Revenue per lead (RPL) is the single most decision-useful number in paid acquisition: it tells you exactly what cost per lead (CPL) is profitable, channel by channel. The math is simple but most teams use blended numbers that obscure which channels actually work. This calculator computes both blended and qualified-cohort RPL, then derives your maximum affordable CPL at target gross margin and ranks each channel as profitable, marginal, or unviable.
RPL = (leads × win rate × deal size × gross margin) ÷ leads. Simplified: win rate × deal size × gross margin. If you close 10% of leads at $5K average deal value with 70% gross margin, your RPL is $350. Your max profitable CPL is some fraction of that depending on how much profit you want to keep — most teams target 30-50% of RPL as their CPL ceiling, leaving 50-70% for fixed costs and profit. Above that ceiling, the channel loses money.
Once you know your max CPL, evaluate each acquisition channel: paid search, paid social, content/SEO (amortized), partnerships, outbound, affiliates. The calculator color-codes each channel based on whether its actual CPL is below your ceiling (green/profitable), within 50% (yellow/marginal), or above (red/unviable). This is the fastest way to identify which channels to scale, optimize, or kill.
Blended RPL uses all leads as the denominator. Qualified RPL uses only leads that survive your qualification filters (typical: 30-40% of inbound leads). Qualified RPL is 2-3× higher than blended and is the right number for evaluating outbound or paid channels where lead quality is high. Blended is right for channels where everyone gets in (free trial, freemium).
Most healthy SaaS targets CPL at 25-40% of RPL — leaving 60-75% for sales cost, support, and profit. E-commerce can run higher (40-60% if AOV repeats). Below 25% you're probably under-investing; above 50% margins get tight. The calculator surfaces this ratio with verdict chips.
Only if free trials convert to paying customers at a meaningful rate (>15%). For most PLG SaaS, "qualified lead" should include trial-to-paid conversion in the win-rate input. Otherwise blended RPL massively under-counts because trials dilute the denominator with non-paying volume.
For RPL purposes, attribution method doesn't matter — you're measuring revenue ÷ leads, regardless of which channel "claimed" each lead. For CPL by channel, use last-touch or position-based attribution and accept the directional accuracy. Most teams over-engineer this; pick one method and apply consistently.
Usually because paid search captures higher-intent buyers (already searching for solution) while outbound creates demand. Outbound RPL usually looks lower at lead level but higher at customer level due to longer cycles and bigger deals. Use both blended and qualified RPL to compare apples-to-apples across channel types.
Sources: HubSpot State of Marketing 2024 · OpenView 2023 SaaS Benchmarks · KeyBanc 2024 SaaS Survey