Break-Even Calculator
When does your business become profitable?
Find break-even units and revenue from fixed costs, price and variable cost — with contribution margin health.
15,234 calculations4.8 ratingUpdated June 2026
Your break-even workbench
Tune costs and pricing — the crossover chart and dashboard update instantly.
Interactive break-even calculator with live crossover chart and margin dashboard.
Crossover
Revenue vs total cost
Revenue
$0
Total cost
$10.0K
Profit / loss
$10.0K
Results
Break-even dashboard
BE Units
334
per month
BE Revenue
$16.7K
monthly target
Contribution
$30.00
per unit
Fixed costs
$10.0K
to cover
Set expected monthly sales to project the timeline.
Set expected monthly sales to compute safety margin.
Daily
11.1 u
Weekly
78 u
Monthly
334 u
Live margin
Industry
Industry Benchmark: Gross Margin
Typical: 80%
Fixed costs (monthly)
Pricing & variable cost
Expected monthly sales
At $50 per unit with $20 variable cost, you keep $30 (60% margin) on every sale. You need 334 units ($16.7K) monthly to cover $10.0K in fixed costs.
Scenario comparison
Test pricing, fixed-cost and variable-cost levers side-by-side and apply the winner.
Compare
Break-even scenarios
Now
Current
Break-even units
334
Margin
60.0%
Time to BE
—
+10% price
Premium pricing
Break-even units
286
↓ 48 units
Margin
63.6%
+3.6pt
Time to BE
—
−15% fixed
Lean fixed costs
Break-even units
284
↓ 50 units
Margin
60.0%
Time to BE
—
−20% variable
Supply optimization
Break-even units
295
↓ 39 units
Margin
68.0%
+8.0pt
Time to BE
—
Deep analysis
Inspect the crossover, compare custom investments and benchmark by industry.
Turn break-even into a plan
Pull this break-even model straight into your validated business plan and investor narrative.
Next step
Validate this business model end-to-end
We'll pre-fill your pricing, costs and break-even point into the validation engine.
Break-Even Report
Formula, June 2026 benchmarks, expert tips, mistakes and real break-even case studies — all in one read.
Break-even formula
Break-Even Units = Fixed Costs ÷ (Price − Variable Cost)Step-by-Step Breakdown
Compute contribution margin
CM = Price − Variable CostThe profit each sale contributes toward covering fixed costs.
Calculate break-even units
Units = Fixed Costs ÷ CMHow many units you must sell each period to cover all fixed costs.
Translate into revenue
Revenue = Units × PriceThe monthly revenue target you must hit to reach profitability.
Example Calculation
Time-to-break-even benchmarks (June 2026)
Realistic break-even timelines by industry, updated with current 2026 startup data.
| Industry | Low | Average | High | Key drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
SaaS | 12 months | 18 months | 36 months | |
E-commerce DTC | 6 months | 9 months | 24 months | |
Consulting / Services | 1 month | 3 months | 6 months | |
Hardware | 24 months | 36 months | 60 months | |
Marketplace | 18 months | 30 months | 48 months |
* Benchmarks reflect first 6–12 months to launch in USD. Figures vary by region, team size, and market conditions. Click any source to verify the underlying data.
Expert tips for reaching break-even faster
Pricing beats cost-cutting
A 10% price increase usually drops break-even more than a 10% cost cut.
💡 Action: Test a 10–20% price lift on new cohorts and measure conversion before rolling out.
Track break-even monthly
Monthly tracking catches drift early; annual tracking hides cash problems.
💡 Action: Add break-even units to your monthly KPI dashboard alongside MRR and CAC.
Maintain a 25%+ margin of safety
Operating just above break-even leaves no buffer for churn or seasonality.
💡 Action: Target volume ≥1.33× break-even before raising your next round.
Weight contribution margin across products
Multi-SKU businesses must use a weighted-average CM, not a per-product average.
💡 Action: Compute weighted CM by sales mix; rebalance marketing toward higher-margin SKUs.
Reinvest post-break-even contribution
After break-even, every extra sale drops the full CM to the bottom line.
💡 Action: Cap fixed-cost growth so incremental contribution funds growth, not overhead.
Common break-even mistakes to avoid
Underestimating variable cost creep
Shipping, payment fees, returns and refunds are routinely forgotten.
✓ Instead: Audit every per-unit cost (incl. CAC) and update CM quarterly.
Mixing monthly and annual figures
Dividing annual fixed costs by monthly contribution gives a 12× wrong answer.
✓ Instead: Always express fixed costs and revenue in the same period before dividing.
Optimistic volume projections
Hockey-stick assumptions make break-even look closer than it is.
✓ Instead: Use the bottom-quartile growth rate of similar 2026 startups as your base case.
Ignoring CAC in break-even math
Customer acquisition cost is effectively a variable cost in paid-acquisition models.
✓ Instead: Subtract blended CAC from CM to compute a marketing-adjusted break-even.
Real-world break-even examples
See how other businesses optimized their path to profitability.
Subscription Box Startup
Challenge: High CAC and low margins threatened path to profitability.
Initial BE Point
5,000 subs
After Optimization
2,800 subs
Time to BE
9 months
Margin Increase
+18%
Outcome: Renegotiated supplier contracts and increased prices 15%, reaching break-even 6 months ahead of plan.
SaaS Analytics Tool
Challenge: Freemium model had low conversion, unclear path to profitability.
Fixed Costs
$45K/mo
Price Increase
40%
BE Customers
380 → 290
Conversion Rate
2.1% → 2.8%
Outcome: Introduced tiered pricing with higher anchor price, improving perceived value and reducing break-even point.
* Case studies are based on industry averages and anonymized data from similar companies.
LTV Calculator
Customer lifetime value, done right.
Guide: Unit economics
Founder-grade guide with frameworks & examples.
Related Calculators
Continue your analysis with these complementary tools
Numbers check out? Pressure-test the idea itself.
Break-even math only matters if customers actually want it. Validate demand first.
Why Trust Our Calculators?
Industry-Standard Formulas
All calculations use formulas recognized by VCs, accelerators, and business schools worldwide.
Built by Founders
Created by entrepreneurs who've used these metrics to raise funding and scale their companies.
Privacy-First
Your data is never stored on our servers. All calculations happen in your browser.