CTR Calculator
Clicks over impressions, solved in any direction with the formula shown, and impossible inputs blocked with an explanation instead of becoming a 200% rate that poisons every downstream number.
CTR solver enter any two, the third is solved
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Unit economics: contribution and break-even bids
Scenario planner arithmetic from your assumptions, not a forecast
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A rate is only as clean as its counts
CTR problems are usually data problems: an impressions column from one date range divided by a clicks column from another, totals summed across networks that define clicks differently, or invalid traffic inflating the numerator. This calculator validates the relationship (clicks cannot exceed impressions for unique clicks), blocks dependent results when it fails, and keeps the definition beside the number. When your counts are clean, the same inputs flow into CPC, CPA and the margin-driven break-evens below without retyping.
CTR, the formula and a worked example
Click-through rate is clicks divided by impressions, expressed as a percentage. 3,600 clicks on 120,000 impressions is a CTR of 3.0%. The calculator also runs it backwards: from a CTR and an impression count it tells you the clicks to expect, which is the number a media plan actually needs.
What counts as good depends entirely on the surface. Search ads on an exact-match brand term can clear 10%; a generic non-brand search term is often 2 to 5%; display banners usually sit well under 1%; an email with a good subject line might see 2 to 4% of recipients click. A 1% CTR is a disaster for one channel and a strong result for another, so the rate is only meaningful next to its own benchmark.
CTR misleads when the counts behind it are not clean. Bot clicks and accidental mobile taps inflate the numerator; impressions that were never viewable inflate the denominator; a click-bait creative lifts CTR and lowers every rate that follows it. A rising CTR with a falling conversion rate is the classic sign that the ad is attracting the wrong clicks. Read CTR together with the downstream rates, never alone.
CTR FAQ
How do I calculate click-through rate?
CTR = clicks / impressions x 100. 1,250 clicks from 50,000 impressions is a 2.5% CTR. The solver above also runs backwards: the clicks a CTR implies at a given impression volume, or the impressions needed for a click target at an assumed CTR. Each direction shows its rearranged formula.
What is a good CTR?
Relative to your channel, format, audience and query intent, and to your own history; not to a universal number. Search ads on brand terms see CTRs that display campaigns never will, and both can be healthy. That is why this page carries no benchmark chips: compare your campaigns against each other and let your unit economics, not someone’s average, define success.
Why does this calculator refuse a CTR above 100%?
Because clicks exceeding impressions means the data is broken, not that the ad is amazing: mismatched date ranges, clicks from one report against impressions from another, or bot traffic. Standard CTR counts unique ad clicks per impression. Instead of computing 200% and quietly feeding it into projections, the funnel blocks CTR and everything downstream of it with the reason displayed.
Does a higher CTR mean a better campaign?
Only up to the click. CTR measures ad appeal; profit lives further down the funnel in conversion rate, order value and margin. A clickbait creative can double CTR while attracting visitors who never buy, raising costs and lowering contribution. Judge creatives by CTR, campaigns by the contribution economics in the panel below.
More free tools: Ad Metrics Calculator · CPM Calculator · CPA Calculator · ROAS Calculator