Best Day of the Week for Meta Ads? CPA, ROAS, CPM and Spend by Day from 82 DTC Brands (2026)
There is no cheap day. Across the Meta ad accounts of 82 DTC brands, 12 months to 28 October 2026, median CPA ran from $57.10 (Sunday) to $61.48 (Monday), about 7% apart, and median ROAS from 1.44 (Monday) to 1.54 (Friday). The median brand spent 13% more on Sunday than on its average day. Median CPM ran $22.91 (Monday) to $24.42 (Friday), 60 brands, 8 January to 7 September 2026. Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition, read from MHI Media's warehouse of client Meta ad accounts on 29 October 2026, data settled to 28 October 2026.
Every figure on this page comes from the Meta ad accounts of 82 DTC brands, read from MHI Media's warehouse of client ad accounts on 29 October 2026 with data settled to 28 October 2026. Facebook and Instagram only. A brand is one client with all its Meta ad accounts combined, included if it spent at least £3,000 and recorded at least 30 purchases in the 12 months from 29 October 2025 to 28 October 2026. Every CPA cell needed at least 5 purchases on that weekday per brand, and every brand cleared it. Days are calendar days in each ad account's own time zone, as Meta reports them. The method follows the methodology on the benchmarks hub: each brand counts once, the median is the middle brand, the IQR is the 25th to 75th percentile, and the pooled figure sums every brand's spend and results so larger spenders count for more. ROAS is Meta-attributed first-purchase revenue over spend. USD at £1 = $1.3289; multiply by 0.7525 for GBP.
CPA, ROAS, spend and purchases run to 28 October 2026. CTR, CPM, CPC and conversion rate exist for 8 January to 7 September 2026 only, so the delivery table uses those dates and the 60 brands with at least 20,000 archive-matched impressions on each weekday. Frequency exists only to 3 August 2026 and placement only for 8 June to 13 July 2026; neither is split by weekday here. The dataset does not measure blended or lifetime revenue, profit, repeat orders or other channels.
CPA and ROAS by day of week: is the weekend cheaper?
Monday was the dearest day to buy a purchase and Sunday the cheapest, and the gap between them was about 7%: a median CPA of $61.48 against $57.10 across 82 DTC brands over the 12 months to 28 October 2026. Median ROAS ran from 1.44 on Monday to 1.54 on Friday.
| Day | CPA: median (IQR) | CPA: median, GBP | CPA: pooled | ROAS: median (IQR) | ROAS: pooled |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | $61.48 ($43.48 to $103.78) | £46.27 | $65.50 | 1.44 (0.93 to 1.94) | 1.45 |
| Tuesday | $60.40 ($41.14 to $98.09) | £45.46 | $63.30 | 1.47 (0.93 to 2.00) | 1.42 |
| Wednesday | $60.29 ($40.75 to $95.01) | £45.37 | $62.08 | 1.52 (0.94 to 2.00) | 1.43 |
| Thursday | $60.38 ($42.61 to $96.91) | £45.44 | $61.03 | 1.50 (0.92 to 1.93) | 1.42 |
| Friday | $58.65 ($40.66 to $98.29) | £44.14 | $60.02 | 1.54 (0.99 to 2.01) | 1.42 |
| Saturday | $58.12 ($39.66 to $99.24) | £43.74 | $59.36 | 1.53 (0.99 to 2.06) | 1.48 |
| Sunday | $57.10 ($40.69 to $102.80) | £42.97 | $63.23 | 1.48 (0.95 to 2.01) | 1.45 |
Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition (benchmark cuts, 29 October 2026).
A $4.38 gap between the dearest and cheapest day is smaller than the week-to-week swing I see in most single accounts. Saturday and Sunday are the two cheapest median days, and the pooled column cuts the other way: Sunday's pooled CPA of $63.23 sits above Thursday's $61.03 and Friday's $60.02, so the bigger spenders got no weekend bargain. If your account shows a wider gap between days than this, it is your customers or your promo calendar, and I would check it against your own order data before touching a budget.
Which day of the week gets the most spend and purchases?
Sunday is the biggest day of the week for both spend and purchases: the median brand spent 12.8% more on a Sunday than on its average day and recorded 10.7% more purchases, across 82 DTC brands over the 12 months to 28 October 2026. The index divides a brand's average daily spend on one weekday by its average daily spend over all days and multiplies by 100, so 100 is an ordinary day and 113 is 13% above it; the purchases index does the same with purchase counts.
| Day | Spend index: median (IQR) | Spend index: pooled | Purchases index: median (IQR) | Purchases index: pooled |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 99.4 (95.9 to 102.8) | 102.1 | 97.8 (94.3 to 101.8) | 97.0 |
| Tuesday | 95.2 (91.7 to 99.5) | 94.9 | 94.4 (90.6 to 99.0) | 93.5 |
| Wednesday | 95.4 (91.1 to 99.1) | 91.7 | 94.6 (90.5 to 100.0) | 92.9 |
| Thursday | 97.6 (93.5 to 100.5) | 94.3 | 96.9 (91.0 to 102.1) | 97.2 |
| Friday | 99.1 (95.0 to 102.6) | 98.0 | 101.2 (96.7 to 105.6) | 100.5 |
| Saturday | 99.0 (94.0 to 104.6) | 101.9 | 100.7 (95.4 to 108.0) | 105.1 |
| Sunday | 112.8 (108.4 to 117.2) | 116.3 | 110.7 (105.5 to 118.2) | 113.6 |
Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition (benchmark cuts, 29 October 2026).
This pattern needs no weekday rule. Meta's budget pacing puts the money where the purchases are, and with three quarters of brands at 108.4 or above on Sunday it does so almost everywhere. The purchases index tracks the spend index closely, 110.7 against 112.8 on Sunday, so the extra Sunday spend bought purchases at much the same rate as any other day. When a weekly report shows a Sunday spike, I call it normal before I call it a problem.
CTR, CPM and conversion rate by day of week
CPM barely moves by weekday: the median brand paid $22.91 per thousand impressions on Monday and $24.42 on Friday, a $1.51 range across 60 DTC brands between 8 January and 7 September 2026. Link CTR ran from 1.73% (Monday) to 1.88% (Friday and Saturday), and conversion rate, purchases over link clicks including view-through attribution, from 2.35% (Monday) to 2.61% (Saturday). Pooled figures sit in the same bands: CTR 1.48% to 1.59%, CPM $21.70 (Monday) to $23.84 (Sunday), conversion rate 2.21% (Monday) to 2.51% (Saturday).
| Day | CTR (link): median (IQR) | CPM: median (IQR) | CPM: median, GBP | Conversion rate: median (IQR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 1.73% (1.17% to 2.34%) | $22.91 ($14.31 to $39.05) | £17.24 | 2.35% (1.35% to 3.16%) |
| Tuesday | 1.79% (1.21% to 2.40%) | $23.16 ($14.65 to $39.12) | £17.43 | 2.43% (1.27% to 3.29%) |
| Wednesday | 1.80% (1.21% to 2.39%) | $23.38 ($14.77 to $38.80) | £17.59 | 2.44% (1.56% to 3.21%) |
| Thursday | 1.82% (1.24% to 2.41%) | $23.69 ($14.97 to $39.48) | £17.83 | 2.49% (1.52% to 3.28%) |
| Friday | 1.88% (1.25% to 2.39%) | $24.42 ($15.25 to $41.01) | £18.38 | 2.56% (1.54% to 3.33%) |
| Saturday | 1.88% (1.19% to 2.50%) | $23.82 ($14.92 to $40.13) | £17.93 | 2.61% (1.51% to 3.26%) |
| Sunday | 1.81% (1.29% to 2.41%) | $23.48 ($14.97 to $41.35) | £17.67 | 2.45% (1.43% to 3.09%) |
Source: MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition (benchmark cuts, 29 October 2026).
Monday is the weak day on every delivery metric: the lowest click rate, the lowest conversion rate and the cheapest thousand. A $1.51 CPM range across the week is small next to the $14.31 to $39.05 range between brands on the same Monday, so a high CPM is an account problem, and the CPM post covers the levers.
What this means for your account
Do not day-part by weekday on this evidence. There is no cheap day: the spread between the dearest and cheapest median CPA day is about 7% ($61.48 to $57.10, 82 DTC brands, 12 months to 28 October 2026), the median CPM spread is $1.51 a thousand (60 brands, 8 January to 7 September 2026), and a weekday schedule gives up the pacing that already puts 13% more spend on Sunday.
- If your own CPA by weekday sits within about 7% of your average over a quarter, that is noise. Leave the budgets alone and put the hour into creative; the weekly performance review lists what to pull.
- If one weekday runs wider than that for a full quarter, the cause is your audience or your promo calendar: email sends, product drops, pay days, a Friday discount. Check those dates against the bad day before you blame the platform.
- If you are scaling, add budget across the whole week and let the Sunday peak come from pacing (see the scaling post). Switching ad sets off for part of the week also leaves fewer days to collect the 50 optimisation events needed to leave the learning phase.
- Check creative and offer before days. The middle half of brands paid $40.69 to $102.80 per purchase on the same Sunday, against 7% between days. That spread is where our Meta ads team spends its time, with budgets left to pace.
FAQ
What is the best day of the week to run Facebook ads?
There is no cheap day. Across 82 DTC brands over the 12 months to 28 October 2026, the median Meta CPA ran from $57.10 on Sunday to $61.48 on Monday, about 7% apart, and median ROAS from 1.44 on Monday to 1.54 on Friday. Those gaps are smaller than the week-to-week swing most single accounts see, so let budgets pace across the week.
Do Meta ads perform better at the weekend?
Slightly. Saturday and Sunday had the two lowest median CPAs, $58.12 and $57.10, against $58.65 to $61.48 Monday to Friday, across 82 DTC brands over the 12 months to 28 October 2026. Saturday also had the highest median conversion rate, 2.61% of link clicks (60 brands, 8 January to 7 September 2026). On the pooled figures Sunday ($63.23) was dearer than Friday ($60.02).
Which day of the week do Meta ads spend the most?
Sunday. Across 82 DTC brands over the 12 months to 28 October 2026, the median brand's Sunday spend index was 112.8 (brand average day = 100), with the middle half between 108.4 and 117.2, and its Sunday purchases index was 110.7. Tuesday and Wednesday were the quiet days at 95.2 and 95.4. Meta's budget pacing produces this on its own.
Is CPM higher on certain days of the week on Meta?
Barely. Across 60 DTC brands between 8 January and 7 September 2026, the median CPM ran from $22.91 on Monday to $24.42 on Friday, a $1.51 range per thousand impressions. The range between brands on the same day was far wider, $14.31 to $39.05 on a Monday for the middle half, so a high CPM is an account problem.
Should I day-part Meta ads by day of the week?
Not on this evidence. The median CPA spread between the dearest and cheapest weekday was about 7% ($61.48 to $57.10, 82 DTC brands, 12 months to 28 October 2026) and the CPM spread was $1.51 (60 brands, 8 January to 7 September 2026). If one weekday in your own account is far worse than that, check your promo calendar and audience first.
Sources
- MHI Meta Benchmarks, DTC, October 2026 edition, MHI Media; hub post with methodology, 22 October 2026
- MHI Media warehouse of client Meta ad accounts, benchmark cuts edition, read-only extract 29 October 2026, data settled to 28 October 2026