Updated , 6 min read, by the Probably team
Key takeaways
- TikTok's minimum daily budgets are $50 per campaign and $20 per ad group; a $500 minimum is not in TikTok's rules.
- Industry estimates put TikTok CPM at $4 to $10 and CPC at $0.30 to $1.50; the auction sets what you pay.
- For purchase-optimized campaigns, TikTok's best-practice minimum budget is 10 times your current cost per purchase, or $200 with no history.
- Costs swing until about 25 results or 7 days into the learning phase, so avoid edits and pauses in that window.
- The full bill is media plus three to five videos, each changing one thing such as the hook.
How much do TikTok ads cost?
TikTok ads have no list price: you set a budget, place a bid, and an auction decides what each impression or click costs. TikTok sets only the floor, covered in the next section.
What you pay inside that budget depends on your audience, objective, bid and creative. WordStream's August 2026 guide, built from published studies and the ad accounts it manages, gives these planning ranges, and TikTok gives its own test budget:
- Cost per 1,000 impressions, medium to high performers (WordStream)
- $4–$10
- Cost per click (WordStream)
- $0.30–$1.50
- TikTok's recommended ad group budget, North America and EMEA
- $30 a day
TikTok ads cost what the auction sets: about $4 to $10 per 1,000 impressions and $0.30 to $1.50 per click by industry estimates, inside a budget of at least $50 a day per campaign and $20 a day per ad group.
What is the minimum budget for TikTok ads?
The minimum is $50 at the campaign level and $20 a day at the ad group level, according to TikTok's budget and bidding FAQs. Its help article About budgets sets the rule for each budget type:
| Budget type | Campaign level | Ad group level |
|---|---|---|
| Daily budget | More than $50 | More than $20 |
| Lifetime budget | More than $50 | Total days of the ad group × the daily minimum |
A lifetime budget is the total for the whole run, so a 31-day ad group needs at least $20 × 31 = $620. Two more rules from the same article:
- The campaign budget should not be lower than the ad group budget, or delivery can suffer.
- You can't switch between daily and lifetime budgets once a campaign or ad group is live.
What do TikTok ads cost per click, per view and per 1,000 impressions?
By WordStream's estimates, TikTok ads cost $0.30 to $1.50 per click, $4 to $10 per 1,000 impressions and $0.01 to $0.07 per view, where a view counts as soon as the video starts playing. These are industry averages, not TikTok prices, and they vary by format:
| Format | What it is | Estimated cost (WordStream) |
|---|---|---|
| In-Feed Ads | Videos in the For You feed | $4 to $8 CPM |
| Spark Ads | Boosted organic posts, from you or a creator | $4 to $8 CPM |
| Search Ads | Ads in TikTok search results | $0.10 to $0.30 per click |
| TopView | The first video people see on opening the app | From about $50,000 a day |
| Branded Effects | A sponsored AR filter, sticker or effect | From about $45,000 |
| Branded Hashtag Challenge | A sponsored challenge | $150,000 or more for six days |
For most brands, TikTok ads means In-Feed or Spark Ads at roughly $4 to $8 per 1,000 impressions; TopView, Branded Effects and branded challenges are flat-rate buys that start around $45,000.
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How does TikTok bidding decide what you pay?
TikTok "ranks ads by how much advertisers bid and how relevant the ads are to users," according to its help article on bidding strategies. So a more relevant ad can win the same impression over a higher bid, at a lower price.
Ads Manager offers two bidding strategies:
- Target cost per result: you set the cost per action you want, and the system aims for it. TikTok notes the actual cost "can be slightly higher or lower than the target."
- Maximum Results: the system spends your budget to get as many conversions as it can.
You are billed by the event you choose: optimized cost per 1,000 impressions (oCPM), cost per click (CPC), cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM) or cost per view (CPV). WordStream adds that "TikTok rewards well-performing creative with better placement at a lower cost."
How much should you budget for a first TikTok ad test?
Plan at least $30 a day per ad group for 7 to 14 days, and more for a purchase-optimized campaign. The $30 is what TikTok for Business recommends for web conversion campaigns in North America and EMEA ($20 for APAC).
TikTok's budget best practices go further. Right after advising a daily budget for each ad group, they recommend a minimum budget that scales with what a result costs:
| Campaign optimizes for | Minimum budget | With no CPA yet |
|---|---|---|
| A purchase, add to cart or other deep event | 10 × your current CPA | $200 |
| An app install | 20 × your current CPA | $200 |
| A page view or other shallow event | 50 × your current CPA | $100 |
Here is a worked illustration for a store selling online, comparing three hooks:
- Start from TikTok's recommendation
Three ad groups, one per hook, at $30 a day each: $90 a day, or 3 × $30 × 14 = $1,260 over two weeks.
- Check it against the formula
If a purchase costs you $25, the purchase row points to 10 × $25 = $250 a day per ad group, and $200 a day with no purchases yet. Both are well above $30.
- Choose what you can afford
Running all three at $200 a day for two weeks is 3 × $200 × 14 = $8,400. If that is too much, test fewer ad groups at once at the higher budget, or accept a slower, noisier test at $30 a day.
A first TikTok test at TikTok's recommended $30 a day for three ad groups over two weeks costs about $1,260 in media; meeting its 10 × CPA guideline for purchase campaigns costs several times more.
WordStream's own range for a testing phase is $50 to $150 a day. For how to set up the comparison, see how to test UGC ad creatives.
How long does the learning phase take, and why does it change your costs?
The learning phase usually settles "after about 25 campaign results or 7 days," TikTok says in its learning phase article. Until then the system is still finding the right people, and costs swing: conversion campaigns may see "high CPM" before they pass it, its bidding strategies article warns.
If a purchase costs $25, 25 results take about $625 of spend; if that takes longer than a week, the seven-day mark comes first. TikTok's rules for budget changes:
- Don't pause campaigns or ad groups, or make edits that restart learning.
- Raise a budget by no more than 40% at a time during learning, and 30% after it.
- Wait at least two days between changes to targeting, bids or budget.
What do the videos for a TikTok test cost?
The videos cost a creator's fee and usage rights for each one, or a monthly plan with an AI tool, and a test needs three to five of them. WordStream suggests running "three to five different ad options using modest budgets for each," with one change between versions, such as the hook or the offer.
For creator rates and usage rights, see how much UGC ads cost. An AI TikTok ad generator is paid through a monthly plan instead of a fee to each creator. Either way, the first month's bill is the media, about $1,260 in the illustration above, plus the videos.
Probably is an AI video studio that makes UGC-style video ads: you tell an AI crew what you're selling and get a video ad with a script, an AI actor, a voice and an edit, checked by AI reviewers before you see it. Plans are monthly credits, where one credit is $0.01 of work:
| Plan | Price | Credits each month | Videos in production at once |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $19 ($199 a year) | 2,000 | 2 |
| Creator | $49 ($519 a year) | 5,500 | 5 |
| Studio | $149 ($1,599 a year) | 17,000 | 10 |
Alternate hooks are made as variants, deliberately different versions, and paid changes show a credit estimate first. Videos come in 9:16 for TikTok. The first draft is free with a new account (480p, up to 30 seconds, no credit card), and pricing has the details.
Try this brief
“Make a 9:16 TikTok ad for our cold brew concentrate, then make variants that open on different hooks: the price per cup, a 'stop buying coffee out' line and a two-second pour. Keep the rest of the ad the same.”
Make this ad freeWhat makes TikTok ads cost more or less?
Seven things move the price, according to WordStream: targeting, placement, bidding strategy, campaign objective, ad quality, competition and seasonality. Four are choices you make before launch:
- Objective: conversion objectives such as purchases usually cost more than awareness objectives.
- Placement: premium placements like TopView cost far more than In-Feed Ads.
- Targeting: narrow, competitive audiences cost more, and TikTok recommends starting with broad targeting.
- Ad quality: higher-quality ads can win placements even against higher bids, WordStream says.
Competition and seasonality are outside your control; Q4 and shopping events such as Black Friday push prices up, WordStream notes. The creative is the part you control, so start with the opening line: see 12 hook formulas for TikTok ads.
Frequently asked questions
Are TikTok ads worth it?
Only your own numbers can tell you. After a test, compare your cost per purchase with the margin on one sale; if a purchase costs more than it earns, change the creative or the offer before adding budget.
How much do TikTok ads cost per month?
One ad group at the $20 daily minimum costs about $600 over 30 days, and at TikTok's recommended $30 a day about $900. Multiply by the number of ad groups you run.
Why are my TikTok ads not spending?
With the Target cost per result strategy, TikTok says it is likely that your CPA bid is too low. Raise the bid, or switch the ad group to Maximum Results.
Can TikTok spend more than my budget?
Not over the whole run. TikTok says a lifetime budget may not be spent evenly across days but won't exceed the total, and that you can stop at any time; a daily budget is the average you're willing to spend per day.
Does Probably run or pay for my TikTok ads?
No. Probably makes the video ads; you download the finished video and post it yourself, and your ad budget is paid to TikTok in Ads Manager.
