Instagram Ads budget calculator

Published 2025–2026 benchmarks put Instagram link clicks at roughly US$0.50–$1.20, with a planning range of US$0.70–$1.30, and Instagram Feed slightly cheaper than Facebook Feed in early 2026 (US$1.46 vs US$1.72) (AdManage, citing WordStream and Hootsuite). In Canadian dollars that is about $1–$2, hence the $1.75 preset.

Instagram traffic is interruption traffic: people were scrolling, not searching. Meta-wide website conversion benchmarks sit around 1.6%, and local businesses with a clear offer and a fast mobile page can reach 2–3%. If your page is slow on a phone, expect less, because almost every Instagram click comes from a phone.

Same auction, same Ads Manager; Meta usually places your ad on both unless you tell it not to. Instagram skews younger and visual (restaurants, beauty, fitness, retail); Facebook reaches older customers and local community groups (trades, home services, real estate). Run both placements for a month, then compare cost per lead in the calculator.

It depends on your margin. If you keep 50% of each sale after delivering it, you need a ROAS of about 2× just to break even and 4× or more to make the campaign clearly worth it. Online stores with thin margins need higher ROAS than a service business where one customer is worth thousands.

Enough to get real data. A campaign that only buys a handful of clicks a day takes months to tell you anything, so a sensible starting budget is one that buys a few hundred clicks a month at your industry's cost per click. Use the calculator to see what that means in dollars for your numbers, then scale up only once leads are coming in at a cost you can live with.

It varies enormously by industry and city. Retail and restaurant keywords are often under $2, local trades and professional services commonly run $5 to $20, and legal, insurance and HVAC emergency keywords can pass $30 in Toronto and the GTA. Google Keyword Planner shows free estimates for your own keywords and area.

ROAS compares ad revenue to ad spend only. ROI compares profit to total cost, so it also subtracts what the product or service cost you to deliver and any agency or management fee. A 3× ROAS can be a good ROI for a consultant and a loss for a store selling low-margin goods.

For a local service website, 2% to 5% of paid visitors contacting you is typical, and a focused landing page with one clear call to action can reach 5% to 10%. If yours is under 2%, fixing the page usually improves results more than spending more on ads.

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