Skip to main content
ToolNestora

Break-even Calculator

The break-even point is the number of units you must sell before you stop losing money. Enter your fixed costs, the selling price and the variable cost per unit. Add a profit target to see how many units it takes to earn it.

Break-even calculator

Costs you pay whether or not you sell: rent, software, a tooling or setup cost.

Materials, shipping, fees and anything else that grows with each sale.

Fill in to find the units needed to earn this much after covering fixed costs.

Enter your fixed costs, price and cost per unit to see the break-even point.

How to use it

  1. Enter fixed costs

    Type the costs you pay regardless of sales, such as rent, software, tooling or an upfront inventory order.

  2. Enter price and unit cost

    Type the selling price per unit and the variable cost per unit, including materials, shipping and fees that scale with each sale.

  3. Read the result

    See the units to break even and the sales they represent. Add a profit target to get the units needed to reach it.

Example: 3,000 of fixed costs

Price 25, variable cost 10 and fixed costs 3,000. Each unit contributes 15, so you need 3,000 ÷ 15 = 200 units, or 5,000 in sales. To earn 1,500 profit as well, you need 4,500 ÷ 15 = 300 units.

Limits and limitations

  • It assumes a constant price and a constant cost per unit. Discounts, bulk pricing and rising ad costs change the real figure.
  • Units are rounded up, because part of a unit cannot be sold. The profit shown is for the rounded number.
  • If the price does not exceed the cost per unit, no number of sales breaks even, and the tool says so.
  • The result is an estimate for planning, not accounting, tax or legal advice. Sales tax, VAT, income tax, currency conversion and returns are not included unless you enter them as a cost.

Frequently asked questions

What is the break-even formula?

Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ (price − variable cost per unit). The difference in the brackets is the contribution per unit.

What counts as a variable cost?

Anything that rises with each sale: materials, packaging, postage, payment and marketplace fees. Fees that are a percentage of price can be converted to an amount at your usual price.

Why was my number rounded up?

You can only sell whole units, and selling one fewer would leave you short of break-even.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Your numbers is worked out by JavaScript running in your browser and is not sent to a server. The page itself still loads from a web server like any website. This site can load advertising or analytics scripts, but only after you accept them in the cookie notice. They are separate from the tools, which never pass the files or text you work with to them.

More tools