Break-Even Calculator
Enter your fixed costs, variable cost per unit and selling price to see how many units you need to sell before you start making a profit.
Break-even point
278 units
8,333.33 in revenue
Contribution margin / unit
18.00
Margin ratio
60.00%
Profit at different sales volumes
| Volume | Units | Revenue | Profit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50% | 139 | 4,170.00 | -2,498.00 |
| 100% (break-even) | 278 | 8,340.00 | 4.00 |
| 150% | 417 | 12,510.00 | 2,506.00 |
| 200% | 556 | 16,680.00 | 5,008.00 |
Estimates assume constant price and unit cost at every volume — actual results may vary. Calculated on your device; nothing is sent anywhere.
How it works
- Enter your total fixed costs for the period — rent, salaries, insurance and anything else you pay regardless of sales.
- Enter the variable cost per unit (materials, packaging, transaction fees) and the price you charge per unit.
- Read the break-even point in units and revenue, the contribution margin, and the profit table at 50% to 200% of break-even volume.
Frequently asked questions
- How is the break-even point calculated?
- Break-even units equal fixed costs divided by the contribution margin per unit, where contribution margin is the selling price minus the variable cost per unit. Each sale contributes that margin toward covering fixed costs; once enough units are sold to cover them fully, every additional unit is pure profit. Break-even revenue is simply break-even units multiplied by the selling price.
- What counts as a fixed cost versus a variable cost?
- Fixed costs stay the same regardless of how much you sell: rent, salaries, insurance, software subscriptions, loan payments. Variable costs scale with each unit sold: raw materials, packaging, shipping, payment processing fees, sales commissions. Some costs are mixed — a utility bill with a base charge plus usage, for example — and should be split between the two categories for an accurate result.
- What is contribution margin and why does it matter?
- Contribution margin is what remains from each sale after variable costs, expressed per unit or as a percentage of the price. It matters because it is the money actually available to pay fixed costs and generate profit. A product with a 60% margin covers fixed costs with far fewer sales than one at 20%, which is why raising prices or cutting unit costs lowers the break-even point so effectively.
- Is my financial data uploaded anywhere?
- No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript, and nothing you type is sent to a server. You can safely enter real figures from your business plan or accounts without any of it leaving your device, and the tool keeps working even if you go offline after the page loads.
- What are the limits of break-even analysis?
- The model assumes the price and the variable cost per unit stay constant at every volume, which is rarely exact in practice — bulk discounts, overtime pay or capacity limits can bend the lines. It also ignores the time it takes to reach break-even volume and any financing costs along the way. Treat the result as a planning benchmark, not a guarantee, and rerun it whenever your costs or pricing change.
About this tool
This break-even calculator tells you how many units you must sell before revenue covers all of your costs. Enter three numbers — total fixed costs for the period, the variable cost of producing one unit, and the price you sell it for — and it instantly reports the break-even point in units and in revenue, along with the contribution margin per unit and as a percentage of price. A small table then shows your projected profit or loss at 50%, 100%, 150% and 200% of break-even volume, so you can see how quickly the picture changes on either side of the threshold.
The math is the standard cost-volume-profit model: each unit sold contributes its price minus its variable cost toward fixed costs, and the break-even point is where those contributions exactly cover them. Everything is computed locally in your browser as you type — no upload, no account, no data sent anywhere — which means you can work with real figures from your accounts or business plan in complete privacy.
Typical uses include pricing a new product, sanity-checking a business plan before pitching it, comparing a low-price high-volume strategy against a premium one, or deciding whether a fixed-cost commitment like a lease or a new hire is affordable at realistic sales levels. Freelancers and agencies use it too, treating billable hours as units and their day rate as the price.
Two practical tips: run the numbers for the same period as your fixed costs — monthly fixed costs give a monthly break-even volume — and test a pessimistic scenario by nudging the price down or the unit cost up a few percent. If break-even volume jumps sharply, your margin is thin and the plan is fragile; a robust plan keeps break-even comfortably below the sales volume you can realistically expect.