CPA is total cost divided by total conversions: $5,000 producing 62 conversions is a $80.65 CPA. Median CPA in 2026 ranges from $13.71 on Amazon to $38.33 on Meta and $70.30 on AppLovin. On Google Search, average CPA by industry runs from $33.52 in auto to $116.61 in real estate. A CPA is good only when it sits below your contribution per order.
What is CPA?
Cost per acquisition is what you paid, on average, for each conversion. $5,000 spent for 62 conversions is a CPA of about $80.65. It is the first metric in the chain that touches a business outcome rather than an advertising one, which is why most accounts should be judged on it rather than on CPC or CTR.
The word acquisition is used loosely across the industry. Make sure everyone reading the number agrees on what the conversion is. A CPA measured on add-to-cart, on lead form submissions and on completed purchases will differ by an order of magnitude, and comparing across those definitions is the most common reporting error in paid media.
The CPA formula and what it hides
The formula is simply cost divided by conversions, but that single number hides a two-step funnel. CPA equals CPC divided by conversion rate, so an expensive CPA is caused either by expensive clicks or by a landing experience that does not convert them.
Add clicks to the calculator above and it returns both. If CPC is the problem, work on creative and targeting. If conversion rate is the problem, no amount of media optimisation will fix it, because the leak is after the click.
CPA is not CAC
CPA counts media cost against conversions from a channel. CAC counts all sales and marketing cost, including salaries, tools and agency fees, against genuinely new customers. CAC is always the higher number, often by a wide margin.
Use CPA to judge and optimise individual campaigns, and CAC to judge whether the business is acquiring customers economically. Reporting CPA to a board as though it were CAC understates the real cost of growth.
CPA benchmarks
Benchmarks are a sanity check, not a target. Your own account history on the same audience and placement is always the better comparison, but these are the numbers to reach for when you have none.
Median CPA by ad platform
2026 medians. The spread between the cheapest and dearest platform is more than fivefold.
| Platform | Median CPA |
|---|---|
| Amazon | $13.71 |
| TikTok | $18.94 |
| Snapchat | $22.32 |
| $27.36 | |
| Bing (Microsoft) | $31.64 |
| $33.67 | |
| Meta | $38.33 |
| AppLovin | $70.30 |
Source: What is a good CPA
Average CPA by industry on Google Search
Deal size drives the spread: a category that can pay more to acquire, does.
| Industry | Average CPA |
|---|---|
| Auto | $33.52 |
| Travel and hospitality | $44.73 |
| Ecommerce | $45.27 |
| Employment services | $48.04 |
| Education | $72.70 |
| Health and medical | $78.09 |
| Finance and insurance | $81.93 |
| Legal | $86.02 |
| Home goods | $87.13 |
| Consumer services | $90.70 |
| B2B | $116.13 |
| Real estate | $116.61 |
Source: What is a good CPA
Frequently asked questions
What is the CPA formula?
CPA equals total cost divided by total conversions. $5,000 spent producing 62 conversions gives a cost per acquisition of $80.65. The formula also decomposes: CPA equals cost per click divided by conversion rate.
What is the difference between CPA and CAC?
CPA measures media spend against conversions from a specific channel or campaign. CAC measures all sales and marketing cost, including salaries, tools and agency fees, against new customers acquired. CAC is always higher, and it is the number that reflects the true cost of growth.
What is a good CPA?
One comfortably below your contribution margin per order. If you keep $24 of contribution on an average order, a $20 CPA is profitable and a $30 CPA is not, regardless of what any industry benchmark says. Work out your maximum allowable CPA from your margin first.
How do I calculate target CPA?
Your maximum allowable CPA is your contribution per order, which is net revenue after product cost, shipping, fees and returns. Target CPA is that figure less the profit you want to keep. If you hold $24 of contribution and want $6 of profit per order, your target CPA is $18. Google's Target CPA bidding takes this number directly.
How do I lower my CPA?
Decompose it first. CPA is cost per click divided by conversion rate, so establish which half is weak. Expensive clicks are a creative, targeting or auction problem; a low conversion rate is a landing page, offer or audience-match problem, and no media optimisation will fix it.
Related calculators
Measuring is the easy half
Every metric on this page is something your ad account already knows. The work is acting on it while the auction is still open. Hawky’s Performance Agent reads them live, buys against your KPI, and logs every decision with the data that triggered it: reversible, guardrailed, and running whether or not anyone has the dashboard open.
