CPC Calculator

Calculate cost per click from spend and clicks, and the maximum CPC you can afford given your conversion rate and the value of a conversion.

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%
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Revenue per conversion × gross margin

CPC$1.25
Break-even (max) CPC · The most a click can cost and still break even
$1.20
Implied CPA at this CPC
$50.00
Clicks per conversion
40

Results update as you type. Values are kept in the URL, so you can share or bookmark this exact calculation.

How does this compare?

All Google Ads benchmarks
Your result$1.25
All industries$5.42

77% below All industries · Cost per click

LocaliQ / WordStream, Search Advertising Benchmarks 2026 — 13,474 search campaigns, minimum 52 active campaigns per subcategory, 1 Apr 2025 – 31 Mar 2026. Figures are medians. Report · Published in USD

What this sample is

13,474 US search campaigns (Google Ads and Microsoft Ads), lead-generation heavy

  • Despite the 'Google Ads' title, the publisher describes the sample as search campaigns across Google Ads and Microsoft Ads.
  • Figures are medians, not means — the publisher notes this is to limit the effect of outliers.
  • Weighted to the agency's own customer base, which is SMB and lead-generation heavy.
  • The all-industry row is the publisher's own figure. It is not the mean of the rows above, and the two should not be presented as the same number.
  • Cost per acquisition is cost per lead in this report: Career & Employment and Health & Fitness both print $67.36, and Automotive — For Sale and Sports & Recreation both print $44.26. Verified as printed on the publisher's page.

Formula

CPC = Ad spend ÷ Clicks
Max CPC = Gross profit per conversion × Conversion rate
Implied CPA = CPC ÷ Conversion rate

How to read CPC

Cost per click is the price of a visit. On its own it says little — a cheap click that never converts is expensive, an expensive click from a high-intent search can be a bargain. The useful comparison is against max CPC: the conversion rate times what a conversion is worth in gross profit.

Max CPC is also how manual bids should be set. If a conversion is worth $48 in gross profit and 2.5% of clicks convert, every click is worth $1.20 at break-even; bid below that by whatever margin you want to keep.

Frequently asked questions

How do I convert CPC to CPM?
CPM = CPC × CTR × 1,000. A $1.25 CPC with a 2% CTR is a $25 CPM. The CPM calculator does the reverse.
Why does Google show a different average CPC?
Platform average CPC is spend divided by clicks over the selected date range and may exclude invalid clicks or include clicks credited later. Small differences are normal; large ones usually mean a date-range or currency mismatch.
Should max CPC use revenue or gross profit?
Gross profit. Using revenue overstates what a click is worth by the inverse of your margin and leads to bidding at a loss.

CPC by platform

CPM CalculatorCalculate CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) from ad spend and impressions, or work out how many impressions a budget buys at a given CPM.CTR CalculatorCalculate click-through rate (CTR) from clicks and impressions for ads, search results, emails or any placement that is shown and clicked.CPA CalculatorCalculate cost per acquisition (or cost per lead) from spend and conversions, and find the maximum CPA you can pay before a conversion stops being profitable.