Break-Even Calculator
Finding the exact point where a product or service turns profitable
Break-even analysis answers one specific question: how many units do you need to sell before you've covered your costs and every additional sale becomes profit? The formula is standard: break-even units = fixed costs ÷ (price per unit − variable cost per unit). Fixed costs are what you pay regardless of volume (rent, a subscription, a flat monthly fee); variable cost is what each additional unit costs to produce or deliver (materials, packaging, a per-transaction fee); the difference between price and variable cost is your contribution margin — how much of each sale actually goes toward covering the fixed costs.
This is foundational small-business math, used by everyone from Etsy sellers pricing a product to food truck operators planning a menu to freelancers setting a day rate. The number itself is simple arithmetic, but getting the inputs right — correctly separating fixed from variable costs — is where most people slow down doing it by hand.
BreakPoint Number was built to remove that friction: enter fixed costs, variable cost per unit, and selling price, and the break-even point in units, revenue, and gross margin appears instantly, with a timeline view for tracking actual sales against that number.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the formula for break-even point?
Break-even units = fixed costs ÷ (price per unit − variable cost per unit). The denominator is called the contribution margin — the amount each unit sold contributes toward covering fixed costs after its own variable cost is subtracted. Multiply break-even units by price to get break-even revenue.
What counts as a fixed cost versus a variable cost?
Fixed costs stay the same regardless of how many units you sell — rent, a flat software subscription, insurance. Variable costs scale directly with each unit sold or produced — raw materials, packaging, a per-transaction payment processing fee. Some costs are genuinely mixed (a utility bill with a base fee plus usage), and how you categorize those affects the accuracy of the break-even number.
Why does break-even analysis matter before launching a product?
It converts an abstract pricing decision into a concrete, checkable target — a specific number of units or amount of revenue — that you can compare against realistic demand for your market before committing time or money, rather than discovering after the fact that the pricing and cost structure don't add up.