The CPA indicates the average cost of acquiring an install. It’s calculated by dividing the total spend by the number of installs from an ad within a specific time period.
The graph below illustrates how the average CPA in search results ads on the App Store has changed quarter-over-quarter over the past few years:
In 2024, the CPA of search results campaigns continued its upward trend, starting at $2.1 in Q1, rising to $2.2 in Q2, remaining stable in Q3 ($2.1), and reaching $2.4 in Q4, marking the highest point of the year.
Compared to 2023, where CPA mostly ranged between $1.7 and $2.0, 2024 shows a clear increase, suggesting growing acquisition costs due to rising competition.
Let’s examine the CPA for the top 15 app categories.
The average CPA increased from $2.58 in 2023 to $2.9 in 2024.
Sports and Finance dominate with significantly higher CPAs, reinforcing previous insights about rising acquisition costs in these competitive categories.
Sports apps not only had the highest CPT ($10.2) but now also lead in CPA ($14.1), confirming that advertisers are paying premium prices to acquire users in this category. The category also had the most dramatic increase 3 (rising from $3.73 in 2023 to $14.1 in 2024)
Similar to Sports, Finance apps maintain a high CPA of $12.7 due to strong competition and high LTV users.
Books ($3.9), Business ($3.2), and Education ($2.2) remain below the overall average ($4.4), making them less competitive yet cost-effective for advertisers.
Games ($2.0) and Productivity ($1.9) continue to have stable, low-cost acquisition, reinforcing previous trends of consistent advertiser demand without excessive bidding competition.
Let’s take a look at the categories that experienced the most notable changes in terms of CPA.
The following graph demonstrates the trends in CPT and CPA over the entire year of 2024.
Both CPT and CPA peaked in March ($1.62 and $2.47, respectively), reflecting a period of heightened advertising activity. After this spike, costs gradually declined, reaching their lowest point in August ($1.29 CPT, $2.00 CPA). The end of the summer was a quieter period with reduced advertiser competition.
A gradual increase began in September, leading to another significant spike in November ($1.67 CPT, $2.57 CPA), likely driven by holiday promotions and year-end advertising efforts. The slight dip in December ($1.54 CPT, $2.44 CPA) suggests that advertisers optimized budgets toward the end of the year.
The strong seasonality in both CPT and CPA highlights the need for advertisers to adjust bidding strategies based on demand peaks. March and November stand out as high-cost periods, while late summer offers a more cost-efficient window for acquisition.
Understanding seasonal patterns allows app marketers to anticipate peaks and troughs in user activity, adjust their strategies accordingly, and capitalize on holidays to maximize engagement and conversions. Read our guide to explore seasonal UA opportunities.
Below, you’ll find a chart illustrating the transformation of CPA across five popular categories over the course of 2024:
Sports saw major fluctuations, starting at $7.8 in January, peaking sharply at $18.8 in March, and hitting another high of $17.5 in September. However, it also saw steep declines, reaching its lowest point at $9.4 in August, the final month of the Olympic Games. This volatility suggests that advertisers should closely time their ad spend to align with high-traffic events while managing budgets during off-peak months.
Finance maintained consistently high CPA costs, starting at $9.2 in January, peaking at $16.2 in March, and again climbing to $16.0 in November. The March spike aligns with tax season, where demand for financial services, banking, and investment apps surges. A dip in September ($9.4 in July) suggests that advertisers reduced bids during the season when financial planning activity is lower.
Productivity had one of the most stable CPA trends, hovering between $1.7 and $2.0 throughout the year.
Games remained a cost-effective category, with CPA ranging between $1.8 and $2.1. The CPA remained stable throughout the year, even during the high season in November & December. A small spike, however, took place in September ($2.3).
Utilities had the lowest CPA, staying below $1.5 all year, and became the most affordable category for advertisers. Small fluctuations, such as $1.4 in November, indicate minor seasonal changes, but overall, this category remains a low-cost opportunity for user acquisition.
Iris, the AI Agent for Apple Ads optimization is now available in SplitMetrics Acquire.