To calculate ROAS, divide revenue by ad spend: $4,200 earned on $1,200 spent is 3.5x. ROI is ROAS minus one, here 250%. Break-even ROAS is 1 divided by your gross margin. At a 42% margin it is 2.38x, so 3.5x kept $564; at 25% it is 4x, and the same campaign lost $150.
You get three numbers: ROAS as a multiple, ROI as a percentage and, once you add your gross margin, the break-even ROAS that says whether the campaign made money.
[ What you get ]
ROAS, ROI and the break-even multiple your margin sets
ROAS is revenue over what you paid the platform. It ignores the cost of the goods, shipping and fees, which is why two accounts can post the same 3.5x and only one makes money.
What comes out:
- ROAS, as a multiple. Revenue divided by ad spend: 3.5x means $3.50 came back for every dollar spent.
- ROI, as a percentage. Revenue minus ad spend, over ad spend. It is always ROAS minus one, so 3.5x is a 250% ROI, not 350%.
- Break-even ROAS. One divided by your gross margin. Below it, the campaign loses money however good the multiple looks.
A multiple alone is not a verdict: hold it against your margin.
[ How to use it ]
ROAS calculator: three steps
Enter your revenue
Type the revenue from one window: a week, a month or a whole flight. Commas and a $ sign are fine: 4,200 and $4,200.00 read the same.
Add the ad spend
Use spend from the same window and the same campaigns. The answer appears as you type.
Add your gross margin
Type 42 and the cards show the multiple to beat and what the campaign kept or lost after ads. Leave it blank and they say they cannot judge yet.
Keep both numbers on the same window, or the ratio means nothing.
[ ROAS vs ROI ]
ROAS, ROI and MER: three ratios people use as one word
ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend. Spend $1,200, earn $4,200, and ROAS is 3.5x: $3.50 back per dollar. It is a ratio, so the currency cancels out.
ROI, as reports quote it, is revenue minus ad spend over ad spend, in percent. That makes it ROAS minus one: 3.5x is a 250% ROI.
MER, or blended ROAS, divides all revenue by all marketing spend. It is an account-wide number; campaign ROAS is what a media buyer optimizes.
The three, side by side
| Metric | Formula | On the worked example |
|---|---|---|
| ROAS | Revenue ÷ ad spend | 4,200 ÷ 1,200 = 3.5x |
| ROI as reports usually quote it | (Revenue − ad spend) ÷ ad spend | 3,000 ÷ 1,200 = 250% |
| ROI on gross profit | (Revenue × margin − ad spend) ÷ ad spend | At a 42% margin: 564 ÷ 1,200 = 47% |
| MER (blended) | All revenue ÷ all marketing spend | Account-wide; not what this page computes |
[ Worked example ]
The same 3.5x that made money and lost money
A campaign spends $1,200 and brings in $4,200: ROAS is 3.5x and ROI is 250%.
At a 42% gross margin, the $4,200 carries $1,764 of gross profit. Take out the $1,200 of ad spend and the campaign kept $564. Break-even was 1 ÷ 0.42 = 2.38x.
At a 25% margin, the same revenue carries $1,050. Against $1,200 of ad spend that is a $150 loss, and break-even was 4x.
Same revenue, same spend, same multiple, opposite results: the margin decided it.
$4,200 revenue on $1,200 ad spend
| Gross margin | Break-even ROAS | Gross profit after ad spend | At 3.5x |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42% | 2.38x | $564 | Cleared break-even |
| 25% | 4x | −$150 | Below break-even |
[ Good ROAS ]
What counts as a good ROAS: the break-even your margin sets
A good ROAS is one comfortably above your break-even, and you break even at 1 ÷ gross margin. At a 30% margin that is 3.33x; at 80%, 1.25x already pays for the ads.
So ignore benchmarks from other businesses. On a 60% margin you break even at 1.67x, and 3x is solid profit, whatever a rival quotes.
Break-even is the floor, not the target. It covers the cost of each sale but not your fixed costs, so aim far enough above it to pay for them.
Break-even ROAS by gross margin
| Gross margin | You break even at |
|---|---|
| 20% | 5x |
| 25% | 4x |
| 30% | 3.33x |
| 40% | 2.5x |
| 50% | 2x |
| 60% | 1.67x |
| 80% | 1.25x |
[ Limits ]
Free version limits
The calculator runs in your browser; there is no limit and no account. We don’t store your numbers, so real account figures are safe to enter.
[ Why marketers use it ]
Know the multiple you have to beat — before you scale the budget
Marketers use it to see the bar before they scale. Ads Manager shows purchase ROAS, but the margin it has to clear lives in your own books.
An ecommerce buyer checks the gap before raising a budget. A campaign just above break-even has no room to get less efficient as it grows; one at twice its break-even does.
An agency uses it to agree a target before launch. "Aim for 4x" means nothing without the margin; "your break-even is 3.33x, and we aim above it" survives a bad week.
No ratio tells you why one campaign runs at 2x and another at 5x. The answer sits in the creative and the offer.
[ Go further with Spytrend ]
Long-running ads next to the multiple you have to beat
This page sets the bar. Spytrend shows the ads advertisers kept paying for.
Spytrend is an ad intelligence platform for Facebook and TikTok advertising: a full five-year archive of ads, AI-classified into 33 business categories, with every advertiser assembled into a single card — all ads, pages, domains and countries in one place.
Two jobs a ratio cannot do
- Closing the gap to break-even. At 3.5x against a 4x break-even, the missing half-multiple is rarely in the bid. It is in the hook and the offer, and ads that ran for months show which angles held up.
- Setting a target a client can defend. Before you promise a multiple, see which offers the market keeps funding and how long their ads stay on. A target set against that is a forecast, not a hope.
From your break-even to the long-runners, in three steps
- Take the gap. Subtract your current multiple from the break-even this page gave you.
- Find the long-runners. Search a competitor’s brand or domain and keep the ads that have run for 90 days or more.
- Read the offer, not the bid. Compare their hooks, offers and landing pages with yours, and adapt the angle that fits your margin.
How to start
Create a free account and search a brand or a domain you compete with. A free account opens the ad library; paid plans add fresh ads and every filter.