Break-Even Calculator
Find out how many units you need to sell — and how much revenue you need — to cover your costs.
A break-even calculator — also called a break-even point calculator or break-even sales calculator — tells you exactly how many units you need to sell and how much revenue you need to generate to cover all your costs. Enter your fixed costs, unit price, and variable cost per unit above to find your break-even point instantly. This tool is built for business owners, e-commerce sellers, and entrepreneurs who need a quick, free break-even analysis without spreadsheets. If you're looking for break-even ROAS specifically — for advertising — use our dedicated break-even ROAS calculator instead.
You need to sell 200 units to cover your costs — every unit after that is profit.
What Is Break-Even Point?
The break-even point is the moment your revenue exactly equals your total costs — sell less, and you're losing money; sell more, and you're turning a profit. Take a business with $6,000 in fixed costs, a $50 unit price, and $20 in variable cost per unit: the unit contribution is $50 − $20 = $30, so the break-even point is $6,000 ÷ $30 = 200 units, or 200 × $50 = $10,000 in sales.
Running ads? Use the break-even ROAS calculator insteadBreak-Even Formula
Break-Even Point in Units
Fixed Costs ÷ (Price − Variable Cost)
$6,000 ÷ ($50 − $20) = 200 units.
Break-Even Point in Sales Dollars
Fixed Costs ÷ Contribution Margin Ratio
Contribution Margin Ratio = ($50 − $20) ÷ $50 = 60%. $6,000 ÷ 60% = $10,000 — the same answer as 200 units × $50.
Break-Even Examples by Business Type
E-Commerce
Fixed costs typically cover storage, software tools, and staff; variable costs are the product itself, shipping, and marketplace fees. A store with $3,000 in monthly fixed costs, a $40 price, and $25 in variable cost per unit breaks even at 200 units a month.
Physical Retail
Fixed costs are dominated by rent and payroll; variable cost is mostly raw materials or wholesale stock. A shop with $8,000 in monthly fixed costs, a $60 price, and $35 in variable cost per unit breaks even at 320 units a month.
SaaS / Digital Product
Variable cost is unusually low — often under $1 per user in server costs. A product with $10,000 in monthly fixed costs, a $29 monthly price, and $1 in variable cost per user needs just over 357 — 358 paying customers to cover costs.
How to Use Break-Even Analysis
Break-even isn't fixed — it moves with your pricing and costs. Starting from $6,000 in fixed costs, a $50 price, and $20 in variable cost (break-even at 200 units): raise the price to $60 and break-even drops to 150 units, meaning you break even sooner. Cut variable cost to $15 instead and it drops to roughly 171 units. Add $2,000 in new fixed costs — hiring someone, say — and it rises to roughly 267 units.
See the ROAS formula for ad campaignsBreak-Even Chart
Total revenue and total cost, plotted against units sold. Where the lines cross is the break-even point — everything to the left is a loss, everything to the right is profit.
Frequently Asked Questions
The break-even point is the sales volume at which total revenue equals total costs. At this point, you neither make a profit nor incur a loss. It's calculated as Fixed Costs ÷ (Unit Price − Variable Cost per Unit).
In units: Break-Even Point = Fixed Costs ÷ (Unit Price − Variable Cost per Unit). In sales dollars: Break-Even Sales = Fixed Costs ÷ Contribution Margin Ratio, where Contribution Margin Ratio = (Unit Price − Variable Cost) ÷ Unit Price.
Divide your fixed costs by your contribution margin per unit (Unit Price − Variable Cost per Unit). For example, $6,000 in fixed costs ÷ ($50 price − $20 variable cost) = 200 units to break even.
Multiply your break-even units by your unit price. Using the example above: 200 units × $50 = $10,000 in sales to break even. You can also divide fixed costs directly by the contribution margin ratio.
A good break-even point is one you can realistically reach within a timeframe that works for your business — most small businesses aim to break even within 6–18 months of launch. For a single product, a lower break-even volume gives you more room on pricing and marketing spend.
Contribution margin is the amount each unit contributes toward covering fixed costs, calculated as Unit Price − Variable Cost per Unit. The contribution margin ratio expresses that as a percentage of price: (Unit Price − Variable Cost) ÷ Unit Price.
Break-even point covers all business costs — fixed and variable — and tells you the total units or sales you need. Break-even ROAS looks only at advertising: it's the minimum return on ad spend needed to stay profitable on your ad campaigns, calculated as 1 ÷ Profit Margin.
Open the break-even ROAS calculator