→ Free tool
Break-Even Calculator
Find the exact point where your revenue covers your costs. Enter your fixed costs, your price, and your variable cost per unit to see the units and the revenue you need to break even, plus your contribution margin. Change any input to test a price or a cost in real time.
→ Your break-even point
At $50.00 per unit and $20.00 of variable cost, every sale contributes $30.00 toward fixed costs. You cover your $10,000 of fixed costs once you sell about 333 units ($16,667 in revenue). Every unit after that is profit.
Calculations run entirely in your browser; nothing is sent or stored. Figures are estimates for planning, not financial advice.
How the break-even point is calculated
Your break-even point is where total revenue equals total costs, the moment a business stops losing money and the next sale becomes profit. It rests on one number, the contribution margin: the price of a unit minus the variable cost of that unit. That margin is what each sale contributes toward your fixed costs.
The formula the calculator uses is:
- Contribution margin = Price per unit − Variable cost per unit
- Break-even units = Fixed costs ÷ Contribution margin
- Break-even revenue = Break-even units × Price (or Fixed costs ÷ contribution-margin ratio)
A worked example
Say your fixed costs are $10,000 a month, you sell a product for $50, and each one costs you $20 in materials and fees. Your contribution margin is $50 − $20 = $30 per unit. Divide $10,000 by $30 and you break even at about 334 units, or roughly $16,700 in revenue. Sell more than that and each unit drops $30 to your bottom line; sell fewer and you are covering costs out of pocket. This is the same math behind a full break-even analysis, explained step by step.
Break-even is also the floor under your pricing and your unit economics. If the number of units looks unreachable for your market, the fix is upstream, a higher price, a lower variable cost, or leaner fixed costs, not a more optimistic forecast.
→ Beyond the calculator
Need the break-even built into a real financial model?
A single break-even point is a starting line. When you are raising money or applying for a loan, lenders and investors want it inside a full three-statement model, with assumptions they can pressure-test. We build that model, and tie your break-even, margins, and cash flow together so the numbers hold up in diligence.
Frequently asked questions
- Divide your fixed costs by the contribution margin per unit, which is the selling price minus the variable cost per unit. The result is the number of units you must sell to cover all costs. Multiply that by the price to get the break-even point in revenue.
- Break-even units = Fixed costs ÷ (Price per unit − Variable cost per unit). For revenue, use Break-even revenue = Fixed costs ÷ contribution margin ratio, where the contribution margin ratio is the contribution margin divided by the price.
- Contribution margin is the money left from each sale after variable costs, the part that contributes toward fixed costs and then profit. If you sell a unit for $50 and the variable cost is $20, the contribution margin is $30 per unit, or 60% as a ratio.
- Fixed costs stay the same regardless of how much you sell, rent, salaries, insurance, and software, for example. Variable costs rise with each unit sold, such as materials, packaging, shipping, and payment processing fees. Splitting them correctly is what makes a break-even calculation accurate.
- Raise your price, reduce the variable cost per unit, or cut fixed costs, anything that widens the contribution margin or shrinks the fixed base lowers the units you need to break even. The calculator lets you test each lever instantly by changing one input at a time.
- Yes. It runs entirely in your browser, nothing is sent or stored, and there is no sign-up. If you need the break-even built into a full, investor- or lender-ready financial model, that is what our financial modeling service does.