Free tool, no email gate
What should you pay for a lead, or for a meeting?
The most you should pay per lead equals your acceptable cost to acquire a client multiplied by your lead-to-client rate. Enter four numbers. The calculator shows your ceiling per lead and per held meeting and compares it with Vivin's published bands as of September 2026.
Your ceilings
- Acceptable cost per new client
- USD $1,620
- Most you should pay per lead
- USD $243
- Most you should pay per held meeting
- USD $486
Vivin bands as of September 2026: USD $35 to $450 per accepted lead, USD $99 to $900 per held meeting. Bands are set per vertical on each offer page.
The formula
Cost per lead is a derived number. Start from the client.
Acceptable cost per client = first-year revenue x gross margin x the share of margin you will spend to acquire a client.
Maximum cost per lead = acceptable cost per client x lead-to-client rate. Maximum cost per held meeting = acceptable cost per client x meeting-to-client rate.
The same formula is published by agencies that manage Google Local Services Ads for contractors (max cost per lead = acceptable acquisition cost x close rate). Vivin's bands are set so that a client with typical conversion rates lands under their ceiling on every vertical page; where they would not, the page says so in the "not for" list.
How do I calculate a reasonable cost per lead?
Start from what a new client is worth in first-year gross margin, decide what share of that you are willing to spend to acquire them (25 to 35 percent is typical for services), and multiply by your lead-to-client rate. Maximum cost per lead equals acceptable acquisition cost multiplied by close rate. A USD $12,000 client at 40 percent margin is USD $4,800 of margin; spending 30 percent of that is USD $1,440 per client; at a 15 percent lead-to-client rate that is USD $216 per lead.
What is a good cost per lead for B2B?
There is no single good number. For business-to-business services with first-year values of USD $6,000 to $50,000, published cost-per-lead figures range from about USD $150 to $1,500. The useful test is whether the cost per new client that results is below what you are willing to spend. That is what this calculator shows.
Should I compare cost per lead or cost per meeting?
Cost per new client. A cheap lead that never answers and an expensive meeting that closes one in three are not comparable on unit price. Convert both to cost per new client with your real conversion rates and compare that.
Does the calculator send my numbers anywhere?
No. It runs in your browser and stores nothing. There is no email gate.
Next: all three offers priced side by side, or pick a vertical under pay-per-lead or pay-per-appointment.