Break Even ROAS Calculator
Calculate your break-even ROAS, CPA, and maximum bidding costs in seconds. Make every ad dollar count.
Calculate your break-even ROAS, CPA, and maximum bidding costs in seconds. Make every ad dollar count.
Break Even ROAS Calculator is a Chrome side panel extension designed for e-commerce sellers and media buyers. It helps you quickly figure out the minimum ROAS you need to break even, how much you can afford to pay per acquisition (CPA), and the maximum CPC / CPM you should bid on ad platforms — all based on your actual product costs, selling price, and conversion rates.
No more guessing. Enter your numbers once, see all key metrics update instantly, and save different product setups as presets for quick comparison.
ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) measures how much revenue you earn for every dollar spent on advertising. For example, a ROAS of 3.0 means you earn $3 in revenue for every $1 you spend on ads.
CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) is how much you pay to get one order. At break-even, your maximum affordable CPA equals your profit per unit.
$54.67, you can afford to spend up to $54.67 to acquire one customer without losing money.
If you want to earn a specific profit margin on top of break-even, you need a higher ROAS. The calculator shows target ROAS for 10%, 20%, and 30% profit margins automatically. You can also enter a custom margin percentage.
These tell you the highest bid you should place on ad platforms, based on your break-even CPA and your estimated traffic performance:
| Field | What to Enter |
|---|---|
| Selling Price | The price your customer pays per order (also called average order value). |
| VAT / Tax Rate | The applicable value-added tax or sales tax percentage for your market. Set to 0 if not applicable. |
| Product Cost | How much you pay to source or manufacture the product. |
| Shipping Cost | What you pay to ship the product to your customer. |
| Platform + Payment Fees | The percentage your selling platform (e.g. Shopify) and payment processor charge per transaction. |
| Other Costs | Any additional per-order costs — packaging, handling, returns reserve, etc. |
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| ROAS Break-Even | The minimum ROAS you need to cover all costs. If your actual ROAS is below this number, you are losing money. |
| CPA Break-Even | The maximum amount you can spend to acquire one customer without losing money. Equals your profit per unit. |
⚠️ Warning If your costs exceed the selling price, a warning banner appears and the calculator shows negative values so you can see how much you're losing per unit.
| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 10% Profit | The ROAS you need to earn a 10% net profit margin on your ad spend. |
| 20% Profit | The ROAS you need to earn a 20% net profit margin. |
| 30% Profit | The ROAS you need to earn a 30% net profit margin. |
| Custom Profit | Enter any percentage (1–90%) to see the corresponding target ROAS. The result updates as you type. |
| Field | What to Enter |
|---|---|
| Conversion Rate (CVR) | The percentage of visitors who complete a purchase. Typical e-commerce CVR is 1%–3%. Check your platform analytics for your actual rate. |
| Click-Through Rate (CTR) | The percentage of people who see your ad and click on it. Typical display ad CTR is 0.5%–2%. |
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Max CPC | The highest cost-per-click you should bid on Google Ads. Bidding above this means you'll lose money at your current conversion rate. |
| Max CPM | The highest cost-per-thousand-impressions you should bid on Meta Ads or TikTok Ads. Based on both your CVR and CTR. |
Each section has an arrow button on the right side of its header. Click it to collapse the section and hide its contents. Click again to expand it. This lets you focus on the metrics that matter most to you.
Next to each section's arrow, you'll see ▲ ▼ buttons. Click ▲ to move a section up, or ▼ to move it down. Your preferred order is automatically saved — it will be restored the next time you open the calculator.
Use the currency dropdown at the top right of the panel to switch between EUR, USD, and GBP. All monetary values (CPA, Max CPC, Max CPM, and input unit symbols) will update immediately. The currency selection does not affect the calculation — it only changes the displayed symbol.
Presets let you save all your current inputs (costs, rates, currency, custom margin) under a name, so you can quickly switch between different products or markets.
| Action | How It Works |
|---|---|
| Save a Preset | Fill in your product data, then click Save. Enter a descriptive name (e.g. "Summer Dress - US Market") and confirm. All current input values are stored. |
| Load a Preset | Select a preset from the dropdown. All inputs will be filled with the saved values and the results will recalculate automatically. |
| Overwrite a Preset | If you save a preset with a name that already exists, you'll be asked to confirm overwriting the existing one. |
| Delete a Preset | Select the preset you want to remove, then click Delete. A confirmation dialog will appear before it's permanently removed. |
| Auto-Save Draft | Your current inputs are automatically saved as a draft every time you change a value. When you reopen the calculator, your last session is restored. |
| Preset Limit | You can save up to 50 presets. This should be enough for most multi-product or multi-market scenarios. |
Let's say you sell a product in Europe. Here's how you'd use the calculator:
80 €20 %4 €6 €2.5 %0 for now.1.46 → You need at least 1.46× return on ad spend to break even.€54.67 → You can spend up to €54.67 to acquire one customer.2 %, CTR = 1.5 %€1.09 → Don't bid more than €1.09 per click on Google Ads.€16.40 → Don't bid more than €16.40 per 1,000 impressions on Meta/TikTok.
1.46.
∞.
-- since there is no positive break-even point.
0 if your market doesn't use value-added tax. All calculations work the same regardless of currency or region.
1.5%–3%, CTR around 0.8%–2%.