PPC Budget Calculator

Work backwards from your conversion goal to the clicks, ad budget and cost per acquisition it takes to hit it.

📖 How it works & FAQ

Target conversions

Conversion rate (%)

Average CPC ($)

Campaign length (days, optional)

How a PPC budget is calculated

Working backwards from a conversion goal is the most reliable way to size a pay-per-click budget. If you want 50 sales and 3% of clicks convert, you need 50 ÷ 0.03 ≈ 1,667 clicks. At an average cost per click of $1.50, that is about $2,500 of budget — and roughly $50 per acquisition. This calculator runs exactly that math: clicks needed = target conversions ÷ conversion rate, budget = clicks × average CPC, and cost per acquisition = budget ÷ conversions. Add an optional campaign length and it also shows the daily budget to type into your ad platform. Everything runs in your browser; nothing you enter is uploaded anywhere.

Where to find your conversion rate and CPC

Both numbers live in your ad dashboard — conversion rate and average CPC are standard columns in Google Ads, Meta, Microsoft and LinkedIn. If you have no history yet, use Google Keyword Planner for CPC estimates and start with a conservative conversion rate: search campaigns commonly land in the 2–5% range, while display and social prospecting often sit near 1%. Budgeting with a modest rate beats planning around a best-case number.

How to use it

Enter your target conversions — the sales, leads or sign-ups you want from the campaign.
Enter the conversion rate you expect, as a percentage of clicks.
Enter your average cost per click in dollars.
Optionally set a campaign length in days to see the daily budget. Results update instantly as you type.

These figures are simplified planning estimates only — not professional, financial, tax or legal advice.

FAQ

What conversion rate should I assume with no data?: A common starting point is 2–3% for search ads and about 1% for display or social prospecting. Swap in your real dashboard number once you have a few hundred clicks of data.
Why does the calculator round clicks up?: You cannot buy a fraction of a click, so it rounds the click count up to the next whole click and builds the budget from that.
Is CPA the same thing as CPC?: No. CPC is what you pay for one click; CPA is what you pay for one conversion. Since only some clicks convert, CPA equals CPC divided by conversion rate — always higher.
Does this work for Google Ads, Meta and other platforms?: Yes. The clicks-to-budget math is platform-agnostic — just use the conversion rate and average CPC from whichever platform you are planning for.