What is the minimum budget for TikTok ads?

Per the TikTok help centre, a campaign daily budget and total budget must both exceed 50 USD, and an ad group daily budget must exceed 20 USD. Accounts billed in another currency see the equivalent, and what governs is the figure Ads Manager shows when you build the campaign. TikTok can change these thresholds.

How much does a click cost on TikTok?

There is no rate card. Price is set at auction against other advertisers for the same impression and moves with vertical, audience and how well the creative performs. TikTok does not publish official average CPC or CPM by country, so treat the averages you find in search as third-party aggregates. Build the budget from the number of results you need and what you can afford per result instead.

Is there an account fee or a platform charge?

No. Opening the ad account and using Ads Manager cost nothing, and the only money that leaves is media spend. The one exception is the card verification on automatic payment: TikTok deducts at least 10 USD, or the local equivalent, and refunds it within 15 days.

Manual payment or automatic payment?

If the goal is to reach a credit bracket, pick whichever lets you see accumulated spend most easily. One constraint matters: TikTok allows the move from manual to automatic but not back again. Once you are on automatic payment you cannot return to manual.

Can I run a very small daily budget over a long period?

Not below the campaign minimum, which has to exceed 50 USD a day. And if you are working towards the credit there is a 30-day deadline, so stretching it out works against you. Divide the target by the days you have left, set the daily budget from that, and start.

What should I budget for beyond media?

Creative. Vertical video decides performance on TikTok and one asset rarely carries a full month. Existing product footage or review clips are enough for week one, but plan the replacements before week two arrives.

TIKTOK ADS COST

WHAT TIKTOK ADSACTUALLY COST

There is no signup fee and no monthly platform charge on TikTok advertising. The only cost is the media you buy, and what you can put in is governed by the budget minimums TikTok sets. This page covers those minimums at campaign and ad group level, how the charging actually works, and how a first month splits in practice, checked against TikTok official documentation.

Last checked 5 August 2026

The short answer

Opening a TikTok ad account is free and the only cost is media spend. Per the TikTok help centre, a campaign daily budget and total budget must exceed 50 USD, and an ad group daily budget must exceed 20 USD. There is no rate card: pricing is set at auction, and you are charged on CPC, CPM, oCPM or CPV depending on the campaign objective.

TikTok ads minimum budget

The minimum sits in two places, not one: on the campaign and on the ad group underneath it. Both have to clear before the setup saves, and a campaign budget lower than the ad group budget under it causes delivery problems.

Where it is set	Minimum daily budget	Minimum total budget
Campaign	Above 50 USD	Above 50 USD
Ad group	Above 20 USD	Total days x minimum daily budget

These are the figures TikTok states in USD in its help centre. An ad group total budget is the number of days in the schedule, past days included, multiplied by the daily minimum; the worked example TikTok gives is 620 USD for a 31-day flight. If your account is billed in another currency the screen shows the equivalent, and what governs is the number Ads Manager displays when you build the campaign. TikTok can change these values and they can differ by region.

SourceTikTok Ads Manager Help Center, about budget

The gap between the two minimums matters in practice. You may want to test creative at twenty dollars a day, but to open the campaign above it you need a campaign daily budget in the fifties. If the plan is two or three ad groups from the start, the campaign budget has to carry their combined weight.

How you are charged: CPC, CPM, oCPM and CPV

There is no published price per click on TikTok. Your ad competes at auction with other advertisers for the same impression, and that decides what a click or an impression costs. What you choose is not the price but the billing event: what the money is charged against.

Method	What you are charged for	Where it is used
CPC	One click	Traffic objectives, where the point is getting people to the site
CPM	One thousand impressions	Reach and awareness
oCPM	One thousand impressions served to people likely to take the action you want	The default for conversion and app install objectives
CPV	A view of at least six seconds, or an interaction within the first six seconds, whichever comes first	Video view objectives

oCPM is the default method on the conversion and app install objectives. A bid is the most you are willing to pay for one result. It is not the amount that gets deducted every time.

SourceTikTok Ads Manager Help Center, available bidding methods

Payment options and the first charge

There are two main ways to pay for the media: manual payment, where you top a balance up in advance and spend it down, and automatic payment, where TikTok charges the card on file once a threshold or a bill date arrives.

Manual payment: You deposit into a TikTok-designated account, which creates a cash balance on the ad account or in Business Center, and delivery is deducted from it. Whatever is left carries forward to the next campaign. To top up, go to the Tools tab in Ads Manager, then Billing under Settings, then Add balance on the Payment page.
Automatic payment: TikTok bills the card on file when the account reaches its billing threshold or its bill date, whichever comes first. The bill date is set from your registration time and spending history, on a weekly or monthly cycle. A primary payment method must always be on file.
Monthly invoicing: Available only to eligible businesses, with invoices due 30 days after receipt. The spending limit and billing threshold are set at TikTok discretion.

What a realistic first month looks like

For a new advertiser it makes sense to set the first month budget against the credit bracket. Reach the bracket within 30 days of registering and the same amount comes back as ad credit, which in practice doubles the first month. Below is each bracket divided flat across 30 days.

Target bracket	Divided across 30 days	What that means in practice
$200	About $7 a day	Below the campaign daily minimum. Rather than trickling for 30 days you concentrate it into a handful of days.
$500	About $17 a day	Also below the campaign minimum. You run above the minimum and close it out inside about ten days.
$1,000	About $34 a day	Still under the campaign minimum, so it is easier to run in the fifties and finish inside three weeks.
$4,000	About $134 a day	Comfortably above the campaign minimum, and still above the ad group minimum split two or three ways.
$6,000	About $200 a day	The smallest size at which you can run several creatives in parallel and let a winner emerge.

The two right-hand columns are SELLi arithmetic, a bracket divided by 30. They are not TikTok figures. Only the bracket amounts and the 30-day window come from TikTok. The 30 days run from the registration date rather than from your first ad, so every day spent on setup pushes the daily number up.

SourceTikTok for Business Help Center, incentive programme for new advertisers

One cost sits outside the media budget: creative. Vertical video carries TikTok in a way a static image does not, and a single asset rarely lasts a month. Existing product footage or review clips will get the first week going, but plan for something to swap in from week two.

The new advertiser ad credit, bracket by bracketFive 1:1 brackets from $200 to $6,000, who qualifies, and when the credit lands

Start now and the first month budget doubles

Everything above applies to a new advertiser and an established one alike. One thing does not. A new advertiser who reaches a threshold within 30 days of registering gets the same amount back as ad credit. It is once per advertiser, and the clock starts the day the account is registered.

Create your TikTok ad account and claim the creditPartner link

Goes to the official TikTok for Business signup. Creating and registering the account is free, and nothing is charged until you run ads.

If you need the setup order firstBusiness account, verification, payment method, pixel and the first campaign structure, step by step

Frequently asked

What is the minimum budget for TikTok ads?: Per the TikTok help centre, a campaign daily budget and total budget must both exceed 50 USD, and an ad group daily budget must exceed 20 USD. Accounts billed in another currency see the equivalent, and what governs is the figure Ads Manager shows when you build the campaign. TikTok can change these thresholds.
How much does a click cost on TikTok?: There is no rate card. Price is set at auction against other advertisers for the same impression and moves with vertical, audience and how well the creative performs. TikTok does not publish official average CPC or CPM by country, so treat the averages you find in search as third-party aggregates. Build the budget from the number of results you need and what you can afford per result instead.
Is there an account fee or a platform charge?: No. Opening the ad account and using Ads Manager cost nothing, and the only money that leaves is media spend. The one exception is the card verification on automatic payment: TikTok deducts at least 10 USD, or the local equivalent, and refunds it within 15 days.
Manual payment or automatic payment?: If the goal is to reach a credit bracket, pick whichever lets you see accumulated spend most easily. One constraint matters: TikTok allows the move from manual to automatic but not back again. Once you are on automatic payment you cannot return to manual.
Can I run a very small daily budget over a long period?: Not below the campaign minimum, which has to exceed 50 USD a day. And if you are working towards the credit there is a 30-day deadline, so stretching it out works against you. Divide the target by the days you have left, set the daily budget from that, and start.
What should I budget for beyond media?: Creative. Vertical video decides performance on TikTok and one asset rarely carries a full month. Existing product footage or review clips are enough for week one, but plan the replacements before week two arrives.

Run it yourself, or hand it over

SELLi is an official TikTok strategic partner and runs TikTok Shop setup and operations, paid media and live commerce directly. Selling Starbucks Vietnam merchandise on TikTok Live is one example. You can take the credit into your own account and hand over only the running of it.

If you are running it yourself, opening the account is step one. The 30-day clock starts the day you register.

Create the TikTok ad accountPartner link

If you would rather work out the first month split and the creative plan with someone who has run it, talk to us.

Talk to us about running it

Sources

Partner link disclosure: the start buttons on this page are SELLi partner links, and SELLi may earn a commission from TikTok if you sign up through one. There is no extra cost to you. TikTok alone sets the credit and pricing terms.