adtribute Data · Ad platform benchmarks
Facebook & Instagram ads cost: Meta Ads benchmarks for e-commerce
In September 2026 the median European DTC brand paid €12.76 per 1,000 Meta impressions, 24% more than a year earlier, and €1.06 per link click. Ads drew a link click on 1.19% of impressions, and each euro of spend returned €1.01 in revenue on last touch and €1.60 on first touch.
Headline medians
As of Sep 2026 · change vs a year earlier
What Facebook and Instagram ads cost in 2026
Meta sells Facebook and Instagram placements in one auction and bills per impression or click, so there is no list price. In September 2026 the median DTC brand paid €12.76 per 1,000 impressions and €1.06 per link click. The middle half of brands paid between €9.19 and €16.56 per 1,000 impressions and between €0.82 and €1.28 per link click.
Over the last twelve months the median CPM was highest in November 2025 at €13.35 and lowest in January 2026 at €9.01. Black Friday and Christmas bring more advertisers into the auction, so plan Q4 budgets with that premium.
What €1,000 buys at the medians
-
about 78,000
impressions at the median CPM of €12.76
-
about 940
link clicks at the median CPC of €1.06
What stands out
- 1,000 impressions cost 24% more than a year earlier, a link click only 1% more: the link click-through rate rose from 0.99% to 1.19%, so more of the dearer impressions became clicks.
- Beauty & personal care pays the most per 1,000 impressions, €20.06, about twice the €9.93 of fashion & accessories.
- Ads Manager reports a median ROAS of 2.00 for the same brands, about twice the 1.01 adtribute attributes on last touch.
- On last touch, Meta returns the most in home & living (1.49) and the least in beauty & personal care (0.87).
Meta Ads benchmarks by industry
Latest month. Industry cells show the gap to the all-industries median, colored by whether it is good or bad news for the operator, and open the metric's page on that industry. Each industry in the header opens its own benchmark page.
Ads Manager ROAS against attributed ROAS
For the same brands in September 2026, Meta's own reporting shows a median ROAS of 2.00. adtribute attributes 1.01 on last touch and 1.60 on first touch. Ads Manager counts view-through and modeled conversions and credits Meta with orders other channels also touched, while adtribute credits every order exactly once across all channels, so the attributed ROAS is the one that adds up across channels.
-
Ads Manager
2.00
-
adtribute, first touch
1.60
-
adtribute, last touch
1.01
Meta Ads vs Google Ads
A Meta link click cost a median €1.06 in September 2026, a Google Ads click €0.56. On last touch Meta returned €1.01 per euro and non-brand Google €2.66, on first touch €1.60 and €4.15. Meta's CPC counts link clicks only, Google's every click across Search, Shopping and Performance Max.
| Median | Meta Ads | Google Ads |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per click | €1.06 per link click | €0.56 per click, all campaigns |
| Click-through rate | 1.19% link clicks per impression | 1.79% clicks per impression |
| ROAS, last touch | 1.01 adtribute attribution | 2.66 non-brand, adtribute attribution |
| ROAS, first touch | 1.60 adtribute attribution | 4.15 non-brand, adtribute attribution |
| ROAS the platform reports | 2.00 Ads Manager | 2.27 Google Ads, non-brand |
How these benchmarks are built
Every figure comes from the Meta Ads benchmark pages: CPM, CPC and link click-through rate per brand and month from the connected ad accounts, across all campaign types and placements, and ROAS from adtribute's non-direct last-touch and first-touch attribution, matched to real Shopify orders. Each metric uses a balanced panel of brands with at least €500 of Meta spend in every month, and the medians and quartiles are estimated as a weighted blend of all brands in the cut, so no figure is any single brand's number. Industry figures are medians only, and the number of brands and panel membership are never disclosed.
More benchmarks
Frequently asked questions
How much do Facebook ads cost in 2026?
There is no fixed price: Meta bills per impression or click in an auction. In September 2026 the median DTC brand in our panel paid €12.76 per 1,000 impressions (24% more than a year earlier) and €1.06 per link click. At these medians €1,000 buys about 78,000 impressions or about 940 link clicks.
How much do Instagram ads cost?
Instagram ads run in the same Meta auction as Facebook ads, and the account-level figures here include Instagram placements: €12.76 per 1,000 impressions and €1.06 per link click for the median DTC brand in September 2026. Placement, format and audience move the price within the band, €9.19 to €16.56 per 1,000 impressions for the middle half of brands.
What budget do I need for Facebook ads?
Work back from the orders you want. At the median link CPC of €1.06 and the median shop conversion rate of 2.14%, an order from Meta clicks costs about €50 in media. Across all channels the median DTC brand pays €48.38 per new customer, so 100 new customers a month cost about €4,840. Paid social traffic often converts below the shop average, so plan with a buffer.
What is a good CPM for Facebook ads?
The median DTC brand paid €12.76 per 1,000 impressions in September 2026. Below €9.19 a brand is in the cheapest quarter of the panel, above €16.56 in the most expensive. By industry the median ranges from €9.93 in fashion & accessories to €20.06 in beauty & personal care.
What is a good CPC for Facebook ads?
€1.06 per link click is the median in September 2026, with the middle half of brands between €0.82 and €1.28. By industry it ranges from €0.91 in fashion & accessories to €1.28 in beauty & personal care. Link clicks count only clicks to the shop, so this CPC runs above the "CPC (all)" that Ads Manager shows by default.
What is a good CTR for Facebook ads?
The median link click-through rate is 1.19% in September 2026, with the middle half of brands between 0.92% and 1.48%. By industry it ranges from 1.07% in home & living to 1.58% in beauty & personal care. Link CTR counts only clicks to the shop, so it runs well below the "CTR (all)" Ads Manager shows by default.
What is a good ROAS for Meta ads?
On adtribute attribution the median Meta Ads ROAS is 1.01 on last touch and 1.60 on first touch in September 2026, with the middle half of brands between 0.62 and 1.66 on last touch. Ads Manager reports 2.00 for the same brands. A good ROAS clears your break-even ROAS, 1 divided by gross margin (1.67 at a 60 percent margin), on the attribution model you trust.
What are typical Meta ads benchmarks for e-commerce?
For European DTC brands in September 2026: a CPM of €12.76, €1.06 per link click, a link click-through rate of 1.19%, and a ROAS of 1.01 on last touch and 1.60 on first touch, against 2.00 in Ads Manager. By industry, CPM ranges from €9.93 in fashion & accessories to €20.06 in beauty & personal care and last-touch ROAS from 0.87 in beauty & personal care to 1.49 in home & living.
Are Facebook ads cheaper than Google Ads?
Per click, no: a Meta link click cost a median €1.06 in September 2026, a Google Ads click €0.56. On adtribute attribution, non-brand Google returned €2.66 per euro on last touch and €4.15 on first touch, Meta €1.01 and €1.60. Meta's CPC counts link clicks only, Google's every click across Search, Shopping and Performance Max, so compare the two on the same attribution model and on new customers, not on clicks alone.
Where do these benchmarks come from?
From the connected Meta ad accounts, first-party tracking and Shopify orders of a subset of adtribute customers, all European direct-to-consumer brands. Each metric uses a balanced panel, the same brands in every month, and ROAS is attributed by adtribute with one model applied identically to every brand. Only medians and quartile bands are published, never a single brand's value, and the figures update every month.
Unlock Better Data Today
Join 100+ leading e-commerce brands and lead-gen companies using adtribute to track, attribute, and optimize their marketing for profitable growth.