Break-even ROAS calculator
Break-even ROAS is the sales you need from every ₹1 of ad spend before your ads stop losing money. It's 1 ÷ your profit margin before ads. Enter your order value and costs to get your break-even ROAS, the most you can pay per purchase, and the ROAS you need for the profit you want.
Calculate your break-even ROAS
Your numbers, per order
What the items in an average order cost you to make or buy.
Per order, including returns you absorb.
Payment gateway, COD charges, platform commission.
As a share of each sale.
Your answer
- Profit per order before ads₹1,090
- Break-even ROAS₹1.83
- ROAS for 15% profit₹2.53
Where one ₹2,000 order goes
- Product ₹700
- Shipping ₹150
- Fees ₹60
- Left for ads and profit ₹1,090
Every ₹1 you spend on ads has to bring back ₹1.83 in sales just to break even. You can pay up to ₹1,090 in ads per purchase before an order loses money.
| Who runs your ads | Break-even ROAS |
|---|---|
| You, with no agency fee | ₹1.83 |
| Agency on 13.5% of ad spend (typical) | ₹2.08 |
| pSkyro Labs (5% of profit) | ₹1.83 |
Our fee is 5% of the profit the ads make, so it is ₹0 at break-even and never raises it. Typical % of ad spend fee: midpoint of the 7–20% range in social101.in and metamktgagency.com pricing guides, 2025–2026.
Want us to check your real numbers?
Send them over. We'll look at your store and ad account and tell you honestly what ROAS is realistic and how to get there.
How does the break-even ROAS calculator work?
The calculator takes your average order value and what each order costs you: product, shipping and packing, and payment fees. It subtracts those from the order value to get your profit per order before ads, turns that into a margin, then divides 1 by the margin. The result is the lowest ROAS at which your ads don't lose money.
It also shows the most you can pay to win one purchase, which equals your profit per order before ads, and the ROAS you need to keep a profit you choose, such as 15% of every sale.
Treat the answer as the floor when you read ROAS in Meta Ads Manager. For what counts as a good result above that floor, read what a good ROAS looks like in India, or start with what ROAS means.
The break-even ROAS formula
- Profit per order before ads = order value − product cost − shipping and packing − payment fees₹1,090
- Margin before ads = profit per order before ads ÷ order value54.5%
- Break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ margin before ads1.83
- ROAS for a target profit = 1 ÷ (margin before ads − target profit %)2.53
Worked example
An order of ₹2,000 with ₹700 of product, ₹150 of shipping and packing and 3% payment fees (₹60) leaves ₹1,090, a 54.5% margin. Break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.545 = 1.83: every ₹1 of ads must bring back ₹1.83 in sales. To keep 15% of each sale as profit after ads, you need 1 ÷ (0.545 − 0.15) = 2.53.
Break-even ROAS questions.
What is break-even ROAS?
Break-even ROAS is the return on ad spend at which your ads stop losing money: the sales you need from every ₹1 of ads to cover the ad cost plus the cost of the products sold. Below it, every order from ads loses money; above it, ads are profitable.
How do you calculate break-even ROAS?
Work out your profit per order before ads (order value minus product cost, shipping and packing, and payment or marketplace fees), divide it by the order value to get your margin, then take 1 ÷ margin. A ₹2,000 order with ₹1,090 left after costs has a 54.5% margin, so its break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.545 = 1.83.
What is a good ROAS for Meta ads?
Any ROAS comfortably above your break-even is good, so it depends on your margins: a brand with a 25% margin needs 4× just to break even, while one with a 60% margin breaks even at about 1.7×. For reference, Novo Shoes averaged a 6.93× purchase ROAS in April 2026 and Diya Diya an 8× blended return over eight months with us.
What is the maximum I can pay per purchase?
Your profit per order before ads. If an order leaves ₹1,090 after product, shipping and fees, you can spend up to ₹1,090 in ads to win it and still break even. Spend less than that to make a profit.
Does an agency fee change my break-even ROAS?
A fee charged on ad spend does: at 13.5% of spend, a 54.5% margin brand needs 2.08× instead of 1.83×. A fixed retainer adds a monthly cost on top. A fee taken only from profit, like ours (5% of the profit the ads make), is ₹0 at break-even, so it doesn't move it.
Should I use ROAS from Meta Ads Manager?
Use it for comparing campaigns, but check your blended ROAS too: total sales divided by total ad spend across all channels, from your store's own numbers. Ads Manager counts sales within its attribution window, which can differ from what your store records.
Above break-even, then scaling.
We run Meta and Google ads for D2C brands and charge 5% of the profit our ads make. No profit, no fee.