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Lifetime Value (LTV)

Lifetime value (LTV), sometimes written CLV, is the total revenue you expect to earn from an average customer across the entire span of their relationship with your product. For a subscription, a simple estimate is average monthly revenue per customer divided by your monthly churn rate.

Why it matters for developers

LTV sets the ceiling on what you can afford to spend acquiring a customer. A healthy business keeps LTV at least three times CAC, so knowing your LTV turns guesswork about ad budgets into math.