Metric
CAC
Also known as: Customer Acquisition Cost
Customer Acquisition Cost — total sales and marketing costs divided by the number of new customers in a period.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) measures what it costs to acquire one new customer: total sales and marketing spend in a period divided by the number of new customers in that same period.
An important derivative is CAC Payback Period: how many months it takes for a customer to recoup their CAC. In 2021 the B2B SaaS median was 11 months; in 2026 it sits at 18 months due to rising paid-channel costs and longer buying committees.
In 2026, VCs typically require CAC payback under 12 months for good term sheets. Above 18 months, companies get lower valuations or no round at all.