Break-Even Calculator
How many sales until the lights are paid for.
Break-even is the volume where contribution margin (price minus variable cost) has paid for your fixed costs — after that point, each additional sale contributes profit instead of survival. It's the most clarifying number in a small business because it turns “we need more sales” into “we need 65 units a month,” which is a target a human can actually aim at. Enter three numbers; the math and a plain-English readout are instant, in your browser, stored nowhere.
Using your break-even number properly
- Sort costs honestly first. Fixed costs don't move with volume (rent, salaries, software); variable costs occur per unit (materials, payment fees, shipping, per-customer API costs). Misfiled costs make the number lie to you.
- Contribution margin is the lever that matters: price minus variable cost. A $99 product with $22 of per-unit cost contributes $77 per sale — that's the pace at which sales retire your fixed costs.
- If break-even looks impossible, raise price before cutting costs. A 10% price increase usually moves the break-even point more than a heroic cost-cutting month, and it's available immediately.
- Recompute after every meaningful change — a hire, a rent change, a pricing test. Break-even is a live dashboard number, not a business-plan artifact from the year you started.
- Use it to price decisions, not just products: “this hire adds $4,000 of fixed cost, which is 52 more units a month” is the honest way to evaluate whether the hire pays.
Example output
Fixed / price / variable: Fixed costs $5,000/month · price $99 · variable cost $22 per unit.
Contribution margin: $77.00 per unit (78%) Break-even: 65 units/month Break-even revenue: $6,435 Sale #66 onward contributes $77.00 of profit each. At 100 sales/month you'd clear about $2,700 in monthly profit after fixed costs.
Frequently asked questions
- What counts as a fixed vs variable cost?
- Fixed costs don't move with sales volume: rent, salaries, software subscriptions. Variable costs occur per unit sold: materials, payment fees, shipping, per-customer API costs. If firing a customer would erase the cost, it's variable.
- What if my break-even number looks impossible?
- Three levers, in order of speed: raise price (fastest, most feared, usually survivable), cut variable cost per unit, then cut fixed costs. Small price increases move break-even more than founders expect — the calculator makes it easy to test.
- Is break-even the same as being profitable?
- It's the doorstep, not the house. Break-even means fixed costs are covered; profit starts with the next sale. Healthy businesses also track margin of safety — how far current sales sit above break-even — because operating right at the line means one slow month puts you underwater.
- Does this calculator store my numbers?
- No. Calculator tools on this site run entirely in your browser — nothing you type here touches a server, gets logged, or gets stored anywhere.
- Why is this free — what's the catch?
- No catch and no signup. This tool is funded by EaseClaw, an AI agent that finds people publicly asking for what you sell and drafts your replies. If the free tool is useful, some people try the $9 trial. That's the whole business model.