Break-Even ROAS Calculator
Find the minimum ROAS your ads need to hit before you lose money — based on your product's price and cost, not just spend vs. revenue.
Use this free break-even ROAS calculator to find the minimum return on ad spend your business needs before you start losing money. Unlike a basic ROAS calculator, this tool factors in your product's price and cost of goods — because break-even ROAS isn't always 1.0x. Enter your numbers below to see your gross margin and the exact ROAS floor for your ads on Meta, Google, TikTok, or Amazon.
You need at least 1.67x ROAS on this product just to cover ad spend — below that, you're paying to lose money.
How to Use This Break-Even ROAS Calculator
- 01Enter your selling priceEnter what you charge customers for the product.
- 02Enter your cost of goodsEnter what the product costs you to make, source, or stock.
- 03Read your break-even ROASSee your gross margin and the minimum ROAS that keeps ads from losing you money.
What Is Break-Even ROAS?
Break-even ROAS is the return on ad spend at which your ad revenue exactly covers your ad spend and the cost of the product you sold — the point where a campaign stops losing money. It's different from the simple 1.0x break-even you get when you only compare revenue to spend: once you account for what the product actually cost to make or source, the real break-even point is almost always higher than 1.0x. A store with a 50% gross margin needs a ROAS of at least 2.0x just to cover costs; a store with a 20% margin needs 5.0x. That's why "good ROAS" advice that ignores margin can be misleading — your break-even ROAS is specific to your business, not a number you can borrow from someone else's P&L.
Read the general definition of ROASBreak-Even ROAS Formula
Break-Even ROAS = Price ÷ (Price − Cost of Goods) = 1 ÷ Gross Margin
Divide your selling price by your price minus your cost of goods — or equivalently, divide 1 by your gross margin as a decimal. A $30 product that costs $12 to make has a gross margin of 60% ($18 ÷ $30), so its break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.6 = 1.67x. Sell below that ROAS and the campaign loses money once product cost is factored in, even if your "basic" ROAS looks positive.
See the standard ROAS formulaBreak-Even ROAS by Margin
Don't want to run the numbers yourself? Find your gross margin below and read off the ROAS you need to clear it.
| Gross Margin | Break-Even ROAS |
|---|---|
| 10% | 10.00x |
| 20% | 5.00x |
| 25% | 4.00x |
| 30% | 3.33x |
| 35% | 2.86x |
| 40% | 2.50x |
| 45% | 2.22x |
| 50% | 2.00x |
| 55% | 1.82x |
| 60% | 1.67x |
| 65% | 1.54x |
| 70% | 1.43x |
Go Deeper on ROAS
The basic Revenue ÷ Ad Spend formula, with worked examples across platforms.
How your break-even ROAS compares to typical e-commerce and platform benchmarks.
Find the exact revenue or sales volume where any business — with or without ad spend — breaks even.
Frequently Asked Questions
Break-even ROAS is the minimum return on ad spend needed to cover both your ad costs and the cost of the product itself. It's calculated as 1 ÷ your gross margin, so it's different for every business — there's no single "correct" break-even ROAS.
ROAS just compares ad revenue to ad spend. Break-even ROAS goes a step further and asks how high that ratio needs to be before you're actually not losing money, once the cost of the product is included.
Subtract your cost of goods from your selling price, then divide by your selling price: (Price − Cost of Goods) ÷ Price. A $50 product that costs $20 to make has a gross margin of 60%.
For the most accurate break-even ROAS, yes — include payment processing fees, marketplace commissions, and shipping costs you cover, alongside the product's manufacturing or wholesale cost. Leaving them out will understate your true break-even point.