Break-Even Calculator
How much do you need to sell to cover your costs? Enter your fixed costs, price per unit and variable cost per unit, and this tool returns your break-even point in units and revenue, your contribution margin, and the volume needed to hit a target profit. It is pure arithmetic and nothing is stored.
Last updated August 30, 2026
How it works
Every unit you sell contributes its price minus its variable cost toward covering fixed costs. That difference is the contribution margin. Divide fixed costs by the contribution margin per unit and you get the number of units that exactly cover your costs, the break-even point. Below it you lose money, above it you make it. To reach a target profit, add the target to fixed costs before dividing.
A worked example
Suppose fixed costs are $10,000 a month, each unit sells for $50, and each unit costs $30 to make. The contribution margin is $20 per unit, or 40 percent. Break-even is $10,000 divided by $20, which is 500 units a month, or $25,000 in monthly revenue. To make $5,000 of profit a month you would need ($10,000 plus $5,000) divided by $20, which is 750 units. Over a year the break-even volume is 6,000 units.
What it does and does not tell you
Break-even is a floor, not a plan. It assumes your price and cost per unit hold steady, which they rarely do at scale, and it ignores timing and cash. Use it to sanity-check whether a price and cost structure can work at all, then look at cash runway and margins for the fuller picture.
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Frequently asked questions
What is contribution margin?
The price of a unit minus its variable cost. It is the amount each sale contributes toward fixed costs and, once those are covered, toward profit.
Should fixed costs be monthly or annual?
Enter them per month and the break-even figures are per month; the tool also shows the annual unit equivalent. Keep the price and variable cost on a per-unit basis.
Why must price exceed variable cost?
If each unit costs more to make than it sells for, more sales lose more money and there is no break-even point. The contribution margin has to be positive.
Is my data stored?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.