CPM vs RPM: What's the Difference?
If you dig into your YouTube Analytics, you'll see two acronyms that look similar but mean very different things: CPM and RPM. RPM is a useful metric for understanding creator revenue per 1,000 views after applicable revenue factors.
What is CPM?
Cost Per Mille (CPM) represents how much advertisers are paying YouTube for 1,000 ad impressions on your videos. It's a measure of how valuable advertisers find your audience. Crucially, this is the gross amount before YouTube takes its cut.
What is RPM?
Revenue Per Mille (RPM) represents how much money you actually earn per 1,000 video views. This metric accounts for YouTube's 45% revenue split, and it includes all revenue streams (AdSense, YouTube Premium revenue, Super Chats, and Memberships).
How CPM and RPM Work Together
CPM helps describe advertiser spend for ad impressions, while RPM describes creator revenue per 1,000 total views after applicable revenue factors. They are related but not interchangeable. RPM can be affected by monetized views, audience mix, revenue sources, and YouTube's applicable revenue share.
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Use our calculator to figure out your true RPM and reverse-engineer your CPM.
Go to CPM/RPM Calculator