See how your app install costs compare. Explore mobile acquisition cost benchmarks by industry, region, and platform
July 2025 - July 2026
Detailed observation of presented data
The main story: Media industry cost-per-app-install (CPI) in All countries ran mostly below the global benchmark for much of the sample, then experienced a dramatic, singular spike in March 2026 that dwarfed prior months and the baseline. This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Media in All countries compared to the global benchmark.
Across the four reported months for Media (Dec 2025 → Mar 2026) the series begins at roughly $2.90 in December, climbs to about $13.50 in January, eases to $7.37 in February, then explodes to $2,313.63 in March. The raw mean across those four months is about $584, driven almost entirely by March; the three-month mean excluding March is roughly $7.93. Range-wise the CPI spans from $2.90 to $2,313.63 — roughly a 800x difference between the low and the high.
Key movements: December → January is a ~4.6x lift (about +365%), January → February is a decline of roughly 45%, and February → March is an extraordinary surge of about 314x. Volatility metrics underline that March is an outlier: standard deviation across the four months is approximately $1,153 (coefficient of variation ~197%). By contrast, the baseline (global) CPI across June 2025–June 2026 averaged about $15.6 with a standard deviation near $5.3 (CV ~34%), and ranged from roughly $9.34 to $30.13. That makes the Media All-countries series far more volatile than the baseline.
The short time series shows a low-winter start, a modest rebound in early January, and a softening in February — a rhythm that would, on its face, align with subdued post-holiday CPI levels and then typical early-year churn. The March data point breaks that rhythm entirely, creating a single-month maximum that eclipses typical seasonal peaks observed in the baseline (the baseline’s highest month is about $30 in February 2026). Aside from the March anomaly, the Media All-countries CPI sits below the baseline for the available months (Dec–Feb), with December’s $2.90 and February’s $7.37 well under the global monthly medians.
Relative phrasing: Media in All countries tracked below the global benchmark through December–February, with CPI generally in the single digits versus a baseline monthly average near $15–16. At its narrowest relative gap (January), Media’s $13.50 was close to the baseline’s early-year levels; at its widest (March), Media’s $2,313.63 exceeded the global benchmark by two orders of magnitude. Overall the All-countries Media series is far more volatile and episodic than the baseline — a calm, lower-cost profile punctuated by an extreme outlier month.
Understanding Facebook Ads cost-per-app-install benchmarks for Media in All countries helps contextualize industry ad performance, CPC trends, CPM analysis, CTR performance references, and broader country-specific ad costs when comparing local rhythm to global patterns.
Insights & analysis of Facebook advertising costs
Facebook advertising costs vary based on many factors including industry, target audience, ad placement, and campaign objectives. In the Media industry, Facebook ad costs can be influenced by seasonal trends and market competition. Geographic targeting affects ad costs based on market competition and user engagement in different regions. Different campaign objectives lead to varying costs based on how Facebook optimizes for your specific goals. The data shown represents median values across multiple campaigns, and individual results may vary based on ad quality, audience targeting, and campaign optimization.
We use the median CTR because the underlying distribution of click-through rates is highly skewed, with a small share of campaigns achieving extremely high CTRs. These outliers can inflate a simple average, making it less representative of what most advertisers actually experience. By using the median—which sits at the midpoint of all campaigns—we provide a more rigorous and realistic benchmark that reflects the true underlying data model and helps you set attainable performance expectations.
Note: This data represents industry median values and benchmarks. Your actual costs may vary based on specific targeting, ad creative quality, and campaign optimization.
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All data is sourced from over $3B in Facebook ad spend, collected across thousands of ad accounts that use Superads daily to analyze and improve their campaigns. Every data point is fully anonymized and aggregated—no individual advertiser is ever exposed.
This dataset updates frequently as new ad data flows in. It will only get bigger and better.
iOS CPIs often range from $2 to $5 or more. Android is usually cheaper, between $1 and $3. Your CPI will depend on geo, creative, and optimization goal.
Some regions like the US, UK, and Canada have higher competition and stricter privacy regulations, which drive up costs. Countries with lower purchasing power typically have cheaper CPIs.
Short videos showing app benefits, UGC-style content, and localized messaging tend to perform best. Clear CTAs and fast-paced visuals help lower your CPI.
Optimizing for installs gets volume, but optimizing for actions like signups or purchases brings higher quality users. It depends on your goals and how much post-install behavior matters.
Align your creative with the app experience, avoid misleading ads, and exclude users who already installed. You can also test lookalike audiences based on high-quality users, not just all installers.
Discover detailed cost benchmarks for different Facebook advertising metrics:
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Cost per thousand impressions across different markets
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Cost per lead across different markets
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See how much it costs to get users to install an app