Your guide to CAC payback period
CAC payback period is a critical but frequently misunderstood SaaS metric that should be tailored to business model rather than applied universally. The article demonstrates that companies combining low CAC payback with high net dollar retention achieve superior growth rates (200% median) and Rule of 40 scores (63% median), and warns against common calculation errors and the false belief that sales & marketing spend alone drives customer acquisition costs.
Metrics in this report
11months
target
Micro-businesses (≤20 employees) — Good (50th percentile)
5months
target
Micro-businesses (≤20 employees) — Great (75th percentile)
11months
target
SMBs (20-100 employees) — Good (50th percentile)
5months
target
SMBs (20-100 employees) — Great (75th percentile)
14months
target
Mid-market (101-1,000 employees) — Good (50th percentile)
8months
target
Mid-market (101-1,000 employees) — Great (75th percentile)
14months
target
Enterprise (1,000+ employees) — Good (50th percentile)
11months
target
Enterprise (1,000+ employees) — Great (75th percentile)
200percent
median
Companies with great NDR and low CAC payback
35percent
median
Companies that struggle on NDR and CAC payback
58percent
median
Companies average on both NDR and CAC payback dimensions
110percent
best-in-class
Enterprise-focused SaaS companies
2.43ratio
Atlassian (PLG company) — $2.43 R&D for every $1 S&M
63percent
median
Companies with great NDR and low CAC payback
0percent
median
Companies that struggle on NDR and CAC payback
42percent
median
Companies average on both NDR and CAC payback dimensions
2.15ratio
DocuSign — $2.15 S&M for every $1 R&D