SaaS Free Trial Payback Calculator

Forecast the revenue lift from your SaaS free trial by combining trial volume, conversion rate, and average revenue per account. Add optional CAC per converted customer to expose total acquisition spend, ROI, and payback time. Use the output to align marketing, product, and finance teams on how quickly free trials translate into ARR and cash recovery.

Count of new free trials kicked off each month across all channels.
Percentage of trials that convert to paying subscribers.
Annual contract value (ARR) or annualized net revenue for each converted customer.
Defaults to $0.00. Enter blended CAC per converted customer from ads, sales, or success costs.

Validate assumptions with finance and RevOps teams. This tool does not account for churn, downgrades, or payment failures unless you bake them into conversion and revenue inputs.

Examples

  • Example 1 — 1,200 trials, 18% conversion, $1,440.00 revenue per account, $320.00 CAC ⇒ Monthly conversions: 216.00 customers | New ARR: $311,040.00 USD | New MRR: $25,920.00 USD | Total CAC spend: $69,120.00 USD | ROI: 350.00% | Payback period: 2.67 months | Monthly revenue per converted customer: $120.00 USD
  • Example 2 — 450 trials, 12% conversion, $840.00 revenue per account, CAC left blank ⇒ Monthly conversions: 54.00 customers | New ARR: $45,360.00 USD | New MRR: $3,780.00 USD | Total CAC spend: $0.00 USD | ROI: n/a | Payback period: 0.00 months | Monthly revenue per converted customer: $70.00 USD

FAQ

How often should I refresh these numbers?

Recalculate monthly or quarterly as trial volumes, pricing, or conversion rates shift—especially after launching new onboarding flows or campaigns.

What if my sales cycle is longer than a month?

Adjust the conversion rate to reflect the share of trials that close within your typical sales cycle, or rerun the calculator with rolling three-month trial starts to smooth longer funnels.

Can I include expansion or upsell revenue?

Yes—add expected expansion ARR per converted account to the revenue input so ROI reflects future cross-sell or seat growth tied to each trial cohort.

How do I model freemium plans instead of trials?

Treat active freemium users as "trials" and plug in the upgrade rate to paid tiers. The math remains the same as long as you use annualized revenue per upgrade.

Additional Information

  • Conversion rate should reflect closed-won customers after free trials complete, not just upgraded self-serve signups.
  • Average revenue per account works with annual or annualized figures—divide monthly plans by churn-adjusted lifetime value to keep apples-to-apples.
  • Adding CAC reveals whether paid media or sales-assisted trials produce acceptable payback; leave it blank to evaluate pure product-led growth.
  • Payback uses monthly recurring revenue to show how long it takes trial cohorts to repay acquisition spend.
  • Outputs assume USD but remain accurate when inputs share the same currency.

Related calculators