CPM calculator
Cost per thousand impressions from your spend, and how many impressions a budget buys. The formula shows under the result.
Spend and impressions
How many impressions a budget buys
Everything runs in your browser: no number is sent anywhere.
What is CPM?
CPM is the cost per thousand impressions: what you pay for the ad to be shown one thousand times. The M is the Roman numeral for a thousand. It is the price metric for reach and awareness campaigns, and the baseline for comparing platforms, audiences and formats when the goal is to be seen.
How to calculate CPM: the formula
CPM = spend ÷ impressions × 1,000. Dividing cost by impressions gives the price of one impression; multiplying by a thousand makes the number readable. For the reverse, impressions = budget ÷ CPM × 1,000.
Example: $5,000 spent on 400,000 impressions is a $12.50 CPM. With $3,000 and a $12.50 CPM, the campaign buys 240,000 impressions.
What is a good CPM?
There is no universal number. CPM varies by platform, country, time of year, audience and format, and rises in more contested auctions, such as retail in November and December. The useful comparison is with your own history, in the same placement and period, and with what happens after the impression: a cheap CPM with poor CTR and conversion costs more than an expensive CPM that converts.
CPM, CPC and CPA: which one to look at?
CPM measures the price of being shown, CPC the price of a click and CPA the price of a conversion. In reach campaigns, CPM is the main metric. In traffic campaigns, CPC. In sales and leads, CPA and ROAS. For the conversion to show up in GA4 under the right campaign, the ad link needs UTMs: the UTM builder assembles it and shows the channel before you publish.
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Frequently asked questions
Is CPM the same as cost per thousand views?
No. An impression is the ad being served, counted when it enters the screen according to each platform’s rule. Video views follow their own rule (seconds watched) and their own metric, CPV. Compare CPM with CPM.
Why are Meta and Google Ads CPMs so different?
Because the inventory, the auction and the way impressions are counted differ. A Display banner, a Reels placement and a YouTube video don’t compete in the same auction. Compare CPM within the same platform and placement.
Does the calculator send my numbers anywhere?
No. The math runs in your browser and nothing is sent to any server.