Guide
Cost per tested creative: the cost to make an ad plus the spend to judge it
Updated
Cost per tested creative is what one ad costs to make plus the ad spend it needs before you can judge it. In the example below, that comes to about $65 per ad.
In short
- Cost per tested creative is the cost to make one ad plus the ad spend needed to judge it.
- For example, $1.82 to make a 40-second ad in Cutroom plus $63 of ad spend is about $65.
- The ad spend depends on your click rate and on what 1,000 views of your ad cost.
- A 30-second creator video on Billo costs $139 to make, more than twice the $63 of ad spend.
- One winning ad costs 13 to 20 times your cost per tested creative, because only 5 to 8% of ads win.
- One tested creative in the example on this page
- About $65
- Tested ads for each winning ad
- 13 to 20
- Share of ads that become winners, per Motion
- 5 to 8%
How to calculate cost per tested creative
Add two costs: making the ad, and showing it until you can judge it.
- For example, $1.82 to make a 40-second ad in Cutroom plus $63 of ad spend to judge it is about $65 per tested creative.
- Many ad budgets only count what the ads cost to make. The ad spend needed to judge them is often the bigger part.
Example: one tested creative, in two parts
Example numbers, not benchmarks: a 1% click rate and $10 per 1,000 views.
| Part | What it covers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Making the ad | Editing and exporting (you film the clip yourself) | About $1.82: 114 credits for a 40-second ad in Cutroom |
| Ad spend to judge it | Showing the ad until the result is clear | About $63: 6,336 views at $10 per 1,000 views |
| Cost per tested creative | Everything one test costs | About $65 |
Part: Making the ad
- What it covers
- Editing and exporting (you film the clip yourself)
- Example
- About $1.82: 114 credits for a 40-second ad in Cutroom
Part: Ad spend to judge it
- What it covers
- Showing the ad until the result is clear
- Example
- About $63: 6,336 views at $10 per 1,000 views
Part: Cost per tested creative
- What it covers
- Everything one test costs
- Example
- About $65
What does one ad cost to make?
In Cutroom you film one clip of yourself talking, up to 3 minutes, and get a finished 9:16 ad back. A creator video costs a lot more.
- Editing a clip in Cutroom costs 100 credits, whatever its length up to 3 minutes.
- Exporting costs 20 credits per minute of finished video, rounded up to whole credits.
- A credit costs about 1.6 cents on every plan. Lite, for example, is $19.99 a month for 1,250 credits.
- A 40-second AI presenter ad, made from a photo and a generated voice, costs 395 credits, about $6.32, on Basic and up.
- A creator video on Billo costs $99 for 15 seconds, $139 for 30 seconds and $169 for 60 seconds, or $164 to $234 with editing.
What a filmed ad costs to make in Cutroom, by length
Dollars at about 1.6 cents a credit, the rate on every plan.
| Ad length | Edit | Export | Total | In dollars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 seconds | 100 | 7 | 107 credits | About $1.71 |
| 30 seconds | 100 | 10 | 110 credits | About $1.76 |
| 40 seconds | 100 | 14 | 114 credits | About $1.82 |
| 60 seconds | 100 | 20 | 120 credits | About $1.92 |
Ad length: 20 seconds
- Edit
- 100
- Export
- 7
- Total
- 107 credits
- In dollars
- About $1.71
Ad length: 30 seconds
- Edit
- 100
- Export
- 10
- Total
- 110 credits
- In dollars
- About $1.76
Ad length: 40 seconds
- Edit
- 100
- Export
- 14
- Total
- 114 credits
- In dollars
- About $1.82
Ad length: 60 seconds
- Edit
- 100
- Export
- 20
- Total
- 120 credits
- In dollars
- About $1.92
This is the whole editor
Highlight a phrase and a clip lands on those exact words. No timeline, no keyframes, no layers.
How much ad spend does one test need?
Each ad needs enough views to tell a winner from a loser. The smaller the difference you want to spot, the more views each ad needs.
- At a 1% click rate, telling 1% from 1.5% takes about 6,300 views.
- At $10 per 1,000 views, 6,300 views cost about $63. That is the ad spend for one test.
- The table shows three examples at a 1% click rate and $10 per 1,000 views. With your own numbers, the result will be different.
Example: 1% click rate, $10 per 1,000 views
These are example numbers, not benchmarks.
| Difference you want to spot | Views per ad | Ad spend per ad |
|---|---|---|
| 1% against 2% | 1,584 | About $16 |
| 1% against 1.5% | 6,336 | About $63 |
| 1% against 1.2% | 39,600 | About $396 |
Difference you want to spot: 1% against 2%
- Views per ad
- 1,584
- Ad spend per ad
- About $16
Difference you want to spot: 1% against 1.5%
- Views per ad
- 6,336
- Ad spend per ad
- About $63
Difference you want to spot: 1% against 1.2%
- Views per ad
- 39,600
- Ad spend per ad
- About $396
Which part costs more?
In the example, the ad spend costs far more than making the ad in Cutroom. With a creator video, making the ad costs more.
- One test needs about $63 of ad spend, and making the ad in Cutroom costs about $1.82.
- A 30-second creator video on Billo costs $139, more than twice the ad spend in the example.
- A cheaper way to make ads helps most if making them is what slows you down. If your ad budget is the limit, it helps much less.
One test, in dollars (example)
Example: a 1% click rate and $10 per 1,000 views. Billo price from billo.app, checked 21 September 2026.
- Making a 30-second creator video on Billo$139
- Ad spend to judge the adAbout $63
- Making a 40-second ad in CutroomAbout $1.82
What does one winning ad cost?
Multiply your cost per tested creative by 13 to 20. Only about 5 to 8% of ads become winners, according to Motion's analysis of 550,000+ Meta ads.
- With the $65 example test, one winning ad costs about $850 to $1,300 in total.
- With a $139 creator video instead, each test costs about $202, and one winning ad about $2,600 to $4,000.
- Making 20 filmed ads in Cutroom costs 2,280 credits, which fits in Basic at $39.99 a month for 2,500 credits.
- Most of the $850 to $1,300 is ad spend, so cheaper views or a higher click rate bring it down the most.
Questions people ask
- What is cost per tested creative?
- It is the cost to make one ad plus the ad spend needed to judge it. In the example on this page, that is $1.82 plus $63, or about $65.
- How do I work out the ad spend per test?
- Multiply the views one ad needs by your cost per 1,000 views, then divide by 1,000. At $10 per 1,000 views, 6,300 views cost about $63.
- How many views does one ad test need?
- It depends on your click rate and the difference you want to spot. At a 1% click rate, telling 1% from 1.5% takes about 6,300 views. A common statistics shortcut is 16 × p × (1 − p) ÷ d², where p is your click rate and d the difference.
- How much does it cost to make one video ad?
- About $1.82 in Cutroom for a 40-second ad, which is 114 credits, if you film the clip yourself. A 30-second creator video on Billo costs $139.
- Does a presenter ad change the number?
- A little. A 40-second AI presenter ad costs 395 credits, about $6.32, against 114 for a filmed one. Twenty of them use 7,900 credits instead of 2,280.
- What does one winning ad cost?
- About 13 to 20 times your cost per tested creative. With a $65 test, that is about $850 to $1,300.
Count both costs, then make each test ad from one filmed clip for 114 credits. Your first video is free.