LINE Ads: Costs and Billing Models Explained

LINE has passed 100 million monthly active users in Japan. (As of December 2025)

LINE Ads is drawing attention because it lets you run ads to users across a wide range of ages and profiles.

This article explains what LINE Ads typically costs to run and how you are charged.

※The article below goes into more detail on opening a LINE Ads account and running ads. Do read it alongside this one.
Related article:
How to get started with LINE Ads | from opening an account to running and managing ads [2026]

1. What LINE Ads typically costs

You can open a LINE Ads account Free. So if you run the ads yourself, there should be no set-up cost.
You can also check reports and other data in the dashboard, so there is no need for a separate paid tool.
If you leave account opening and initial setup to an agency, though, note that a setup fee of around 50,000 yen is common.

As for the cost of running ads, the charging model lets you set it fairly freely.
You could set 100 yen a day with a 1 yen bid, for example, but these are auction-based ads, so an extremely low figure will not get you shown to users.
LINE itself recommends running at 300,000 yen a month for about three months.
To get results you need to test and improve a range of elements: creative, budget, targeting settings and more.

2. How LINE Ads charges

LINE Ads currently works on a charging model, and there are two main types.
・Cost per click
・Cost per impression
We will go through each of them.

・Cost per click
Image ads are charged per click
.
You are not charged unless a user clicks, so you avoid paying for users with no interest in the ad.

・Cost per impression

Video ads are charged per impression
.
You are charged for every 1,000 impressions of a video ad, but an impression only counts if the video is shown full screen.

2.1. Typical ad spend with cost per click

If you run cost-per-click ads (image ads) on LINE Ads,
the going rate per click is roughly 24 to 200 yen
.
With cost per click, the conversion rate from those clicks is what matters.
If the conversion rate is poor, check the landing page you send clicks to for problems and improve it.

2.2. Typical ad spend with cost per impression

If you run cost-per-impression ads (video ads) on LINE Ads,
the going rate per impression unit is roughly 400 to 650 yen

The impression rate is the charge for 1,000 impressions, so per single impression that works out at 0.4 to 0.65 yen.

Here you pay for impressions rather than clicks, so you need to work at lifting the click rate. Put care into the creative and into targeting.

3. Bidding methods

There are two bidding methods to choose from.
・Manual bidding
・Automated bidding

LINE Ads officially recommends automated bidding.

・Automated bidding
Automated bidding needs around 40 events per ad group to learn.
If there are too few events, or the ads have not run long enough, the delivery status column shows Learning.
You are advised not to change settings often during the learning period.

・Manual bidding
You can set bids by CPC (cost per click) or CPM (cost per thousand impressions).

You have to watch results and adjust bids by hand, so it takes more work than automated bidding. It also calls for a certain amount of skill in running ads.
It does have the advantage of securing volume from the start, so depending on the situation it is a sound choice.

3.1. How the auction works

Which ad gets shown is decided by auction.

The advertiser bidding the highest eCPM, the effective cost per 1,000 impressions, wins the auction and their ad runs.
LINE Ads also uses
a second-price auction
.
The advertiser offering the highest eCPM wins, but runs the ad at the second-highest bid plus 1 yen.
For example,
・Company A 800 yen
・Company B 500 yen
・Company C 300 yen
In that case Company A wins, but pays 501 yen.

4. In closing

To sum up, the going rates for LINE Ads are as follows.

・Guide rate for cost per click (image ads)
Cost per click: 24 to 200 yen

・Guide rate for cost per impression (video ads)
Cost per 1,000 impressions: 400 to 650 yen

・Recommended spend for LINE Ads (official guidance)
300,000 yen a month for about three months

Use these rates as a reference, keep improving your creative, your targeting settings and the pages you send people to, and your ads will work harder.

Related article:
How to get started with LINE Ads | from opening an account to running and managing ads [2026]