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Break-even Calculator

Find when your startup becomes profitable

Fixed Costs (Monthly) ($)

Rent, salaries, software, etc.

Price Per Unit ($)

Variable Cost Per Unit ($)

Cost to deliver each unit/service

Contribution Margin

$70.00

70% of price

Break-even Units

715

per month

Break-even Revenue

$71,500

monthly revenue needed to cover costs

Profit Analysis

Current Monthly Units Sold

Current Revenue

$40,000

Profit/Loss

$-22,000

Progress to Break-even56%

315 more units needed

Scenario Analysis

10% price increase625 units

20% cost reduction572 units

Both combined500 units

What is Break-even Calculator?

The break-even point is when total revenue equals total costs -- the moment your business stops losing money and starts generating profit. It can be expressed in units sold, customers acquired, or time to break even given current growth and burn rates.

How to use this calculator

1Enter your fixed monthly costs: rent, salaries, software subscriptions, and other overhead.
2Input your variable cost per unit or per customer: COGS, transaction costs, and support costs.
3Enter your average revenue per unit or per customer.
4Review the break-even point in units, customers, or monthly revenue.
5Model how changes to pricing, variable costs, or fixed costs shift the break-even threshold.

Why this matters for founders

Knowing your break-even point tells you the minimum viable scale your business must reach to survive without external funding. For bootstrapped founders it is the survival threshold; for funded founders it defines the path to optionality.

How to read the results

•A shorter time to break-even means less capital required and less dilution, giving you more strategic options.
•If break-even requires more customers than your addressable market supports, the business model needs rethinking.
•Watch the trajectory: are you getting closer to break-even each month, or is the gap growing as you scale?
•Consider contribution margin break-even (variable costs only) versus full break-even (including fixed costs) -- the former tells you if unit economics work.

Industry benchmarks

SaaS startups typically take 2-4 years to reach break-even. Bootstrapped companies aim for 12-18 months. Gross margin break-even should come well before net break-even. A business that cannot reach contribution margin break-even has a fundamentally broken model.

Key terminology

⚖️Break-even Point 🔥Burn Rate