Break-Even Point Calculator
Find how many units you must sell to cover costs, from fixed costs, price per unit, and variable cost per unit. See break-even units and revenue instantly.
What is the break-even point?
The break-even point is the level of sales at which total revenue exactly equals total costs — you make neither a profit nor a loss. Below it, you're losing money on the business; above it, every additional sale contributes to profit. Knowing this number tells you the minimum you must sell for a product, price, or venture to be viable, which is why it's one of the first calculations in any business plan or pricing decision.
This calculator finds break-even in both units (how many you must sell) and revenue (the dollar sales those units represent), along with the contribution margin that drives the whole result.
The formula
Break-even in units is fixed costs divided by the contribution margin per unit:
Break-even units = Fixed Costs ÷ (Price per Unit − Variable Cost per Unit)
- Fixed Costs — expenses that stay the same regardless of how much you sell (rent, salaries, software, insurance).
- Price per Unit — what a customer pays for one unit.
- Variable Cost per Unit — the cost that grows with each unit sold (materials, packaging, per-unit shipping, payment processing).
- Contribution Margin — price minus variable cost. This is how much each unit "contributes" toward covering fixed costs and, once those are covered, toward profit.
Break-even revenue is simply the break-even units multiplied by the price per unit. If the contribution margin is zero or negative — that is, price is less than or equal to variable cost — there is no break-even point, because no amount of volume can cover the fixed costs. The calculator guards against this and tells you rather than showing a meaningless number.
How to use this calculator
Enter your total fixed costs, the price you charge per unit, and the variable cost of producing or delivering one unit. The calculator instantly shows how many units you must sell to break even, the revenue that represents, and your contribution margin per unit. Everything is computed in your browser — none of your figures are sent anywhere.
Try adjusting the price: a higher price raises the contribution margin and lowers the number of units you need to sell, while a higher variable cost does the opposite. This is a quick way to test pricing scenarios before committing.
Worked example
Suppose you run a small print shop with $10,000 in monthly fixed costs (rent, equipment lease, and a part-time employee). You sell custom posters for $25 each, and each poster costs $15 in paper, ink, and packaging.
- Contribution margin = $25 − $15 = $10 per poster
- Break-even units = $10,000 ÷ $10 = 1,000 posters
- Break-even revenue = 1,000 × $25 = $25,000
So you must sell 1,000 posters — generating $25,000 in revenue — each month just to cover costs. Poster number 1,001 is where profit begins, adding $10 for each one after that. If you could raise the price to $30 while keeping costs the same, the margin jumps to $15 and break-even drops to about 667 posters, showing how sensitive the result is to price.