How Much Do TikTok Ads Cost? How to Set a Budget That Actually Makes Sense

TikTok ads are generating increasing interest among businesses looking to reach new audiences. The platform primarily attracts younger generations, but the number of users aged 25+ is also growing rapidly. It’s no surprise that many advertisers are asking how much TikTok advertising costs and how to set a budget that delivers real results.

It’s important to start with one key fact: there is no fixed price. TikTok advertising operates on an auction-based system, meaning costs depend on competition, ad creative quality, and the audience you want to reach. As a result, the answer to “how much do TikTok ads cost?” varies—but there are typical ranges and clear rules worth knowing.

On TikTok, advertisers most commonly pay for impressions (CPM), clicks (CPC), or specific actions such as purchases (CPA). In practice, this looks like:

• CPM usually ranges from a few to several dozen PLN per 1,000 impressions.
• CPC can range from a few dozen groszy to several PLN, depending on ad quality and appeal.

Why are these costs so different? Because TikTok evaluates ad quality. If a video captures attention quickly, feels engaging, and matches TikTok’s native style, costs tend to be lower. If the ad performs poorly, costs increase. The logic is simple: the platform wants to show users content they actually enjoy.

Other key factors that impact costs include:

1. Target Audience

The more narrow your targeting, the higher the cost is likely to be. TikTok performs best with broader audiences, giving the algorithm more room to optimize delivery.

2. Video Quality

Professional equipment matters less than a truly “TikTok-style” approach. Natural, dynamic, fast-paced videos generally perform better—and lead to lower costs.

3. Ad Performance

Ads with a high CTR (click-through rate) or strong engagement are rewarded with lower delivery costs.

4. Seasonality

During peak periods like Black Friday or the holiday season, competition increases—so TikTok ad costs rise as well.

TikTok Ads Manager enforces minimum budget thresholds:

• Minimum daily budget per ad group: 80 PLN
• Minimum campaign budget: 200 PLN

If you try to set lower amounts, the system simply won’t allow the campaign to launch.

source: TikTok Ads Panel

Note: TikTok also allows you to set a lifetime budget, which distributes spend across the entire campaign period. However, this limits day-to-day budget control.

If you plan to spend less than 80 PLN per day, the recommended solution is to use Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO) at the campaign level.

In this model, TikTok requires a minimum campaign budget of 200 PLN, which is a total budget—not a daily one. You can spread it over several days or a longer period.

source: TikTok Ads Panel

Your campaign objective should always determine your budget. Each goal comes with different expectations and cost structures.

1. If Your Goal Is Reach

The key metric is CPM—the cost to reach 1,000 users. To estimate your budget, decide how many people you want to reach and multiply that number by your estimated CPM. This is the simplest planning method.

2. If You Want to Drive Website Traffic

Here, CPC is what matters most. If you know how many clicks you need, you can easily estimate your required budget.

3. If Your Goal Is Sales or Lead Generation

The most important metric is CPA (cost per action). TikTok needs a larger data volume to optimize effectively for conversions, which means your budget needs to be higher. In practice, sales campaigns should be planned with more time and stronger financial backing.

4. If You Want to Test Creatives or Audiences

Make sure each test has enough budget to generate meaningful data. If the budget is too small, results will be random and testing won’t deliver actionable insights.

While costs depend on many variables, there are proven ways to keep them under control:

• Use short, natural videos—TikTok rewards authenticity over perfection.
• Focus on a strong hook—those first three seconds determine whether users keep watching.
• Avoid creating too many small ad groups—it weakens performance.
• Refresh creatives regularly—video fatigue leads to lower engagement and higher costs.

Start with broad audiences and let the algorithm find the best users.

The cost of TikTok advertising depends on many factors, but in general, pricing is flexible and heavily influenced by creative quality and audience selection. When campaigns are set up correctly and budgets align with goals, TikTok can deliver strong performance at competitive costs.

Strategic planning, realistic budgets, and continuous optimization are the keys to running effective campaigns and scaling results on TikTok.