Google Ads Budget Calculator
Work backwards from a goal: enter how many leads you want per month plus your CPC and conversion rate, and see the budget required, clicks needed and cost per lead. The reverse of the cost calculator.
To get 50 leads/mo at $2.50 CPC and a 5% conversion rate.
How it works
clicks = target leads ÷ (conversion rate ÷ 100), then budget = clicks × CPC. Not sure what CPC to use? Prefill real numbers on the cost calculator or browse CPC by industry.
This PPC budget calculator works for any pay-per-click channel — Google Ads, Microsoft (Bing) Ads or Meta — as long as you know your average CPC and conversion rate. For channel costs, see Microsoft Ads cost and Facebook Ads cost.
👉 Read next: how much should you budget for Google Ads · are Google Ads worth it · Google Ads cost for small business
Frequently Asked Questions
- How much should I budget for Google Ads?
- Work backwards from your lead goal: clicks needed = target leads ÷ conversion rate, then budget = clicks × CPC. For 50 leads at a 5% conversion rate you need 1,000 clicks; at a $2.50 CPC that is a $2,500 monthly budget.
- How do I calculate clicks needed for a lead goal?
- Clicks needed = target conversions ÷ (conversion rate ÷ 100). At a 5% conversion rate, 50 leads require 1,000 clicks.
- How much do small businesses spend on Google Ads?
- There is no typical number — spend depends on your industry CPC and lead goal. A local service business in a low-CPC niche might test with a few hundred dollars a month, while competitive niches like legal can require several thousand to generate a meaningful volume of leads. Use your own CPC in the calculator to see what your budget buys.
- How much do you need to spend on Google Ads to see results?
- Enough to generate a statistically useful number of conversions — as a rough guide, aim for at least 15–30 conversions per month so you can judge cost per lead and optimize. Divide that by your conversion rate and multiply by your CPC to get the required budget, or let the calculator do it.
- Is Google Ads worth it with a small budget?
- It can be, if your CPC is low and your landing page converts. Focus a small budget on a few high-intent, long-tail keywords instead of spreading it thin. See our guide: Are Google Ads Worth It? (linked below).