Many new course creators and coaches I talk to never actually run the break-even numbers for their programs or launches. They set a price because it felt right, or because a competitor charges something similar, and hope enough sales show up to cover the bills.
I built this break even calculator so that you know if you’ll actually make money before pricing your offers.
Just enter your price, your per-sale costs like payment processing and platform fees, and your fixed costs like software and ads, and it tells you exactly how many sales or clients you need before you’re profitable.
Switch between the course creator and coach or consultant view, since the cost structure looks different depending on whether you’re selling a product or your time.
Pricing
Cost Per Sale
Fixed & Startup Costs
Your Break-Even Results
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Free Break-Even Calculator?
It’s a browser-based tool that tells you how many sales or clients you need before a course, product, or service becomes profitable. Enter your price, your per-sale costs, and your fixed costs, and it calculates your break-even point, break-even revenue, and profit margin automatically.
Who should use a break-even calculator?
Course creators pricing a new product and coaches or consultants setting fees for a service both need this before committing to a price. It fits anyone deciding whether a price actually covers their real costs, not just whether it feels competitive.
How does the calculator work out my break-even point?
It subtracts your variable cost per sale from your price to get profit per sale, then divides your total fixed costs by that profit figure. The result is the number of sales or clients needed to fully cover your fixed costs, rounded up to a whole number.
What’s the difference between the course creator and coach/consultant view?
Switching the toggle changes the labels and default cost categories to match how each business actually works. Course creator view is built around a per-product price and platform transaction fees. Coach or consultant view is built around a per-client fee and booking or scheduling platform fees.
What counts as a fixed cost versus a variable cost?
Fixed costs stay roughly the same no matter how many sales you make, like software subscriptions, ads, or contractor support, and you enter these as a running list. Variable costs scale with each sale, like payment processing or platform transaction fees, and you enter these as percentages or a flat amount per sale.
What happens if my price doesn’t cover my costs?
The calculator shows a clear warning instead of a break-even number, because a negative profit per sale means you’d lose more money with every additional sale. It tells you to raise your price, lower your variable costs, or both, before a break-even point is mathematically possible.
What is the time-to-break-even number, and do I need to fill it in?
Time to break even estimates how many months it will take to hit your break-even point, based on the number of sales or clients you expect per month. It’s optional. Leave the expected volume field blank and the calculator still shows your break-even units, revenue, and margin without it.
Can I add as many fixed costs as I need?
Yes. Use the Add Cost button to add as many fixed or startup cost rows as your business actually has, and remove any row you don’t need. The total updates automatically as you add, edit, or delete rows.
How is this different from the Course Revenue Planner?
The Course Revenue Planner projects total revenue from an expected number of sales at a given price. The Break-Even Calculator works backward from your costs to tell you the minimum number of sales needed before you’re profitable at all, which is the number to know before you start projecting revenue.
How is this different from the Course Pricing Calculator?
The Course Pricing Calculator helps you land on a price point based on market and value factors. The Break-Even Calculator takes a price you’re considering and tells you exactly how many sales that price requires to cover your costs, which is a useful gut check on a price you’ve already chosen.
Is the break-even calculator really free?
Yes. The tool is completely free with no signup, no trial period, and no limit on how many times you run the numbers. Everything runs in your browser, so there’s no account to create before you can calculate a break-even point.
Is my pricing or cost data stored anywhere?
No. Everything you enter, including prices, fees, and fixed costs, stays in your browser and is used only to calculate the results on screen. Nothing uploads to a server or saves after you close the page, so your numbers are never stored anywhere.
Are the results from this calculator financial advice?
No. The results are estimates based on the numbers you enter, meant to help with planning and pricing decisions. They are not financial, tax, or accounting advice, and actual results depend on factors like sales volume and real-world costs that can change over time.