You might be surprised, but even in 2025, not all clients clearly understand the difference between CPM and CPC.

Pay attention closely: CPC stands for Cost Per Click. Also known as pay-per-click (PPC), the CPC model is a payment model where advertisers only pay when a user clicks on their ad.

In comparison, CPM means Cost Per Mille (thousand impressions). In simple terms, CPM refers to how much it costs to show your ad to 1,000 users. Sitting at the top of the marketing funnel, the CPM model is an excellent choice for advertisers looking to increase brand awareness.

While CPC marketing is often more expensive than CPM, it’s frequently used in lead generation campaigns, as it’s believed to drive more traffic to the advertiser’s website and is excellent for increasing brand engagement.

CPC is a popular pricing model used by the Google Ads advertising network, as well as Meta (Facebook).

CPA vs CPC: What’s the Difference?

CPA stands for Cost Per Action or Cost Per Acquisition. In the CPA model, advertisers pay each time a user completes a predefined action, whether it’s a click, download, or purchase. CPA is a popular pricing choice for brand marketers working within an affiliate business model.

While most online marketers prefer the CPA model since they only pay for user conversions, it’s less popular among publishers as they must bear the risk until conversion occurs. The CPC model, in contrast, is relatively low-risk for publishers who get paid for clicks rather than customer acquisition.

CPC vs CTR: What’s the Difference?

While CPC is an online advertising metric that determines how much an advertiser pays for a user’s click, CTR (click-through rate) determines how many users see the ad and click on it.

CPC is a popular pricing model, while CTR is one of several key performance indicators determining how effective an advertising campaign is at driving users to a webpage or landing page.

A high CTR, for example, is a good sign that the advertising campaign resonates with the target audience.

CPC vs CPV: What’s the Difference?

As discussed, CPC refers to how many times users click on an ad. The types of advertising covered by the CPC pricing model are diverse – search ads, display ads, and video ads can all operate within CPC campaigns.

CPV stands for Cost Per View and, as the name suggests, is a metric specifically used for video advertising, referring to the amount an advertiser pays when a user views their video ad. CPV advertising is particularly popular among app marketers running video advertising campaigns to increase brand awareness.

CPM vs CPV: What’s the Difference?

While CPM determines advertising costs per thousand ad impressions, CPV specifically refers to the cost of a single video ad view in an online marketing campaign.

CPM is a good and cost-effective choice for advertisers looking to increase brand awareness, while CPV (cost per ONE view) is used only in video or pop-up ad campaigns and is most commonly applied to mobile applications.

CPV vs CPA: What’s the Difference?

In many ways, CPV is a subcategory of CPA. Remember that the CPA pricing model means cost per action, and CPV means cost per view.

While CPA marketing can be conducted across many advertising formats, CPV requires users to watch a certain amount of video or pop-up ads for the advertiser to get paid.

Which of these pricing models an advertiser chooses depends on the type of online advertising, choice of advertising platforms, and the ultimate campaign goal.

CPA vs CPM: What’s the Difference?

The effectiveness of CPA advertising campaigns depends on whether users take a specific, predetermined action when viewing the ad. The effectiveness of a CPA advertising campaign depends on user conversion.

The CPA calculation formula is the total campaign cost divided by the total number of conversions (or actions taken) by the user. In a CPA campaign, publishers essentially bear all the risk since they don’t get paid if users don’t convert.

Conversely, CPM advertising is relatively low-risk for publishers since they get paid per thousand impressions, regardless of user behavior.

CPM vs CPI: What’s the Difference?

While CPM refers to the costs incurred for every thousand ad impressions, CPI or Cost Per Install refers to the cost of each software, game, or app installation.

CPM is a popular marketing metric for ad networks serving banner, native, and pop-up ads, while CPI marketing is most commonly used among mobile app developers looking to attract new customers and increase downloads.

CPC vs CPI: What’s the Difference?

CPC advertising ensures that the advertiser pays each time an ad is clicked, largely relying on the click-through rate (CTR) metric.

Conversely, CPI campaigns depend on whether a user takes a specific action – installing an app, game, or software. The CPI calculation formula is the total campaign cost divided by the number of installations.

Since advertisers only pay for the number of users who actually install the app based on the appearing ad, this metric is popular among marketers looking to maximize return on ad spend (ROAS).

CPA vs CPI: What’s the Difference?

CPI or Cost Per Install is a pricing model defined by the rate that a marketing agency or advertiser pays to acquire new users through app installation.

Going back 15 years when 99-cent apps were the standard in app stores, the CPI pricing model was the most commonly used metric for measuring campaign effectiveness in the mobile app ecosystem.

Now, CPA is the preferred KPI as it takes into account the complexities of the free-to-play and freemium market.

CPL vs CPA: What’s the Difference?

CPL stands for Cost Per Lead, and it’s essentially a type of CPA. CPL is the amount advertisers pay for each lead generated from advertising.

CPL marketing is a popular choice in the e-commerce space for businesses selling subscriptions and high-value products. CPL is an excellent choice for businesses looking to obtain data from potential customers, such as email addresses.

CPM vs CPL: What’s the Difference?

CPM is a marketing term used to indicate the price of a thousand impressions on a webpage, regardless of ad formats, ad placement, or user actions. While CPM is at the top of the marketing funnel and associated with increasing brand awareness, CPL (Cost Per Lead) campaigns are in the middle of the marketing funnel.

CPL advertising should be used by companies looking to generate leads through online advertising. This type of advertising allows companies to pay for each generated lead, making it a cost-effective approach.

CPC vs CPL: What’s the Difference?

The main difference between Cost Per Click (CPC) and Cost Per Lead (CPL) advertising pricing models is that with CPC, advertisers only pay when someone clicks on their ad, while with CPL, advertisers pay when someone submits their contact information through a form.

And really, clients shouldn’t have to worry about all these technical details. Instead, they should have a reliable marketing partner – for example, through outsourcing – who can navigate these complexities and choose the most effective model for their specific goals.