CPC vs CPM advertising.
Should you pay per click or per thousand impressions? CPC and CPM suit different goals. Here's how they compare on FroggyAds, and how to choose.
Pay for the outcome you want
CPC and CPM aren't better or worse than each other – they price different things. CPC charges per click, so your cost scales with engagement, which makes it the natural fit for direct-response and performance offers. CPM charges per thousand impressions, so cost scales with reach, which suits awareness, branding and retargeting.
On FroggyAds, Push and Native run on CPC from $0.003 while Display runs on CPM from $0.10, and SmartCPC plus source control sharpen cost-per-result on both. The decision is about your goal: optimize for clicks and conversions, or for impressions and reach. Test from $50 and measure against your real objective.
Choose CPC when…
- You're running performance offers
- You want cost tied to engagement
- Conversions are the goal
- You'll optimize to CPA or ROAS
- You want predictable cost per click
See cpc vs cpm inside the platform
Everything runs from one self-serve dashboard – launch the campaign, target precisely, then watch results by source and optimize in real time.
- You're running performance offers
- You want cost tied to engagement
- Conversions are the goal
Pay for clicks or for reach
Your goal decides the model.
CPC
You pay only when someone clicks – cost is tied to engagement, ideal for performance.
CPM
You pay per thousand impressions – cost is tied to reach, ideal for awareness.
Match to goal
Direct-response offers favor CPC; brand and retargeting often favor CPM.
Optimize either
SmartCPC and source control improve cost per result on both models.
Choose your model
Open an account and run CPC or CPM from $50.
CPC vs CPM FAQ
What's the difference?
CPC charges per click (engagement); CPM charges per thousand impressions (reach).
Which should I use?
Direct-response favors CPC; awareness and retargeting often favor CPM.
Can I optimize both?
Yes – SmartCPC and source control improve cost per result on either model.
Related pages
Pick the right model
Create your account and run CPC or CPM across 20B+ daily impressions.