CAC payback refers to the time necessary for revenue generated by a new customer to make up for the cost involved in acquiring that customer. In this report, we share SaaS CAC payback benchmarks for a variety of SaaS industries, based on our experience working with 50+ SaaS companies over the past 13 years, both B2B and B2C, as well as our previous report on SaaS CAC benchmarks.

In additional to industry, we’ve also broken down benchmarks by customer size. In the table below, we share CAC payback benchmarks for SaaS companies that target consumers, SMBs, middle market companies, and enterprises, segmented by industry.

SaaS CAC Payback Benchmarks by Industry & Customer Size

SaaS Industry	Consumer		SMB		Middle Market		Enterprise
	Average	Good	Average	Good	Average	Good	Average	Good
Agtech	6 months	3 months	12 months	6 months	18 months	12 months	24 months	18 months
Adtech	N/A	N/A	13 months	5 months	20 months	13 months	22 months	19 months
Automotive	5 months	2 months	11 months	6 months	18 months	12 months	20 months	14 months
Aviation & Defense	4 months	1 months	10 months	4 months	13 months	10 months	17 months	13 months
Building Management & IoT	6 months	3 months	12 months	6 months	18 months	12 months	24 months	18 months
Business Services	8 months	4 months	14 months	8 months	20 months	14 months	30 months	20 months
Chemical & Pharmaceutical	5 months	3 months	11 months	6 months	17 months	11 months	26 months	17 months
Cleantech	N/A	N/A	10 months	7 months	15 months	10 months	21 months	15 months
Construction	6 months	4 months	11 months	6 months	16 months	11 months	20 months	16 months
Design	7 months	5 months	13 months	7 months	18 months	10 months	25 months	18 months
eCommerce	4 months	2 months	9 months	4 months	14 months	9 months	18 months	14 months
Education	5 months	3 months	11 months	5 months	16 months	11 months	21 months	16 months
Entertainment	7 months	4 months	13 months	7 months	19 months	13 months	27 months	19 months
Engineering	6 months	3 months	10 months	6 months	15 months	10 months	22 months	15 months
Fintech	7 months	5 months	12 months	7 months	18 months	12 months	23 months	18 months
Hospitality	9 months	6 months	14 months	9 months	20 months	14 months	28 months	20 months
Industrial	6 months	2 months	11 months	6 months	17 months	11 months	24 months	17 months
Insurance	8 months	5 months	12 months	8 months	17 months	12 months	21 months	17 months
Legaltech	6 months	2 months	11 months	7 months	16 months	11 months	21 months	16 months
Oil & Gas	5 months	1 months	8 months	5 months	11 months	8 months	15 months	11 months
Medtech	6 months	4 months	9 months	6 months	11 months	9 months	14 months	11 months
Project Management	9 months	6 months	14 months	9 months	18 months	14 months	22 months	18 months
Proptech	5 months	4 months	8 months	5 months	12 months	8 months	19 months	12 months
Retail	10 months	7 months	19 months	10 months	24 months	19 months	31 months	24 months
Security	8 months	5 months	13 months	8 months	19 months	13 months	25 months	19 months
Staffing & HR	N/A	N/A	15 months	11 months	18 months	15 months	21 months	18 months
Telecommunications	10 months	7 months	13 months	10 months	18 months	13 months	22 months	18 months
Transportation & Logistics	7 months	4 months	11 months	7 months	16 months	11 months	21 months	16 months

How to Calculate CAC Payback 

CAC payback is calculated by dividing your company’s average customer acquisition cost by the average monthly recurring revenue per customer, as shown in the following equation:

The result of this equation is your CAC payback period in months. For example, assume a SaaS company with the following:

Average Monthly Spend	Average New Customers per Month	MRR per Customer
$12,000	12	$100

The first step is to calculate this company’s average customer acquisition cost, which can be done using the following formula:

Following this equation, their average customer acquisition cost would be $1,000, and therefore their CAC payback period is $1,000 ÷ $100, or 10 months.

Further Reading & Next Steps

If you’re interested in learning more about CAC, CAC payback, and other SaaS metrics, see our other reports: 

• Average CAC for SaaS Businesses by Industry and Customer Type
• B2B SaaS Funnel Conversion Benchmarks
• B2B SaaS Customer Acquisition Cost: 2024 Report
• CAC by Channel – 2024 Benchmarks
• The LTV to CAC Ratio Benchmark
• B2B SaaS Marketing Budget: Breakdown & Examples
• SaaS Benchmarks: 2024 Report

If you’d like to request a pdf copy of this report, reach out here.

If you’d like to learn more about lowering your CACs by investing in low-CAC marketing channels, you can learn more about our SaaS SEO services here.