AI SaaS LTV & LTV:CAC Calculator

Calculate AI SaaS customer LTV after LLM inference and RAG costs, then compare LTV with CAC.

Inputs

ARPU ($/mo)

Base gross margin before AI COGS: 0.85

LLM cost / user / month ($)

RAG + vector cost / user / month ($)

Monthly churn: 0.05

CAC ($)

Customer LTV

$700.00

Decision Summary

Best move

Lower CAC or raise LTV

Expected savings

$66.67 per acquired customer (22.2% reduction)

Watch out

Validate quality, latency, and reliability on your own workload before changing production traffic.

Next step

Review the comparison table and pricing sources before making the decision.

Lower CAC or raise LTV

Your LTV:CAC is 2.3:1 (warning). Reducing CAC to $233.33 reaches the healthy 3:1 ratio.

$66.67

saved per acquired customer (22.2%)

LTV:CAC

2.3 : 1

Avg. lifespan

20.0 mo

Margin after AI COGS

70.0%

AI COGS / user

$7.50/month

Health

warning

Cost breakdown

Item	Monthly	Yearly
Revenue contribution before AI COGS	$42.50	$510.00
LLM inference COGS / user	$6.00	$72.00
RAG / vector COGS / user	$1.50	$18.00
Net monthly contribution / user	$35.00	$420.00
CAC	$300.00	$300.00

Comparison

Option	Monthly	Yearly
Current CACLTV:CAC 2.3current	$300.00	$700.00
Target CAC (3:1)Healthycheapest	$233.33	$700.00

Pricing sources

Last verified 2026-06-30 · ChartMogul SaaS Benchmarks chartmogul.com/reports/saas-benchmarks/ · Bessemer Cloud Index www.bvp.com/atlas/state-of-the-cloud · David Skok LTV:CAC standard www.forentrepreneurs.com/saas-metrics/

Industry Benchmark

LTV:CAC vs. 3:1 planning referenceIndustry avg: 3 : 1

You are at the 39th percentile

Pricing sources

Trends & comparison

Trend

Comparison (monthly vs. yearly)

How to use this calculator

Enter ARPU, base margin before AI COGS, measured LLM and RAG cost per user, churn, and CAC. The result shows contribution-based LTV.

Why LTV:CAC matters

It is the core test of acquisition profitability. A healthy ratio means you can scale spend confidently.

Sources

LTV:CAC ratio benchmarks are sourced from public SaaS industry data including Bessemer Venture Partners and ChartMogul SaaS reports, versioned in the platform configuration.

Frequently asked questions

How is AI SaaS LTV calculated?▾

Monthly contribution = ARPU × base gross margin minus per-user LLM and RAG COGS. LTV = monthly contribution ÷ monthly churn.

What does the 3:1 LTV:CAC value mean?▾

It is a common planning heuristic from SaaS finance literature, not a universal benchmark. Capital costs, expansion, retention, and company stage can justify a different target.

How do I improve LTV:CAC?▾

Lower CAC, raise ARPU or margin, or reduce churn. The calculator shows the CAC that reaches a healthy ratio.

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