CPA (cost per action)
CPA, or cost per action, is both an advertising pricing model and a metric in which the advertiser pays for, or calculates the cost of, each defined action someone takes, such as a purchase, sign-up or enquiry
What it means, how it is used and where it comes up, with its related concepts.
What it is and how it works
As a pricing model, the advertiser pays only when the agreed action happens, which is common in affiliate marketing. As a metric, it is spend divided by the number of actions achieved, and it is also used as a bidding target on platforms such as Google Ads (target CPA).
The acronym covers several specific actions: when the action is a lead it is called cost per lead (CPL), and when it is a sale or new customer, cost per acquisition. It is always worth stating which action is being measured so that figures can be compared meaningfully.
Also known as
Cost per action, Pay per action
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