Product-Led Growth vs Sales-Led Growth Calculator
Compare the unit economics of a self-serve (product-led) motion and a sales-led motion side by side. Enter your own contract value, customer acquisition cost and churn for each, plus gross margin, and the calculator returns CAC payback in months, lifetime value and LTV:CAC for both. Every number comes from your inputs — the page contains no industry benchmark table.
Product-led growth vs sales-led growth is a choice between two ways of winning customers: letting the product sell itself through self-serve sign-up and upgrade, or using a sales team that runs demos and negotiates contracts. This calculator compares the two on your own numbers, using CAC payback period and the LTV:CAC ratio.
Product-led growth vs sales-led growth: the difference in numbers
The two motions usually differ on three inputs. A product-led motion tends to have a lower contract value and a lower cost to acquire each customer; a sales-led motion tends to have a higher contract value and a higher acquisition cost, because salaries, commissions and a longer sales cycle sit inside CAC. Churn can differ too. Rather than assume typical values, enter what your own funnel shows, or what you expect after a change of motion.
| Measure | Formula used | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Gross profit per customer | ACV × gross margin | Yearly profit one customer brings before sales and marketing |
| CAC payback (months) | CAC ÷ (gross profit per customer ÷ 12) | How long cash is tied up before a customer pays back acquisition cost |
| Lifetime value (LTV) | Gross profit per customer ÷ annual churn | Total gross profit expected over the customer's life |
| LTV:CAC | LTV ÷ CAC | Gross profit earned per dollar spent acquiring the customer |
Worked example with the default inputs
At an 80% gross margin, a product-led customer paying $2,400 a year brings $1,920 of gross profit, or $160 a month. With a $600 CAC, payback is 3.75 months. At 30% annual churn, lifetime value is $6,400 and LTV:CAC is 10.67:1. A sales-led customer paying $30,000 brings $24,000 a year ($2,000 a month); with a $25,000 CAC payback is 12.5 months, lifetime value at 10% churn is $240,000 and LTV:CAC is 9.6:1. In this example the product-led motion wins on both measures; change one input and the answer can flip.
How to read the result
Payback speaks to cash: a shorter payback means less money tied up in growth. LTV:CAC speaks to return over the customer's whole life. CAC should be the fully loaded cost per new paying customer — for a product-led funnel that includes the cost of serving free users who never convert; for a sales-led funnel it includes sales salaries and commission. Many companies run both motions for different customer sizes, so you can also use the two columns for two segments.
Limits of this comparison
The lifetime value formula assumes flat churn and no expansion revenue, and the tool does not model sales-cycle length or discount rates. It is a planning aid, not a forecast.
Method: standard SaaS unit-economics formulas applied to your inputs; see also our CAC payback period calculator and LTV:CAC ratio calculator. Last updated: October 2026.