High competition Last updated July 1, 2026

Tech/SaaS Advertising Benchmarks 2026

Software and technology services - emphasis on free trials and demos

Avg. CPC
$5.87
Cost per click
Avg. CPM
$16.50
Cost per 1,000 impressions
Avg. CPA
$93.69
Cost per acquisition
Conversion Rate
4.85%
Visitors → conversions
How to read this page: These are cross-platform averages for Tech/SaaS as a category. Your actual costs will vary by platform, geography, audience size, ad quality, and seasonality. Below you'll find the platforms that historically perform best for this vertical, plus a link back to /benchmarks for the full platform-by-platform reference table.

Top Platforms for Tech/SaaS

The three platforms with the strongest historical performance for Tech/SaaS campaigns. Click a card to see the full platform benchmark hub.

#1 for Tech/SaaS High cost

LinkedIn Ads

B2B professional network advertising - premium pricing

CPC $6.50 CPM $36.00
B2B marketing Professional services
#2 for Tech/SaaS High cost

Google Ads PPC

Search advertising on Google - pay per click on search results

CPC $5.42
High intent searches Local businesses
#3 for Tech/SaaS Low cost

Meta Ads

Facebook and Instagram advertising - highly targetable social ads

CPC $1.10 CPM $7.80
Social engagement Mobile users

All Platforms — Tech/SaaS View

The current benchmark dataset tracks Tech/SaaS at the industry-aggregate level (the KPIs above) rather than platform-by-platform within this vertical. For platform-level CPC and CPM comparisons across the full list of 11 platforms, head to the main benchmarks reference.

View the full platform-by-platform table

Considerations for Tech / SaaS

SaaS marketing hinges on the free-trial or demo funnel more than on the initial ad click, so CPA is best measured against activated trial → paid conversion, not signup alone. LinkedIn drives higher-intent leads but Google search on category and competitor terms is usually the highest-ROI channel. Product-Qualified-Lead (PQL) scoring downstream of the ad click matters more than the ad-level cost metrics.

About the Data

Update Schedule

Tech/SaaS benchmark data is refreshed quarterly. The current dataset was last updated July 1, 2026.

Next scheduled update: October 1, 2026.

Sources

  • WordStream/LocaliQ 2026 Google Ads Benchmarks (May 2026, n=13,000 campaigns)
  • LocaliQ 2026 Search Advertising Benchmarks
  • WordStream Comprehensive Guide to Online Advertising Costs 2026
  • WordStream Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2025
  • WordStream 2026 TikTok Ads Cost Guide

Put These Benchmarks to Work

Free calculators to plan, measure, and optimize Tech/SaaS campaigns.