Cost Per Install: What an App Install Costs, by Platform

Cost per install (CPI) is what you spent on ads divided by the installs they brought. Published figures run from $0.14 for a casual game on Android to $26.70 for a US sports app on Apple Ads. Your category sets the range. Most networks bill you by impression, not by install. These are the networks' and analysts' own pages, read on 26 October 2026.¹²³

In short

• The formula: Meta's metric is "amount spent divided by app installs".¹
• How you pay: Meta, TikTok and Snapchat bill by impression; Google aims at a target CPI; Apple Ads Basic charges per install.⁴⁵⁶⁷⁸
• Apple Ads: a global median CPI of $1.80; in the US, from $1.33 for Shopping to $26.70 for Sports (AppTweak, 2025).²
• Games: Adjust's 2026 median is $0.56 worldwide and $1.68 in North America.⁹
• The lever you hold: paid by impression, the share of viewers who install sets your CPI. The ad is where that share is won.

What is cost per install?

Spend divided by installs, over the same period. Meta reports it as "The average cost for each app install", and warns that for iOS 14+ devices, "this metric may not be calculated" in some cases.¹

What counts as an install differs by network:

• TikTok: "InstallApp: When the app is launched for the very first time."¹⁰
• Snapchat: "Installs are recorded once a Snapchatter downloads and opens the app."¹¹
• Apple Ads Basic: downloads and redownloads "within a 30-day conversion window".¹²

So two networks' CPIs are not counted the same way. Compare a network with itself over time.

How does each network charge for an install?

Only one sells installs as such:

• Meta: "As of January 11, 2021, CPA billing for app ads is no longer available. You will now be billed by Impressions."⁴
• TikTok: "oCPM is the default method for the conversions and app install advertising objectives", charged by impression.⁵
• Snapchat: "Regardless of an ad set's goal, advertisers are billed when impressions are delivered."⁶
• Google: a "target cost per install (Target CPI) campaign" sets "the average amount you'd like to spend each time someone installs your app".⁷
• Apple Ads Basic: "Cost-per-install pricing model. Pay only for installs at a cost you choose." Up to $10,000 a month per app.⁸
• Apple Ads Advanced: "Pay only when a user taps your ad, up to a maximum price you choose."⁸

What does an app install cost on Apple Ads?

It depends most on the category. AppTweak's US medians for 2025, from about 2,800 advertisers:²

Across 38 countries, AppTweak's median is $1.80 in search results.² SplitMetrics, from its own campaigns, gives an average of $3.76 for 2025, highest for "Sports ($19.74), Finance ($13.28), and Medical ($8.90)".¹³ A median and an average from different data will not match. Read each with its source.

What does an install cost for a mobile game?

Less, and far less outside North America. Adjust's medians from its 2026 gaming report:⁹

• Worldwide: $0.56
• North America: $1.68
• Europe: $0.53
• Asia Pacific: $0.27
• Latin America: $0.14

Liftoff, on Singular's data from February 2024 to February 2025: "The average CPI for casual games was $1.41 on iOS and $0.14 on Android".³

Does an install cost more on iOS?

On the published figures, yes. AppsFlyer: "The average CPI for Android is $1.20, whereas iOS is triple that at $3.60."¹⁴ It gives no period or region for that figure. Google's own advice for App campaigns: "For iOS, a bid 1.5 times higher than Android is recommended."¹⁵

How do you set a target CPI?

Start from what an install is worth to you, then give the network room:

• Google: "if you set your average daily budget for $100, and your target cost-per-install is $2, you're aiming for about 50 installs per day". Set a daily budget "at least 50 times your target CPI".⁷¹⁶
• TikTok: "Set the budget to be at least 10 times the CPA bid".¹⁷
• Meta: a cost per result goal aims to keep the average near your number, and Meta says it may not hold to it.¹⁸
• Apple Ads Basic: "We suggest a max CPI based on what we know about your app".¹⁹

How do you lower your cost per install?

When you pay by impression, CPI is the price of the views divided by the installs they bring. Two ads at the same price per view can cost twice as much per install:

So the levers are the ones that turn a view into an install:

1. The first second: a line about the viewer, not your logo. See video ad hooks.
2. The real app on screen, so the store page matches what the ad showed.
3. More than one ad, run against each other, so the cheaper one gets the budget. See creative testing.
4. The right size for each placement: 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9.

Where 10xvid fits

10xvid, motion graphics ads for apps, makes the ads you test. Paste your App Store link or website into the chat. It reads the site and draws video ads from your real app screens, in 9:16, 1:1 and 16:9.²⁰

Solo is about 30 video ads a month for $79.²¹ The first ad is free, with no card: make your first ad.

Questions about cost per install

What is a good cost per install?

One below what an install earns you back. For a benchmark, AppTweak's US Apple Ads medians run from $1.33 for Shopping to $26.70 for Sports.²

Does Facebook charge per install?

No. Meta has billed app ads by impression since 11 January 2021, and reports cost per install as a metric.¹⁴

Which network charges only for installs?

Apple Ads Basic: "Pay only for installs at a cost you choose", up to $10,000 a month per app.⁸

Why is my CPI different on each dashboard?

Each network counts an install its own way. TikTok counts the first launch; Apple Ads Basic counts downloads and redownloads within 30 days.¹⁰¹²

1. Meta Business Help Center, "Cost per app install" (facebook.com/business/help/963812227161566), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
2. AppTweak, "Apple Ads benchmarks 2026" (apptweak.com/en/aso-blog/apple-ads-benchmarks), 19 August 2026, read on 26 October 2026. ↩
3. Liftoff, "2025 Casual Gaming Apps Report" (liftoff.ai/2025-casual-gaming-apps-report), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
4. Meta Business Help Center, CPA billing for app ads (facebook.com/business/help/120684068612884), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
5. TikTok Ads Manager help, "Bidding methods" (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/bidding-methods), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
6. Snapchat Business Help Center, ad performance FAQs (businesshelp.snapchat.com/s/article/ad-performance-faqs), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
7. Google Ads Help, bidding in App campaigns (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7100895), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
8. Apple Ads, "Compare Apple Ads solutions" (ads.apple.com/app-store/help/apple-ads-basic/0001-compare-apple-ads-solutions), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
9. Adjust, mobile game user acquisition (adjust.com/blog/mobile-game-user-acquisition-strategy), 14 October 2026, from its "Gaming app insights report: 2026 edition", read on 26 October 2026. ↩
10. TikTok Ads Manager help, integrating the TikTok App Events SDK (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/how-to-integrate-tiktok-app-events-sdk), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
11. Snapchat Business Help Center, conversion metrics glossary (businesshelp.snapchat.com/s/article/conversion-metrics-glossary), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
12. Apple Ads, Basic performance definitions (ads.apple.com/app-store/help/apple-ads-basic/0044-view-basic-app-promotion-performance), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
13. SplitMetrics, "Apple Ads Cost" (splitmetrics.com/blog/apple-search-ads-cost), 14 September 2026, read on 26 October 2026. ↩
14. AppsFlyer, "Cost per install" glossary (appsflyer.com/glossary/cost-per-install), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
15. Google Ads Help, choosing a bid strategy for App campaigns (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/12073727), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
16. Google Ads Help, best practices for setting up App campaigns (support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6167162), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
17. TikTok Ads Manager help, best practices for bidding strategies (ads.tiktok.com/help/article/best-practices-for-bidding-strategies), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
18. Meta Business Help Center, bid strategies (facebook.com/business/help/1619591734742116), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
19. Apple Ads, promoting your app with Basic (ads.apple.com/app-store/help/apple-ads-basic/0039-promote-an-app-with-basic), read on 26 October 2026. ↩
20. 10xvid.com/engine, read on 26 October 2026. ↩
21. 10xvid.com/pricing, read on 26 October 2026. ↩