CPC calculator: cost per click

CPC calculator

CPC (cost per click) is what you pay on average for one click on an ad. It is ad spend divided by the number of clicks.

I spent $ and got clicks, a CPC of $.

Your CPC is

$1.25

$1,500 bought 1,200 clicks, which is $1.25 for each one.

Ada watches your Meta ads every day, answers questions like why your cost per click moved, and proposes changes such as a new budget or pausing an ad. See what Ada does.

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What is CPC?

CPC (cost per click) is what you pay on average for one click on an ad. It is ad spend divided by clicks. It sits between what impressions cost (CPM) and how often people click (CTR).

The formula

CPC = spend ÷ clicks

Spend = CPC × clicks

Clicks = spend ÷ CPC

Leave one field empty and it is worked out from the other two. With all three filled, CPC is worked out from spend and clicks.

Worked example

Ad spend$1,500

Clicks1,200

CPC$1.25

$1,500 bought 1,200 clicks, which is $1.25 for each one.

Using it on Meta ads

In Ads Manager, use cost per link click, which counts only the clicks that open your site. A low CPC is only good news if those visitors buy, so judge an ad by the CPA it reaches, not by the click.

When CPC climbs, check which half moved: a higher CPM means the auction got pricier, a lower CTR means the ad is pulling fewer people in.

Questions

Meta reports all clicks and link clicks. Link clicks are the ones that take people to your site, so cost per link click is usually the more useful number.

CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10), with CTR in percent. A $12.50 CPM with a 1% click-through rate gives a $1.25 CPC.

Only if the clicks turn into sales. Cheap clicks from people who never buy cost more per order than pricier clicks that do, so judge an ad by cost per purchase.