How is CPC different from CPI?

CPC measures cost per click on an ad (traffic to your destination). CPI measures cost per install (a user who clicked and then installed). CPC is an earlier funnel metric. The gap between your CPC and CPI reflects your click-to-install conversion rate, which is influenced by both creative-to-product alignment and app store page quality.

✦NEW:Winning Creative Patterns Report>

Creative Performance

What is Cost Per Click (CPC)?

CPC is the average amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad, measuring the cost efficiency of driving traffic from paid campaigns.

Cost Per Click (CPC): Full Definition

Cost per click (CPC) is calculated by dividing total ad spend by the total number of clicks received. It tells you how much each visit to your app store page, landing page, or destination URL is costing you from a given campaign or creative.

CPC is most commonly used in search advertising (Google Search Ads, Apple Search Ads) where the auction is explicitly bid-per-click. In social and in-app advertising, CPM (cost per mille) is the more common pricing model, and CPC is derived rather than directly bid on.

CPC is closely tied to CTR. On platforms where CPM is the base unit, a higher CTR produces a lower effective CPC because the same impression cost generates more clicks. A creative that doubles your CTR effectively halves your CPC at the same CPM. This relationship makes creative quality one of the most direct levers for reducing CPC on social platforms.

Why Cost Per Click (CPC) matters

CPC is the cost of the first step in your conversion funnel: getting a user to your destination. If your CPC is high and your downstream CVR is average, your CPI will be uncompetitive. Improving CPC requires either improving creative CTR (getting more clicks from the same impressions) or finding lower-competition audiences and placements. Both are creative and targeting optimizations, not just bidding decisions.

Formula

CPC = Total Ad Spend ÷ Total Clicks

Example

“A gaming studio runs two creatives with identical budgets. Creative A achieves 1.2% CTR and a $0.85 CPC. Creative B achieves 2.8% CTR and a $0.36 CPC. Creative B generates 2.4x more traffic to the app store page at less than half the cost per click.”

Frequently asked questions

CPC varies widely by platform and category. Meta app install campaigns typically see $0.30 to $1.50 CPC for consumer apps. Google Search can be $1 to $5+ for competitive app categories. Apple Search Ads often shows $0.50 to $2.00 on branded keywords. These are rough benchmarks, your actual CPC depends on competition, targeting, and creative quality.

Segwise Feature

Track CPC alongside creative metrics in Segwise

Explore feature