CPA Calculator
Calculate Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) from total marketing or ad spend and the number of customers or conversions acquired.
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Cost Per Acquisition
$25.00
How Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) Is Calculated
Cost Per Acquisition — sometimes shortened to CPA, not to be confused with the accounting designation Certified Public Accountant — measures how much it costs, on average, to acquire one customer or conversion. Divide total marketing or ad spend by the number of customers or conversions that spend generated to get the CPA.
Example
Spending $5,000 on ads that generate 200 new customers gives a CPA of $25 per customer acquired. If the average customer is worth more than $25 in lifetime value, the acquisition spend is likely profitable.
Common Use Cases
- Measuring the efficiency of a marketing or advertising campaign.
- Comparing acquisition costs across different channels or campaigns.
- Deciding whether a campaign's CPA is sustainable against customer lifetime value.
- Setting bidding or budget targets for paid acquisition channels.
FAQs
What is a good CPA?
There's no universal number — a good CPA is one that's comfortably below the customer lifetime value (CLV) generated by that customer. Compare CPA against CLV to judge whether acquisition spend is actually profitable, not just against a fixed benchmark.
Is CPA the same as CAC?
They're essentially the same concept — Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is another common term for Cost Per Acquisition. Some teams use CAC to include all sales and marketing costs, while CPA sometimes refers narrowly to ad spend alone; check how your organization defines each term.
Does CPA account for what happens after the sale?
No — CPA only measures the cost of the initial acquisition. Pair it with the Customer Lifetime Value Calculator to see whether the acquired customer generates enough revenue over time to justify that cost.