Break-Even Point Calculator

Find the exact unit and revenue volume where your business covers its costs.

Interactive calculator
Inputs
$

Rent, salaries, software, insurance — costs that don't move with sales.

$
$

COGS, payment fees, fulfillment, per-seat infra.

Results
Break-even units / month
Sell this many to cover fixed costs
217
Break-even revenue / month
$10,595
Contribution margin per unit
$37.00
Contribution margin %
75.5%
What it is

The break-even point is the volume where total revenue equals total cost — zero profit, zero loss. Everything you sell above it is contribution to profit. Everything below is a loss.

Run this before launching a new product, raising prices, or hiring. It surfaces whether your unit economics actually work.

The formula

Break-even units = Fixed costs ÷ (Price − Variable cost)

The denominator is your contribution margin per unit — how much each sale puts toward covering fixed costs.

Why it matters

Most businesses fail not because their product is bad, but because they don't know how many units a month they need to sell. Once you know the number, you know whether your marketing, sales, or pricing plan is realistic.

Worked examples

SaaS startup

$8,000/mo fixed costs, $49 price, $12 variable cost per user. Break-even: 217 paying users generating $10.6k MRR.

Coffee shop

$15,000/mo fixed, $4.50 avg ticket, $1.20 variable. Break-even: ~4,546 customers/mo ≈ 152/day.

Common pitfalls
  • Forgetting owner salary in fixed costs.
  • Mis-classifying variable costs as fixed (payment processing, shipping).
  • Using gross price instead of net price after discounts and refunds.
  • Assuming linear demand — pricing changes shift unit volume too.

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Frequently asked questions

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