ROAS, in plain English.
Enter your ad revenue and spend. Get your return on ad spend, a plain-English read on whether it's working, and the break-even number most teams skip.
02 / The calculator
Two modes. One answer each.
Calculate ROAS from revenue and spend, or work backward from gross margin to find the line every campaign has to clear.
Result
Enter ad revenue and spend to see your ROAS as a multiple, ratio, and percentage.
03 / What ROAS actually tells you
Fastest read on a paid channel. Has one blind spot.
It measures revenue, not profit. Two teams can run a 3.0 ROAS and one is making money while the other is losing it. The fix is comparing against your break-even line.
The formula.
ROAS = revenue attributed to ads ÷ ad spend. Usually written three ways: a multiple (4.0x), a ratio (4:1), or a percentage (400%). All three say the same thing.
A worked example.
Spend $5,000 on a campaign. It drives $20,000 in attributed revenue. ROAS = 20,000 ÷ 5,000 = 4.0. For every dollar of spend, the campaign returned four.
Why margin matters.
Break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ your gross margin. At 80% margin you break even at 1.25x. At 25% margin you need 4.0x just to stop bleeding. Compare every campaign against your line, not a textbook ratio.
How to move it.
Raise revenue per visit, or lower cost per result. Both have a ceiling because paid channels charge per click. The structural move is adding a channel that compounds — organic — so your blended return rises and your blended CAC falls.
Rough read for B2B SaaS
Under 1.0x
Underwater before overhead.
1.0 – 3.0x
Working, sitting near break-even with margin in.
3.0 – 5.0x
Healthy for most.
Above 5.0x
Strong. Often a signal to spend more.
04 / Related calculators
The metrics that sit next to ROAS.
The rest of the paid-media set. Free, no email gate.
05 / FAQ
ROAS, answered.
The questions B2B SaaS marketers ask most about return on ad spend.
- How do you calculate ROAS?
- Divide the revenue attributed to your ads by what you spent on them. 20,000 dollars in revenue on 5,000 dollars of spend is a 4.0 ROAS, or 4:1.
- Is a 2.5 ROAS good?
- It depends on your gross margin. At a high SaaS margin, 2.5x is comfortably profitable. At a thin margin it can still be a loss. Find your break-even ROAS, which is 1 divided by your gross margin, and compare against it.
- Is an 800% ROAS good?
- An 800% ROAS is 8.0x, which is strong by almost any margin. A number that high often means the channel is under-funded, so it is usually worth testing more spend before the return falls off.
- What does 4:1 ROAS mean?
- Four dollars of revenue for every one dollar of ad spend. It is the same as a 4.0 ROAS or 400%.
- What is the difference between ROAS and ROI?
- ROAS measures revenue against ad spend only. ROI measures profit against total cost, including margin and overhead. ROAS tells you whether a channel is working. ROI tells you whether the business is.
06 / Paid has a ceiling
Organic compounds.
Book a 30-minute call. We'll benchmark your current channels, show you where organic search can lower your blended acquisition cost, and tell you honestly whether we're a fit.
Or read how we build organic pipeline for B2B SaaS.