Definition
Break-even means total contribution covers fixed costs (profit is zero). In SaaS, it depends heavily on gross margin and acquisition spend.
How to use it
- Use break-even revenue to understand minimum sustainable scale.
- Pair with payback period to ensure growth is cash-feasible.
Why this matters
This term matters because small changes compound in SaaS metrics. Use consistent definitions by cohort and segment so you can diagnose retention, payback, and growth quality.
Practical checklist
- Write a 1-line definition for "Break-even (SaaS context)" that your team will use consistently.
- Keep the time window consistent (weekly/monthly/quarterly) when comparing trends.
- Segment results (channel/plan/cohort) before drawing big conclusions from blended averages.
- Sanity-check with a related calculator from the same category on MetricKit.
- Document common pitfalls so the metric doesn't get gamed.
Where to use this on MetricKit
Calculators
- Quota Attainment Calculator: Calculate quota attainment and pacing from booked revenue to date, quota, and days elapsed in the period.
- Sales Quota Calculator (Team to Rep): Sales quota calculator to estimate quota per rep from a team target using expected attainment, ramp mix, and optional pipeline coverage checks.
- Pipeline Coverage Calculator: Compute pipeline coverage ratio and expected bookings from pipeline and win rate.
- Required Pipeline Calculator: Estimate how much pipeline (and how many opportunities) you need to hit a revenue target given win rate and average deal size.
- Sales Capacity Calculator (with Ramp): Estimate period bookings capacity from team size, quota per rep, expected attainment, and ramped vs ramping mix.
Guides
- PLG metrics hub: activation, trial conversion, stickiness, and adoption: A practical hub for product-led growth metrics: activation rate, trial-to-paid, DAU/MAU and WAU/MAU stickiness, feature adoption, and PQL-to-paid conversion.
- Retention & churn hub: cohorts, GRR/NRR, and retention curves: A practical hub for retention measurement: churn rate, GRR/NRR, cohort retention curves, and how to set retention targets without getting misled by noise.
- Unit economics hub: CAC, LTV, payback, and runway (a practical stack): A practical hub for unit economics: CAC, fully-loaded CAC, LTV, payback, margin impacts, burn multiple, and runway planning.
- Cohort analysis playbook: retention curves, LTV forecasting, and payback: A practical cohort analysis workflow: build retention curves, forecast LTV, and translate retention quality into payback and growth decisions.
- Pipeline coverage and sales cycle math: set realistic targets (and avoid sandbagging): A practical guide to pipeline coverage: connect quota, win rate, sales cycle length, and CAC/payback constraints to set realistic growth targets.