TikTok ads cost at a glance
US auction ads, as of late 2026. TikTok does not publish average prices, so these ranges come from advertiser data sets and TikTok's own help center for the minimums.
| Metric | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CPM (cost per 1,000 impressions) | $4 to $10 | In-feed auction ads. Tracked monthly averages ran $2.25 to $6.21 from 2024 to mid-2025 |
| CPC (cost per click) | $0.20 to $1.00 | Cost per link click in Gupta Media's tracker ran $0.17 to $0.74 |
| CTR (click-through rate) | About 0.6% | Lebesgue's ecommerce benchmark: 0.61% |
| Conversion rate (click to purchase) | About 1.9% | Lebesgue's ecommerce benchmark: 1.92%, Complete Payment event |
| Minimum campaign budget | Over $50 a day or $50 lifetime | Set by TikTok |
| Minimum ad group budget | Over $20 a day | Lifetime: $20 x scheduled days, so $620 for 31 days |
| TopView (first ad on app open) | About $10 to $20 CPM | Reserved premium format, sometimes sold as a flat five-figure day rate |
Sources: TikTok Ads Manager help center (budgets, July 2026), Gupta Media CPM tracker, Lebesgue (September 2026), Influee (July and August 2026).
TikTok CPM: what you pay per 1,000 views
TikTok sells most ads in an auction, so there is no rate card. What you pay depends on who else is bidding for the same viewers that week. The most useful public data is Gupta Media's CPM tracker, which shows monthly averages of $2.25 in January 2024, $5.84 in October 2024, $2.87 in January 2025 and $6.21 by June 2025. Prices nearly tripled between January 2024 and June 2025, and they swing with the season.
2026 estimates sit higher. Influee's TikTok ads cost roundup puts typical CPMs at $4.20 to $9.00, and Lebesgue's ecommerce benchmark reports $4.80. Category matters too. Industry ranges compiled by Influee run about $6.00 to $8.50 for beauty, $7.30 to $9.00 for fashion and $11.00 to $14.50 for finance and insurance.
Seasonality is the biggest lever you can plan around. January is the cheapest month every year in the tracker. October through December is the most expensive because every retailer is bidding for the same holiday shopper. If you are planning a Black Friday campaign, build your audiences and creative in September while impressions are cheaper.
TikTok ad pricing by format
Format changes the price more than most brands expect. Estimated CPM ranges from Influee's 2026 roundup:
In-feed auction ads: about $4 to $8 CPM
Your video in the For You feed, bought in the auction. The cheapest way in and where almost every test should start. You control the caption, the call to action and the landing page.
Spark Ads: about $5 to $10 CPM
You boost an organic post from your account or a creator's, and likes, comments and follows land on the original post. TikTok lets you set how long a creator's authorization code lasts, so match it to your flight dates. Reported pricing varies by source; the real gain is usually a higher click and conversion rate, because the ad looks like a post.
TopView: about $10 to $20 CPM
The first video people see when they open the app, full screen with sound. Bought as a reservation, not in the auction. Worth it for a big launch day with creative already proven in the feed.
Brand Takeover: about $20 to $50 CPM
A full-screen takeover on app open, sold by reservation at the top of TikTok's price range. Pure awareness, and the hardest format to tie back to sales.
TikTok ads minimum budget, straight from TikTok
These are the rules in TikTok's help center on budgets in Ads Manager, last updated July 2026.
| Level | Daily budget | Lifetime budget |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | Must be over $50 | Must be over $50 |
| Ad group | Must be over $20 | $20 x total scheduled days (31 days = $620) |
You cannot switch between daily and lifetime budgets after launch, and the campaign budget should not be lower than the ad group budget.
How to work out your TikTok ad budget
A worked example for an ecommerce brand testing three creative angles. Swap in your own numbers.
Pick the structure
Three ad groups, one per angle (for example: problem/solution, founder story, creator review). Each needs its own budget so TikTok can tell which wins.
Set the daily spend
$50 a day per ad group, $150 a day for the campaign. That clears TikTok's minimums with room for the algorithm to learn.
Choose the test length
21 days. Shorter tests rarely collect enough data. Total media: 3 x $50 x 21 = $3,150.
Estimate the results
At a $6 CPM you buy about 525,000 impressions. At a 0.61% CTR that is around 3,200 clicks (about $0.98 each). At a 1.92% conversion rate, roughly 61 purchases, or about $52 per purchase.
Check it against your margin
If you make $60 gross profit per order, a $52 CPA works and you scale the winning ad group. If you make $30, the fix is usually the offer or the landing page, not more spend.
Scale by the rules
TikTok asks you to raise budgets by no more than 40% per change in the learning phase and 30% after it, and not more often than every two days. Jumping from $50 to $500 overnight resets learning.
What TikTok ad creative costs
Ad spend is half the bill. TikTok ads wear out fast. We plan for 6 to 12 new videos a month to keep CPMs and CPAs stable.
| Creative option | Typical 2026 cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| UGC creator video (direct) | $150 to $300 per video, usage rights extra | Testing many angles quickly |
| UGC marketplace (e.g. Billo) | From $99 per video, rights included | Volume at low cost, less control over talent |
| Extra hooks on an existing video | About $50 per hook | Cheapest way to test new openings |
| Spark Ads rights on a creator's post | Often about 30% of the base fee per month | Running ads from the creator's handle |
| Agency-edited short from your footage | $400 to $1,500 per finished short | Brands with footage but no editor |
| Agency-produced short with a shoot | $1,000 to $3,000+ per 15 to 30 second video | Launches, hero creative, regulated categories |
Sources: Influee UGC rates, Billo (October 2026), Vidpros (August 2026). Details in our UGC cost guide.
TikTok ad specs that change what you pay
Creative that breaks the format gets fewer, pricier impressions. From TikTok's in-feed ad specs:
- Shoot vertical 9:16. Horizontal and square are allowed but look like ads, and ads that look like ads cost more per result.
- Minimum resolution is 540 x 960 for vertical. Shoot higher and let TikTok compress.
- Files up to 500 MB, in .mp4 or .mov for Spark Ads.
- Non-Spark ad captions cannot include links, @ mentions or hashtags. Put the hook in the video, not the caption.
- Spark Ads show the creator's original caption, up to 4 lines, and you cannot edit it in Ads Manager. Agree the caption before the creator posts.
- Keep the first 2 seconds for the hook. TikTok allows up to 10 minutes, but paid views drop off long before that.
What it costs to have an agency run TikTok ads
Agencies usually charge for TikTok ads in one of two ways: a flat monthly fee, or 10% to 20% of ad spend with a monthly minimum. On a $3,000 a month test, a percentage fee is cheap. On $50,000 a month it adds up, so compare both models against your planned spend. Our social media agency cost guide has the full price bands.
The bigger question is who makes the creative. Many ads agencies manage bids but expect you to supply videos, and TikTok results come from the videos far more than the bids. We plan the angles, produce the short-form video, set up the ads and build the landing page they point to, then test weekly. See how we run TikTok campaigns, or compare costs with Meta on our Facebook ads page.