CLTV Calculator — Customer Lifetime Value

Written by Great Medico

Updated September 25, 2026 •3 min read

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If you are comparing alternatives, the fastest way to stay grounded is to make the assumptions explicit. CLTV Calculator — Customer Lifetime Value estimates gross-margin customer lifetime value from average order value, purchase frequency, gross margin, and customer lifespan and lets you change those inputs one at a time.

What this calculator does

CLTV Calculator — Customer Lifetime Value estimates gross-margin customer lifetime value from average order value, purchase frequency, gross margin, and customer lifespan. The visible form contains Average order value, Purchases per customer per year, Gross margin, Average customer lifespan. These are the inputs that define this calculator’s scope. If a value, rule, or adjustment is not represented by a working field, it should not be assumed to be included in the result.

How to use it

Enter Average order value, Purchases per customer per year, Gross margin and Average customer lifespan. Enter percentage or rate fields on the scale shown by the form rather than converting them to decimals yourself. Keep monetary inputs in the same currency, or use the currency selector when one is provided. Keep time and payment-frequency assumptions consistent with the labels on the page. Before calculating, recheck Average order value and the other values that materially affect the result. For a clean comparison, hold the other inputs constant while changing one assumption at a time so you can see what is driving the result.

How the calculation works

Current calculation = average order value × purchases per customer per year × customer lifespan × gross margin percentage. This is the calculation method that should anchor any manual check of the output. If a displayed field does not affect the current calculation, that limitation is stated below rather than silently treating the field as part of the formula.

Example

With the displayed example values (Average order value = 100, Purchases per customer per year = 4, Gross margin = 70, and Average customer lifespan = 3) and the remaining defaults unchanged, the current calculator returns $840.00 for estimated customer lifetime value. Replacing those defaults with your own values recalculates the same relationship; change one input at a time if you want to see which assumption is driving the difference.

How to interpret the result

The result estimates gross profit attributable to an average customer over the lifespan assumption. Higher order value, purchase frequency, margin, or lifespan increases the modeled CLTV. Compare results produced from the same definitions and time period. A mathematically larger or smaller number is not automatically better unless the financial context makes that direction meaningful.

Limitations and notes

Acquisition cost, retention cohorts, discounting, churn timing, refunds, servicing cost, expansion revenue, and customer heterogeneity are not included in this simplified CLTV model. Where the calculator depends on estimates, rates, accounting classifications, or future behavior, test more than one plausible scenario before making a decision.