Formula used
Break-even ROAS = average order value divided by contribution profit after COGS and fulfillment.
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E-commerce ad tool
Break Even ROAS Calculator
Find the exact ROAS your Facebook, Google, or TikTok ads need before each order turns profitable after product and fulfillment costs.
Break-even ROAS1.77x
Max CPA$48.00
Contribution margin56.5%
Inputs
Your order economics
Use per-order averages from the same reporting period.
Your numbers stay in this browser. Free calculator inputs are not stored on our servers.
Minimum break-even ROAS
1.77x
Your ads need to stay above 1.77x ROAS. That leaves up to $48.00 to acquire an order before profit hits zero.
StatusProfitable ad room
Profit at current ROAS$14.00
ROAS formula
AOV$85.00Variable costs$37.00Break-even ROAS1.77x
- Treat 1.77x as the hard floor in paid ad reporting.
- Watch blended ROAS, not only campaign ROAS, when discounts or fulfillment costs move.
Looking good
Your ROAS of 2.5x sits 0.7 points above the 1.77x break-even floor. Profitable ad room exists.
Turn this answer into a reviewable client proposal.
Copy the result for free, or create an Agency proposal with assumptions, policy checks, and client review attached.
Guide
How to use the break-even ROAS calculator
Use this before raising ad budgets, judging a campaign, or deciding whether a product has enough contribution profit to support paid traffic.
Last updated: June 2026 · Reviewed by the Clear Margins team · About our methodology
Example calculation
If AOV is $85 and variable costs are $37, the order has $48 of contribution profit. That means break-even ROAS is 1.77x; any campaign below that is spending more than the order can support.
What counts as cost
Include the direct costs, fees, timing constraints, and operating inputs that change the decision. Leave out vanity metrics that do not affect margin, runway, acquisition efficiency, inventory risk, or capacity.
If a number is uncertain, run the conservative version first. The result should become the floor you need to beat before you commit cash, inventory, payroll, discounts, or ad spend.
Healthy benchmark
Healthy brands usually want actual ROAS meaningfully above break-even. If your break-even ROAS is above 3x, the product may need better AOV, lower COGS, or stronger retention before scaling ads.
Common mistakes
- Judging campaign ROAS without shipping, pick-pack, payment, or return costs.
- Using platform-reported ROAS when attribution windows over-credit the channel.
- Scaling spend when blended ROAS is below the break-even floor.
What to check next
Treat the result as a decision threshold, then check the paired risk before acting. Pricing decisions usually need an acquisition check, promotions need a volume and margin check, inventory needs a runway check, and hiring needs a capacity check.
Rerun the math whenever a key input changes materially or the decision becomes large enough to affect cash.
What is a good ROAS target for Shopify?
A good Shopify ROAS target depends on contribution margin. First calculate the break-even ROAS floor after product cost, fulfillment, payment fees, and expected returns; then keep the target meaningfully above that floor before scaling spend.
Should I use platform ROAS or blended ROAS?
Use platform ROAS for campaign diagnosis, but use blended ROAS for approval decisions. Blended ROAS catches attribution overlap, discount pressure, and channel shifts that can make a campaign look better than the store economics actually are.
When should an agency turn a ROAS result into a client report?
Create a client report when the decision changes spend, price, discounting, or inventory. The report should preserve assumptions, show the ROAS floor, explain the margin and runway impact, and define the guardrail that triggers a rollback.
Use case
TikTok Ads Break-Even ROAS Calculator
Use this before approving TikTok spend, Spark Ads, creator whitelisting, or a short-form-video campaign tied to a discounted offer.