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CPM Calculator

Calculate CPM (cost per thousand impressions), total ad cost or impressions, plus CTR, CPC and cost per conversion for any ad campaign.

Results

ItemValue

Cost at other CPMs

CPMCost for these impressionsImpressions for this budget
CPM, CTR, CPC and CPA are standard advertising measures. Ad platforms may count impressions and clicks differently, so use the numbers from your own reports.

Quick Answer

CPM = total cost ÷ impressions × 1,000. A campaign that costs $1,500 for 250,000 impressions has a CPM of $6.00. With 1,750 clicks, the CTR is 0.70% and the cost per click is $0.86.

Last updated: 3 November 2026 ·How we calculate this: the standard CPM, CTR, CPC and CPA formulas

Table of Contents

How This CPM Calculator Works

Choose what to solve for, CPM, total cost or impressions, and enter the other two. Add clicks and conversions if you have them. The calculator works out the missing value, the cost per impression, click-through rate, cost per click, conversion rate and cost per conversion, and shows what the same impressions or budget would look like at other CPM rates.

Quick explanation: CPM is the price of 1,000 ad views.

  • M: Roman numeral for 1,000 (“mille”).
  • Lower CPM: more impressions for the same budget.
  • Also check: CTR and CPA, since cheap impressions are not always good ones.

How to Use the CPM Calculator

  1. Choose CPM, total cost or impressions to solve for.
  2. Enter the other two values.
  3. Optionally add clicks and conversions.
  4. Press Calculate.
  5. Compare the results and the table of other CPM rates.

Core Formulas

  • CPM: cost ÷ impressions × 1,000
  • Cost: CPM × impressions ÷ 1,000
  • Impressions: cost ÷ CPM × 1,000
  • CTR: clicks ÷ impressions × 100
  • CPC: cost ÷ clicks, and CPA: cost ÷ conversions

Key Terms

  • CPM: cost per mille, the cost of 1,000 ad impressions.
  • Impression: one time an ad is shown.
  • CTR: click-through rate, the share of impressions that get a click.
  • CPC: cost per click.
  • CPA: cost per acquisition, the cost of each conversion.

Worked Example

You have a $2,000 budget and the network charges a $8 CPM.

  • Impressions = $2,000 ÷ $8 × 1,000 = 250,000
  • If 0.5% click, you get 1,250 clicks, so CPC = $1.60
  • If 4% of clicks convert, that is 50 conversions, so CPA = $40.00

Real-Life Examples

  • Budgeting: at a $10 CPM, 500,000 impressions cost $5,000.00.
  • Comparing networks: turn flat-fee deals into CPM to compare them.
  • Publishers: estimate ad revenue as page views ÷ 1,000 × your RPM.
  • Campaign review: check whether a low CPM still gives a good cost per conversion.

CPM vs CPC vs CPA

  • CPM: pay per 1,000 impressions, good for awareness.
  • CPC: pay per click, good for traffic.
  • CPA: pay per conversion, such as a sale or sign-up.

Cost by CPM and Impressions

CPM100,000500,0001,000,000
$2$200.00$1,000.00$2,000.00
$5$500.00$2,500.00$5,000.00
$8$800.00$4,000.00$8,000.00
$10$1,000.00$5,000.00$10,000.00
$15$1,500.00$7,500.00$15,000.00
$20$2,000.00$10,000.00$20,000.00
$30$3,000.00$15,000.00$30,000.00

What Affects CPM

  • Audience: narrow or high-value audiences usually cost more.
  • Platform and placement: video and premium sites often have higher CPMs.
  • Season: holiday periods often have more competition for ads.
  • Ad quality: relevant ads can earn better delivery on some platforms.

CPM for Publishers: RPM and eCPM

If you run a website, blog or channel, you see the other side of CPM. Advertisers pay a CPM, and you earn a share of it. Two measures help you track that income.

  • RPM (revenue per mille): your earnings ÷ page views × 1,000. If you earn $120 from 40,000 page views, your RPM is $3.
  • eCPM (effective CPM): earnings ÷ ad impressions × 1,000. It lets you compare ads sold by CPM, CPC or CPA on the same scale.
  • Estimating income: monthly page views ÷ 1,000 × RPM. At an RPM of $3, 200,000 page views earn about $600.

You can use this calculator for these too: put your earnings in the cost box and your page views or impressions in the impressions box, and the CPM result is your RPM or eCPM.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Forgetting the × 1,000. CPM is per thousand, not per impression.
  • Judging by CPM alone. A cheap CPM with few clicks or sales may cost more per result.
  • Comparing different metrics. Compare CPM with CPM, not with CPC.
  • Mixing reports. Use cost and impressions from the same date range.
  • Confusing CPM and RPM. RPM is what publishers earn per 1,000 views.

Frequently Asked Questions

Divide the total cost by impressions and multiply by 1,000.

Cost per mille. Mille is Latin for thousand.

It depends on the platform, audience and format. Compare against your own past campaigns and your cost per result.

Multiply CPM by impressions and divide by 1,000.

Divide the budget by the CPM and multiply by 1,000.

CPM is what advertisers pay per 1,000 impressions. RPM is what publishers earn per 1,000 page views or impressions.

Effective CPM: total earnings or cost ÷ impressions × 1,000, used to compare different pricing models.

Clicks ÷ impressions × 100.

CPC = CPM ÷ (CTR × 10), when CTR is a percent. Higher CTR lowers CPC.

No. What matters is the cost per result you care about, such as a sale.

Cost per acquisition: total cost ÷ conversions.

Yes. Enter the cost and impressions from your ad reports.

References & Sources

SourceUsed ForLink
Wikipedia, Cost per mille Definition and formula for CPM. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_per_mille
Wikipedia, Click-through rate How CTR is measured in online advertising. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Click-through_rate