How much to invest in user acquisition.
For iGaming and licensed fintech. Enter numbers you already track; get a planning estimate with the working shown.
1Your market
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2Your stage
Change2Your stagePick the closest stage.
3Your method
Change3Your methodTwo ways to size the budget.
4Your numbersUS dollars, converted at ₱62 to $1.
Net revenue per user over their lifetime (NGR for iGaming; fees, spread and interest for fintech), including users who return. See how value splits by tier.
Default 3:1, meaning $3 of user value per $1 of acquisition cost. A $38.71 user justifies $12.90. Raise it to be more cautious.
Default $12.90. The most you will pay per new depositing user. The calculator uses this or the ratio’s ceiling, whichever is lower.
First-time depositors (iGaming) or first funded accounts (fintech). Sign-ups without a deposit do not count.
How long you acquire at this pace: 3 for a quarter, 12 for a year.
Add lifetime value, users per month and months to see your budget.
Monthly budget
CAC used
New users acquired
Expected user value
4Your numbersUS dollars, converted at ₱62 to $1.
Default $12.90. All acquisition spend, including media and commissions, divided by new depositing users. Use a per-brand figure. See cost per FTD benchmarks.
Default 20%, from our iGaming benchmark. Revenue left after winnings, bonuses, taxes, payments and platform fees.
Monthly revenue per depositing user (ARPU): GGR for iGaming; fees, spread and interest for fintech.
First-time depositors (iGaming) or first funded accounts (fintech).
How long you spend at this pace. The chart runs on until cash is recovered.
Add revenue per user, users per month and months to see it.
Payback per user
Monthly spend
Total spend
Cash fully recovered
Bars shrink as each month’s users pay back, assuming none churn first. Shaded: spending period.
How we got thisThe benchmarks behind the defaults.
Measured operator data on acquisition cost, payback and user value.
Benchmark
Cost per FTD and payback period
Four operators, one method. Cost per FTD $6.44 to about $25; payback 2.9 to 9.6 months.
Benchmark
Player value tiers and VIP concentration
94.3% of players produced 37.1% of revenue. Blended LTV hides where value sits.
Guide
Choosing an iGaming marketing agency
What to ask before you hand a partner your budget.
Acquisition budgets, answered.
Which method should I use?
Payback, if you pick one. It shows how long cash is out and does not rely on retention data. Add the LTV ceiling once you trust your LTV.
Does this work for fintech as well as iGaming?
Yes. A new user is a first funded account or transaction, and revenue is fees, spread and interest. Use your own margin.
How does my brand’s stage change the numbers?
New entrants pay more per user while testing channels; three months of cohort revenue gives a first estimate.
Growth-stage brands usually see their lowest costs.
Mature brands often face rising costs but recover spend faster: in our benchmark, payback ran about 14 months at a newer operator and 1.5 at a mature one.
Why does the calculator default to a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio?
It is a common planning benchmark, but it needs a full LTV.
In our benchmark, every measured LTV:CAC was below 1, and the standard formula misses users who return or move up a tier. Use a fuller LTV, or lead with payback.
Why is the default max CAC set at $12.90?
It sits inside the $6.44 to about $25 cost per FTD we measured across four iGaming operators. Replace it with your own figure.
Why does the payback method not ask for retention?
Payback is CAC divided by monthly contribution, so retention is not in the formula. It assumes users keep producing until they pay back; early churn makes recovery slower.
Are there other ways to set a marketing budget?
Yes. As your data matures, add:
- Diminishing returns curves. Stop where the next $1,613 costs more per user than your ceiling.
- Incrementality testing. Hold spend back somewhere to see what marketing caused.
- Test, prove, scale. Scale only channels that hit target.
- 70/20/10 allocation. Proven, promising, experimental.
- Bayesian allocation. Budget follows performance; new channels keep a small share.
- Marketing mix modeling. Needs one to two years of clean data.
- The Kelly criterion. A betting method we use as a pacing check, usually at half strength.
Is the result a guarantee?
No. It is a planning estimate. CAC is held flat; in practice it usually rises with spend, so scale in stages.
Does this account for PAGCOR, BSP, and SEC rules?
Indirectly: regulation limits your channels, which shows in your CAC. Revisit inputs when rules change, such as proposed limits on online gambling advertising and BSP’s draft payment rules.
Want this built from your own data?
We measure cost and payback by source, then size the budget.
Planning estimates only, not a forecast or financial advice. Benchmarks come from anonymized iGaming operators.