Subscription LTV calculator
Estimate the value of a paying customer after fees and service costs. Use it to set an acquisition budget.
Example numbers. Inputs stay in this tab and carry between these calculators.
Your inputs
Contribution LTV
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- Contribution per trial
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- Revenue per acquired payer
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- Monthly contribution
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- Expected paid months
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How the estimate works
Monthly contribution is revenue after store and payment fees, minus the service cost per paying customer. Expected paid months use a constant monthly churn rate. The first paid month counts in full.
Contribution LTV is monthly contribution multiplied by expected paid months, limited to your forecast period. This is a scenario, not realized LTV. It excludes expansion, reactivation, refunds, taxes, fixed overhead, and the time value of money.
Use net revenue after recurring discounts. Do not subtract the same cost in both fees and service cost. For annual plans, monthly revenue is a normalized estimate, not the timing of cash receipts.
For comparison, the common unlimited-horizon model divides monthly contribution by churn. See ChartMogul's LTV definition. This tool uses a finite horizon so zero churn does not imply unlimited value.
Example: contribution LTV over 24 months
A customer pays $10 per month. Store fees are 15%, service costs are $1 per month, and monthly churn is 5%.
Monthly contribution is $10 × 0.85 − $1 = $7.50. Expected paid months are (1 − 0.9524) ÷ 0.05 = 14.16. Contribution LTV is approximately $106.20.
This finite-period estimate differs from revenue LTV and from an unlimited-lifetime model. Change the assumptions above to see their effect.
Put the result to work
Read the LTV guide for definitions and examples. Explore DataDad app revenue to connect this work to your reports.