ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) Calculator

How ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) works

ROAS is the cleanest measure of a paid-media campaign's revenue efficiency: ROAS = revenue_attributed_to_ads ÷ ad_spend. A ROAS of 2.0× means every R$ 1 spent in ads returned R$ 2 in revenue. Note this is not ROI: ROI subtracts cost from return and considers margin, while ROAS measures top-line revenue per ad dollar.

Example: R$ 50,000 of revenue attributed to ads and R$ 10,000 in ad spend gives ROAS = 50,000 ÷ 10,000 = 5.0×. Whether 5.0× is good depends on gross margin: with 30% margin the break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ 0.30 = 3.33×, so a 5.0× ROAS leaves R$ 1.67 of contribution per R$ 1 spent. With 10% margin, BE ROAS = 10× — and the same 5.0× campaign would be unprofitable.

Where ROAS is used

Performance-marketing dashboards (Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads) report ROAS at the campaign, ad-set and creative level. Benchmarks: e-commerce on Google Search averages 2-4×; Meta retargeting 3-6×; LinkedIn B2B 1-2×. ROAS drives daily decisions on bid increases, budget shifts between channels, and pausing under-performing creatives in Shopify, Bling and similar stacks.

FAQ

What ROAS is "good"? It depends on your gross margin. Compute the break-even ROAS = 1 ÷ gross_margin. Anything above that breakeven contributes to fixed costs and profit; below, the campaign destroys value.

ROAS vs ROI vs CPA — which one? ROAS is fast for daily optimization (revenue-based). ROI considers margin and overheads (truer profitability). CPA (cost per acquisition) is best when LTV is well-known. Most teams optimize ROAS in-flight and review ROI/LTV monthly.

Why does ROAS drop when I scale budget? Diminishing returns: cheaper, higher-intent inventory gets exhausted first. Doubling spend usually more than doubles cost per click, so ROAS compresses — that's where channel diversification and creative refresh matter.

Should I include shipping or taxes in revenue? Be consistent. Most platforms report gross revenue including shipping; for profitability decisions, switch to net revenue (excluding taxes, shipping subsidies and discounts).