Free Business Tool
Break-Even Calculator
Find out exactly how many units you need to sell — and how much revenue you need — before your product or service becomes profitable.
Break-even units & revenue
Contribution margin breakdown
No sign-up required
Live Business Calculator
Break-Even Calculator
Formula
Break-Even Units = Fixed Costs ÷ (Price − Variable Cost)
Use this to find how many units you need to sell before a product or service becomes profitable.
Live Results
Break-Even Units
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Break-Even Revenue
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Contribution Margin
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Margin Ratio
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Business Snapshot
Enter fixed costs, price per unit, and variable cost per unit to calculate your break-even point.
How to Use This Tool
Enter Fixed Costs
Add your total fixed costs for the period — rent, salaries, subscriptions, insurance.
Enter Price & Variable Cost
Add what you charge per unit and what each unit costs you to produce or deliver.
Read Your Break-Even Point
See break-even units, break-even revenue, and contribution margin update instantly.
Formula Breakdown
Contribution Margin
Contribution Margin = Price − Variable Cost
Example: $40 − $15 = $25
Break-Even Units
Units = Fixed Costs ÷ Contribution Margin
Example: $5,000 ÷ $25 = 200 units
Break-Even Revenue
Revenue = Break-Even Units × Price
Example: 200 × $40 = $8,000
Common Use Cases
Launching a New Product
Validate whether a product idea can realistically become profitable before investing further.
Pricing Decisions
See how raising or lowering your price shifts the number of units you need to sell.
Cost Control Planning
Understand how reducing variable costs or fixed overhead changes your path to profit.
Investor & Lender Conversations
Quickly back up sales projections with a clear, defensible break-even calculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a break-even point?
The break-even point is the number of units you need to sell (or revenue you need to generate) for total revenue to exactly equal total costs — the point where you stop losing money and start making a profit.
What is the break-even formula?
Break-Even Units = Fixed Costs ÷ (Price Per Unit − Variable Cost Per Unit). The denominator is called the contribution margin — how much each unit sold contributes toward covering fixed costs.
What counts as a fixed cost vs a variable cost?
Fixed costs stay the same regardless of how much you sell — rent, salaries, software subscriptions. Variable costs scale with each unit sold — materials, packaging, per-unit shipping, or payment processing fees.
What if my price is lower than my variable cost?
You'll lose money on every unit sold and can never break even, no matter how many units you sell — the calculator will flag this. You need to raise your price, lower your variable cost, or both.
Is this useful before launching a new product?
Yes — it's one of the most common calculations for validating a business idea before launch, since it tells you exactly how much volume you need to become profitable.
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