Growth target planner
a target like "one million users by december" is not a plan until you know what it means per day. this works backwards from the goal and, importantly, adds back the users churn will quietly remove while you are growing.
this calculator needs javascript. the explanation below works without it.
Why the number is bigger than you expected
most founders divide the gap by the number of months and stop there. that ignores churn, which is working against you the entire time. the more users you have, the more you lose each month, so the replacement cost grows as you grow.
this uses your average user base over the period to estimate that loss, which is an approximation rather than a simulation, but it is close enough to plan a budget against and far closer than ignoring churn entirely.
Turning it into a budget
take the monthly figure, multiply by your target CAC, and you have the ad budget the goal actually requires. this is where a lot of targets quietly die, because the honest number is three times what was in the plan.
if the budget is impossible, you have three levers and only three: pay less per user, keep users longer, or move the date. picking one deliberately beats missing the target and working out why afterwards.
Numbers tell you what. They do not tell you what to do.
bring your real numbers to the breakdown call and leave with a plan for them. free, no pitch deck.
Common questions
Should I use total users or active users?
active, and pick one definition of active before you start. total downloads is a vanity number that makes the target look easier while making it harder to hit, because the people padding the figure are not using the product.
What if my churn is not stable yet?
use the worst month you have seen. planning against your best month is how budgets get set that cannot be met. if you have no data at all, model it at several rates and see how much the answer moves.
Other plan tools
CAC calculator
free CAC calculator. put in your ad spend and new users, get paid CAC and blended CAC. no signup, no email.
PlanLTV calculator
free lifetime value calculator. put in price, margin and churn, get LTV and how long an average user stays. no signup.
PlanLTV:CAC and payback
free LTV:CAC calculator with payback period. find out if your unit economics work and how many months to earn a user back.
PlanBreak-even CAC
work out the most you can afford to pay for a user before you lose money, and the target CAC that leaves healthy margin.
Bring one real growth problem. Leave with the fix.
the breakdown call is free. no pitch deck, no agency handoff.