Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) Calculator

Estimate how much a customer is worth over their lifetime.

Customer Lifetime Value (LTV or CLV) is the total profit you can expect from an average customer over the whole of their relationship with your business. It sets the ceiling on what you can afford to spend acquiring customers and underpins every serious growth model.

Enter the average revenue per customer, your gross margin and your churn rate below to estimate LTV and the average customer lifespan.

Enter your numbers

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Share of customers who cancel each month.

Results

Customer LTV (gross profit)
$1,600
Lifetime revenue
$2,000
Avg. customer lifespan
20.0 months
Formula: LTV = ARPU × Gross Margin × (1 ÷ Monthly Churn Rate)
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Frequently asked questions

Should LTV use revenue or gross profit?

Best practice is gross-profit LTV — revenue multiplied by gross margin — because it reflects money you actually keep. Revenue-based LTV overstates value, especially for low-margin businesses.

How does churn affect LTV?

LTV is extremely sensitive to churn. Cutting monthly churn from 5% to 3% extends average lifespan from 20 to 33 months — a 65% increase in lifetime value with no change to pricing.

How do I use LTV with CAC?

Compare LTV to customer acquisition cost (CAC). A healthy business typically wants LTV at least three times CAC, with acquisition cost recovered within 12 months.