How much do Microsoft Ads cost? Budgets, bids and billing

This guide is built from Microsoft Advertising Help and Microsoft's API documentation: What are my billing options?, What is billing threshold and how does it work?, Budget and Bid Strategies and Bid and Budget Currencies. It gives no average cost per click, because Microsoft does not publish one and real prices depend on your keywords and market. To estimate costs for your own keywords, use the Microsoft Ads Keyword Planner.

How you pay: per click, in an auction

Microsoft's billing page puts it simply: "Microsoft Advertising is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising service, which means we charge you each time your ad is clicked." Search and Shopping ads are mostly paid per click. Some other formats can be bought by impressions (CPM) or optimised toward a target cost per conversion; our Microsoft Ads bid strategies guide covers each strategy.

The price of a click is not fixed. Microsoft's cost control page says costs "can change based on factors like competition, audience demand, and ad relevance", and that "cost per click may be higher in a competitive category or during a period of seasonal demand." What you control is the ceiling: your budget, your bids or bid limits, and your targets.

So the honest answer to how much Microsoft Ads cost is: as much as you decide to spend, with a click price that depends on your keywords, competitors and ad quality.

Daily and shared budgets

Every campaign needs a budget. Microsoft's API guide describes it this way: "You can set a daily budget for each campaign and when you reach your budget, Microsoft Advertising will stop displaying your ads until the next day or month."

• Daily budget per campaign: the usual setting. Microsoft also works out a monthly limit from it, by multiplying the daily budget by the number of days in the month.
• Shared budget: lets you "set a single daily budget that can be used by any campaign within the same account", so several campaigns draw on one amount.
• Standard delivery: spreads spend over the day, so ads do not use up a small budget in the morning.

Changes are not instant: "Changes to your budget generally take effect within an hour or so." If you change a daily budget in the middle of a month, the monthly limit is recalculated with this formula: "Monthly budget = month-to-date spend + daily budget * (days remaining in the month, including today)". Microsoft's example: change to $10 a day on July 15 after spending $250, and the new monthly limit is $420.

Microsoft also notes that it "does not require your campaign budget to be higher than the ad group and keyword bids." A small budget with high bids will not be refused, but it will buy very few clicks.

Can you spend more than your budget?

On a single day, yes. Microsoft says: "Your budget is a target; your actual spend might be higher or lower." Traffic differs by day of the week, and refunds for invalid clicks can return money to a campaign. Microsoft adds that it "usually keeps overspend to less than 100% above your daily limit."

Over the month, the calculated monthly limit is the cap: "If the daily budget amount or calculated monthly budget amount is depleted, the campaign is paused automatically." Automated bidding does not change this. Microsoft says: "Whichever bid strategy you use, Microsoft Advertising will always respect your budget limit."

In practice, plan your spend by the month, not the day. A daily budget of $20 means roughly $600 in a 30-day month, with some days above $20 and some below.

Minimum and maximum bids

Microsoft publishes bid limits per currency. For an account in US dollars, the currency table lists a minimum bid of $0.05 and a maximum bid of $1,000.00, with a minimum monthly budget of $5.00. Microsoft notes: "The minimum and maximum bid and budget for each currency below are subject to change."

These are system limits, not prices. What you actually pay per click comes from the auction. With Enhanced CPC you set ad group and keyword bids; with automated strategies such as Maximize clicks or Target CPA you can add a maximum CPC as a cap. The bid strategies guide explains which strategies allow that.

Billing options: prepay, postpay or invoice

Microsoft offers three ways to pay:

• Postpay threshold: you pay with a card after clicks are charged, when you reach your billing threshold or on your monthly billing date, whichever comes first.
• Prepay: you add funds first and clicks are deducted from them. "When you run out of funds, your account is paused until more money is added."
• Monthly invoice: a credit line with a monthly invoice, for larger advertisers who are approved for it.

Practical differences from Microsoft's comparison:

• Speed: "Setting up a postpay threshold account with a credit or debit card is the fastest way to get your advertising campaign up and running." Prepay by card is typically immediate but can take up to 24 hours; by bank transfer, typically 5 days.
• Payment types: postpay threshold takes credit and debit cards. Prepay also takes PayPal in some currencies, bank transfer and some country-specific methods.
• Backup card: postpay accounts can add a backup payment method, so an expired card does not stop the ads.
• Auto-recharge: prepay accounts paying online can top up automatically. Microsoft's auto-recharge page says it charges "Each time your account balance reaches 20% of the recharge amount, or we estimate that your account balance will deplete within eight hours".
• Switching: "You can switch from prepay to postpay threshold and vice versa at any time."

Your monthly billing date is the day you created the account. Sign up on the 31st and you are billed on the last day of shorter months. You cannot change the billing date.

How the billing threshold works

On a postpay threshold account, the card is charged when the threshold is reached or on the monthly billing date. Microsoft's billing threshold page explains how it changes:

• For an account billed in US dollars, "the billing threshold starts at $50".
• It "will automatically increase when you make successful payments."
• "Microsoft Advertising automatically decreases your billing threshold if you run into problems paying your charges."
• You can set a limit on each charge in Billing settings, for example to stay under a card's credit limit. "Charges can exceed the billing threshold or your limit by a small amount", so set it a little below the real ceiling.
• "The billing threshold only reflects advertising costs. It does not include any mandatory taxes." Where online services are taxed, the charge is the ad cost plus tax.

Microsoft may also place an authorisation hold on your card for the estimated amount, usually released within 7 days. If you want to pay earlier, you can pay your account balance at any time, but only in full: "You cannot pay only a portion of your account balance."

Monthly invoice billing

For higher spend, Microsoft can give you a credit line. Its monthly invoice page says: "Your eligibility for monthly invoicing is subject to credit approval and might require you to meet certain spending minimums." You apply through support.

• You create insertion orders (IOs) that cap what Microsoft can charge in a period.
• Invoices are emailed at the start of each month for the previous month, in general "on the 2nd business day of each month."
• You pay by wire transfer or ACH, depending on your location, within the terms of your credit line; Microsoft's example uses 30 days.
• Partial payments are only possible on invoice accounts, not on prepay or postpay threshold.

Promotional coupons

Microsoft sometimes offers coupons, mostly to new advertisers. Its coupon page says offers "require you to spend money on your advertising campaigns first, and then we give you a credit". You cannot ask for one; they come through Microsoft promotions and sign-up links.

• You need a primary payment method before you can redeem a code, and each code works once.
• "Only one promotional offer can be active at any time."
• "You cannot use a promotional offer to pay for an existing balance."
• When the credit runs out or expires, ads keep running and are charged to your card or prepaid funds.
• "Any remaining promotional balance is forfeited at the end of the promotional period."

Because ads keep running after the credit ends, set a budget you are happy to pay before you redeem a coupon.

When an account goes on hold

A declined card on a postpay account, an overdue invoice, many chargebacks or suspicious changes put the account on hold. Microsoft warns that "when an account is on hold none of your campaigns are running". A backup payment method on postpay accounts, and auto-recharge on prepay accounts, are the simplest ways to avoid a pause.

How we set a first budget

This is our own practice, not Microsoft's guidance:

• We pull cost estimates for the chosen keywords in the Keyword Planner and set the first monthly budget from those, not from averages found online.
• We start on postpay threshold with a backup card, and set a per-charge limit if the client's card has a low ceiling.
• If the client already runs Google Ads, we import the campaigns with the Google Ads import and reset the budgets to an amount the client is comfortable testing.
• We review spend weekly against conversions tracked by the UET tag, and judge the budget after a full month, since daily spend moves around.

If you want help setting up or managing Microsoft Advertising, see our services.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a minimum spend for Microsoft Ads?

Microsoft's billing pages mention spending minimums only for monthly invoice billing. The system limits for US dollar accounts are a minimum bid of $0.05 and a minimum monthly budget of $5.

How much does a click cost on Microsoft Ads (Bing Ads)?

It depends on the auction: your bid, competition and ad relevance for each keyword. Microsoft publishes no average; use the Keyword Planner's cost estimates for your own keywords.

Why did I spend more than my daily budget?

Microsoft treats the daily budget as a target and can spend more on busy days, usually keeping overspend under 100% above the daily limit. The calculated monthly limit still caps the month.

When does Microsoft charge my card?

On a postpay threshold account, when charges reach your billing threshold (starting at $50 for US dollar accounts) or on your monthly billing date, whichever comes first.

Do Microsoft Ads coupons expire?

Yes. Each offer has start and expiry dates, unused credit is forfeited at the end of the promotional period, and ads keep running on your own payment method afterwards.

New to the platform? Start with Microsoft Advertising basics, then see bid strategies and reporting. To plan a campaign with us, see our services.