Calculators
Calculate user lifetime value (LTV), the LTV-to-CAC ratio, and payback period for your mobile app or subscription product. Input ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user) and user lifespan in days to get LTV, then add CPI or CAC to see whether your unit economics are healthy. A 3:1 LTV-to-CAC ratio is the industry standard for sustainable growth — this calculator shows exactly where you stand.
Calculate user Lifetime Value (LTV), LTV:CAC ratio, and payback period
Step 1: Calculate LTV
= Daily Revenue ÷ Daily Active Users
Typically derived from D30/D90/D180/D365 retention
Step 2: Enter Acquisition Cost (CPI or CAC)
For app marketing; leave blank if using CAC
Includes all channel marketing costs; takes priority over CPI
When both are filled, CAC is used for ratio calculation
LTV
—
ARPDAU × Lifespan (days)
LTV:CAC Ratio
—
LTV ÷ Acquisition Cost (CAC priority)
Payback Period
—
Acquisition Cost ÷ ARPDAU (rounded up)
Example: ARPDAU $0.05 × 180 days = LTV $9.00 / CPI $2.50 → LTV:CAC 3.6:1 (healthy) / payback 50 days. Industry rule of thumb: mobile games target LTV:CAC ≥ 3:1; payback <90 days is generally sustainable.
Lifetime value (LTV) is the total revenue a user generates from their first session to their last. For mobile games, apps, and subscription products, LTV is the north-star metric that determines how much you can profitably spend to acquire a user — making it the foundation of every growth model.
This LTV calculator goes beyond the basic revenue estimate. It computes three interconnected outputs: LTV (total predicted lifetime revenue per user), LTV:CAC ratio (the relationship between user value and acquisition cost), and payback period (how many days it takes to recover your customer acquisition cost). Together, these three numbers tell you whether your business model is healthy and whether your current acquisition strategy is sustainable.
The inputs use the ARPDAU-based model — the most common approach in mobile gaming and app monetization — which derives lifetime value from daily revenue per user multiplied by expected retention lifespan. This model is particularly appropriate for games, streaming apps, fitness apps, and any product with meaningful daily active user dynamics.
For more context on the underlying concepts, see LTV, ARPDAU, and CPI.
The calculator uses three inputs: ARPDAU (average revenue per daily active user), Lifespan (average number of days a user remains active), and CAC (customer acquisition cost, also called CPI in mobile).
LTV = ARPDAU × Lifespan (days)
This formula assumes revenue contribution is roughly flat across a user's active lifetime, which is a simplifying assumption. In practice, ARPDAU tends to peak in the early days and decay — but for planning purposes, using your observed average ARPDAU against your D30 or D60 retention curve produces a useful approximation.
LTV:CAC = LTV ÷ CAC
This ratio tells you how many dollars of lifetime value you earn per dollar spent to acquire a user. A ratio of 3.0 means every $1 of acquisition cost generates $3 of lifetime revenue, implying a healthy margin buffer after COGS and operating costs.
Payback Period = CAC ÷ ARPDAU (days)
Payback period tells you how many days it takes for a user's daily revenue to recover the cost of acquiring them. A shorter payback period means faster cash recycling, which directly supports reinvestment into growth.
Worked example: An app has ARPDAU of $0.08, average lifespan of 90 days, and a CPI (CAC) of $1.50.
This profile is healthy: a 4.8× LTV:CAC ratio provides substantial margin, and an 18-day payback period allows fast reinvestment cycles.
| LTV:CAC | Assessment |
|---|---|
| 5:1+ | Excellent — potentially under-investing in acquisition |
| 3:1–5:1 | Healthy — sustainable growth with margin |
| 2:1–3:1 | Marginal — monitor closely; cost structure may be tight |
| Below 2:1 | Unsustainable — losing money on acquisition at scale |
| Below 1:1 | Destroying value — immediate model review required |
The 3:1 ratio is the most commonly cited minimum threshold for healthy SaaS and subscription businesses. Mobile games often target higher ratios (4:1+) because their ARPDAU estimates carry more uncertainty than SaaS contract values.
| Payback Period | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Under 30 days | Excellent — fast cash recycling, aggressive scaling viable |
| 30–90 days | Healthy — standard for well-monetized mobile games |
| 90–180 days | Manageable — common for mid-core games and subscription apps |
| 180–365 days | Requires patient capital — year-over-year planning horizon |
| 365+ days | Challenging — typical for B2B SaaS with high ACV; not sustainable for most mobile |
By category (mobile):
LTV and CAC are not independent. The channels you use to acquire users shape the quality of those users — and therefore their LTV. Paid channels that target bottom-of-funnel, high-intent users often produce higher ARPDAU and longer lifespan than broad awareness channels, even at higher CPI. Track LTV:CAC by acquisition channel, not just in aggregate.
Similarly, as you scale spend on a channel, the marginal user gets more expensive (auction dynamics) while quality may decline (the best-fit users are acquired first). Monitor LTV:CAC by cohort and by spend level, not just as a portfolio average. A falling LTV:CAC over successive monthly cohorts is an early warning of saturation.
Observed LTV is calculated from completed cohorts — users who have fully churned. Predicted LTV uses a statistical model (often exponential decay or survival analysis) applied to incomplete cohorts to project their full lifetime value. The ARPDAU × lifespan model in this calculator is a predicted LTV approach — it extrapolates from current behavior rather than waiting for cohorts to fully churn, which could take years.
Use ARPDAU from all daily active users (paying and non-paying). LTV is a per-user metric across your entire cohort, not just the spenders. Using paying-only ARPDAU inflates LTV and distorts the LTV:CAC calculation, making your acquisition economics look more favorable than they are. The blended rate forces you to account for the full conversion funnel from install to payer.
ARPDAU is seasonal — it typically spikes during holidays and summer events, and dips in Q1. Calculate ARPDAU using a rolling 30–90 day window and note where you are in the calendar. Cohorts acquired during high-ARPDAU periods will have different profiles than those acquired during low-ARPDAU periods. Consider running separate LTV models for Q1 vs. Q4 cohorts if you see large seasonal swings.
CPI (cost per install) is the mobile-specific term for CAC. Your CPI determines your payback period directly: lower CPI means faster payback at the same ARPDAU. When evaluating new UA channels, the goal is not the lowest possible CPI — it is the best LTV:CPI ratio. A channel with $3 CPI that produces $15 LTV is better than a channel with $1 CPI that produces $2 LTV.
Focus on the LTV side. Improve Day-7 and Day-30 retention by 10–20% through better onboarding, push notification sequences, and content depth — each retention point directly extends the lifespan denominator. Improve ARPDAU through better monetization design: rewarded ad placements, IAP conversion optimization, and subscription offer A/B tests. A 15% ARPDAU improvement has the same effect on LTV as a 15% CPI reduction, but is often more achievable once you have a live user base to experiment with.
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