Chartered Financial Analyst specializing in digital products and e-learning business models.
Find out how many courses you need to sell to cover your total development and marketing costs. Enter any three variables—Total Fixed Costs, Course Price, Variable Cost per Sale, or Number of Sales—to solve for the fourth.
Course Breakeven Calculator
Online Course Breakeven Formula
The breakeven formula for an online course finds the number of sales (Q) you must make for your total revenue to equal your total costs.
Q = F / (P – V)
Solve for Total Fixed Costs (F):
F = Q * (P – V)
Solve for Course Price (P):
P = (F / Q) + V
Solve for Variable Cost (V):
V = P – (F / Q)
Variables Explained
- Total Fixed Costs (F): Your total upfront investment to create and launch the course (e.g., video equipment, software, ad spend).
- Course Price (P): The price you sell your course for.
- Variable Cost per Sale (V): The costs incurred for *each* sale (e.g., payment processing fees, affiliate payouts, hosting fees).
- Breakeven Sales (Q): The number of courses you must sell to reach $0 in operating profit.
Related Calculators
- Ad Campaign Breakeven Calculator
- Digital Product Breakeven Calculator
- ROAS Calculator
- Contribution Margin Calculator
What is a Course Breakeven Point?
A **Course Breakeven Point** is the number of individual course sales you must make to cover all your upfront costs. This is the single most important number to know *before* you start building your course, as it determines if your idea is financially viable.
**Fixed Costs (F)** include all the one-time expenses: camera and microphone, video editing software, course platform fees (annual plan), and, most importantly, your ad budget to launch the course. **Variable Costs (V)** are the small fees you pay for every single sale, such as the 3% payment processing fee (e.g., Stripe/PayPal) or the 30% affiliate fee you pay to a partner for a referral.
The **Contribution Margin** (P – V) is the profit you make from one sale, which is then used to “pay back” your fixed costs. This calculator finds how many of these sales are needed to pay off the entire fixed cost investment, after which every sale is almost pure profit.
How to Calculate Course Breakeven (Example)
Let’s calculate the breakeven point for a new online video course.
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Identify Fixed Costs (F):
The creator spends $1,000 on equipment and plans to spend $4,000 on a launch ad campaign. The total (F) is $5,000.
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Identify Course Price (P):
The course will be sold for $299.00.
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Identify Variable Cost (V):
For each sale, payment processing and hosting fees average $15.00.
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Apply the Formula: Q = F / (P – V)
First, calculate the contribution margin per course: $299.00 (P) – $15.00 (V) = $284.00.
Next, divide the fixed costs by this margin:
Q = $5,000 / $284.00 ≈ 17.6 -
Conclusion:
The course creator must sell 18 copies (rounding up) of the course to cover all their upfront costs. The 19th sale will be the first one that generates profit.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
You must include that in your (V). If you pay a 40% affiliate commission on your $299 course, your (V) is not just $15. It’s ($299 * 0.40) + $15 = $119.60 + $15 = $134.60. This will dramatically increase the number of sales you need to break even.
For a purely financial calculation, no. But for a *business* calculation, yes. If it took you 100 hours to build and you value your time at $100/hr, you could add $10,000 to (F) to find the “true” breakeven point where you’ve paid yourself back.
If you pay a monthly or annual fee, that is a Fixed Cost (F). If the platform *also* takes a percentage of each sale (like a 5% transaction fee), that percentage is a Variable Cost (V).
Work backward. If you know your price (P), variable costs (V), and you have a realistic goal for how many courses you can sell (Q), you can solve for (F). This tells you the *maximum* you can spend on ads and development. `F = Q * (P – V)`.