curves first, then derive LTV once you see patterns.

Stop Losing Revenue to Failed Payments

Rezoki recovers failed payments automatically with AI-powered emails and voice calls. Set up in 5 minutes.