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Free tool · Programmatic and media math
Reach & Frequency Calculator
Enter a budget, CPM and audience size. See how many people you will reach, how often, how many see you three times or more, and what a frequency cap does to delivery.
- Free, no sign-up
- Runs in your browser
- Checked 19 October 2026
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How it works
How to use the Reach & Frequency Calculator
- Enter the flight budget and the CPM you expect to pay.
- Enter the audience size from your platform's forecast.
- Optionally add a frequency cap and compare reach and wasted budget.
| What | How it's worked out |
|---|---|
| Impressions | Budget ÷ CPM × 1,000 |
| Reach (no cap) | Audience × (1 − e−impressions ÷ audience) |
| Reach (with cap) | Poisson exposure model truncated at the cap |
| Average frequency | Impressions ÷ reach |
From our media team
How to use the result
- Plan for 3+ reach, not average frequency. An average of 4 can hide half the audience seeing you once and a few people seeing you twelve times.
- Use caps on small audiences. ABM and retargeting lists burn out fast; without a cap the platform piles impressions on the most active people.
- Budget that can't deliver isn't spent wisely elsewhere. When the cap blocks delivery, widen the audience or move money to another channel.
Read next
- Effective frequency in B2B: plan reach by account, not by personHow to plan frequency for B2B: why average frequency misleads, effective (3+) reach, frequency per account vs per person, the 95:5 rule, and a planning method you…
- Frequency caps for B2B ads: where to set them and at what levelHow frequency caps work in Google Display and Video, programmatic DSPs and LinkedIn, why small ABM and retargeting lists need them most, starting caps by use case,…
- How to build a B2B media plan: accounts, reach, budget and KPIsA one-page B2B media plan that a CFO and a media buyer can both read: target accounts, people per account, reach and frequency, channel roles, budget per line,…
- Programmatic ABM coverage: is your budget enough for your account list?How to check whether an account-based display budget covers your list: match rate, people per account, impressions per contact per week, the budget a target…
Questions
Straight answers.
How is reach calculated?
With a random-exposure (Poisson) model: reach equals audience × (1 − e^−(impressions ÷ audience)). It's the standard planning approximation when you don't have platform reach curves.
What frequency should a B2B campaign aim for?
There's no universal number. Many planners aim to reach most of the buying committee at least three times in a flight, then judge it by account engagement.
Why is real reach lower than the estimate?
Platforms deliver more to active users, so impressions concentrate on fewer people than a random model assumes.
Does a frequency cap cost more?
It can raise the CPM slightly because the platform has fewer people to bid on, but it usually cuts waste on small audiences.
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Sources: Google Ads Help: Use frequency capping; Marketing Week: The 95:5 rule is the new 60:40 rule (B2B Institute).
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