Reddit Ads for App Installs: What a $3,660 Campaign Taught Us About CPI, Creative, and Tracking
Updated: Oct 6
By Dāvis Lejnieks, founder of Undecided Agency. Runs Reddit Ads for DTC brands, game studios and apps.
Reddit Ads can drive app installs at a workable cost. One month of Reddit app install campaigns for a mobile resale app produced 222 installs at a $16.49 cost per install (CPI), measured in AppsFlyer. The clearest lessons: judge CPI from your mobile measurement partner (MMP), not Reddit Ads Manager; a headline that names a subreddit beat a feature-led headline; AI-generated memes lost to real photos; and changing attribution settings mid-campaign makes results harder to read.
This post is for app marketers and founders testing Reddit for user acquisition. Everything below comes from one campaign, one app and one month. Treat it as a real-world example, not an industry benchmark.
What were the campaign results at a glance?
The campaign ran in June 2026 with the App Installs objective. Spend, impressions and clicks come from Reddit Ads Manager. Installs, registrations and retention come from AppsFlyer.
Metric | Result |
Spend | $3,660.84 |
Impressions | 193,073 |
Clicks | 2,154 |
Click-through rate (CTR) | 1.12% |
Cost per click (CPC) | $1.70 |
Installs (AppsFlyer) | 222 |
Cost per install (CPI) | $16.49 |
Clicks that became installs | 10.3% |
Installs that completed registration | 82% |
Day-1 retention | 12.6% |
Day-3 retention | 5.4% |
One caveat applies to every install number in this post. On 12 June, the AppsFlyer click-through attribution window changed from 7 days to 3 days. A shorter window credits fewer installs to Reddit, so June's CPI mixes two counting rules.
How was the Reddit app install campaign set up?
The campaign ran in two phases. Both used the same subreddit targeting and the same objective.
Test phase | Optimized phase | |
Dates | 1–9 June | 9–30 June |
Purpose | Test headlines and images fast | Rebuild around what the test showed |
Structure | 2 ad groups, placements combined | Ad groups split by placement, plus remarketing and a meme ad group |
Attribution window | 7-day click | Mostly 3-day click |
Spend | $1,282.26 | $2,378.59 |
CTR | 1.21% | 1.07% |
Installs | 78 | 144 |
CPI | $16.44 | $16.52 |
CPI stayed flat across the two phases even though the optimized phase was counted under a stricter window. That doesn't prove the optimized phase was better. It does mean its real CPI was probably not worse.
In total the campaign tested 24 ads: four headline angles, four real product and lifestyle photos, one AI-generated meme and two human-made memes.
How much does a Reddit app install cost?
In this campaign, a Reddit app install cost $16.49 on average. The best single ad came in at $12.04.
Your CPI will depend on your app category, market, creative and attribution settings. A "good" CPI is one that pays back against what an installed user is worth to you, not a number from someone else's account.
Why judge CPI from AppsFlyer instead of Reddit Ads Manager?
Reddit Ads Manager reported 32 installs for this campaign. AppsFlyer attributed 222. Judged by Reddit's dashboard alone, CPI was about $114 and the campaign looked like a failure. Judged by AppsFlyer, CPI was $16.49.
Clicks matched almost exactly across the two platforms: 2,154 in Reddit and 2,151 in AppsFlyer. Delivery was consistent. Only the install count differed.
Common reasons Reddit and an MMP report different install numbers include how install postbacks are configured, iOS privacy settings, view-through attribution, and lookback windows. AppsFlyer's Reddit integration guide covers each setting. We didn't isolate which one caused this gap, so we don't claim one.
The practical rule: use your MMP for CPI and anything after the install. Use Reddit's numbers for delivery metrics like impressions, clicks and CTR.
Which headline worked best for Reddit app installs?
A headline that called out a specific subreddit by name produced cheaper installs than a feature-led headline in both phases. Its pattern was: "I heard r/[community] loves a good catch," followed by the app's core mechanic. The feature-led headline described the auction format, the product and the entry price.
Phase | Headline | Spend | CTR | Installs | CPI |
Test | Community callout | $636.22 | 1.20% | 41 | $15.52 |
Test | Feature-led | $646.04 | 1.21% | 37 | $17.46 |
Optimized | Community callout | $1,171.26 | 1.17% | 89 | $13.16 |
Optimized | Feature-led | $1,085.75 | 1.03% | 54 | $20.11 |
Comparing within each phase keeps the attribution window the same, so this is the cleanest finding in the campaign. The test phase is the fairest comparison: equal budgets, real photos only. In the optimized phase, the feature-led headline also ran with AI-generated memes, which widened the gap.
Why might a community callout work? It reads like a Reddit post rather than an ad, and it tells readers of that subreddit the ad is meant for them.
The best single ad paired the community callout headline with a real lifestyle photo. It took 24.7% of spend and delivered 33.8% of all installs: 75 installs at $12.04 each.
Do real photos or memes work better in Reddit ads?
Real photos and human-made memes performed similarly. AI-generated memes performed worst on every metric.
All three creative types ran in the optimized phase, so this comparison uses optimized-phase numbers only.
Creative type | Spend | CTR | Installs | CPI |
Real photos | $1,946.47 | 1.14% | 129 | $15.09 |
Human-made memes | $123.09 | 1.08% | 9 | $13.68 |
AI-generated memes | $309.03 | 0.73% | 6 | $51.50 |
The CTR gap between real photos and AI memes is statistically solid, and so is the gap between human-made and AI memes (p=0.003). The problem wasn't memes. It was AI-generated memes. Reddit users are quick to spot and ignore content that looks machine-made.
The meme samples are small (6 and 9 installs), so treat the CPI numbers as a lead worth testing, not a result.
Does CTR predict app installs on Reddit?
Probably, though this campaign can't prove it. Across all 24 ads, higher-CTR ads turned more clicks into installs (Spearman correlation +0.53) and had lower CPI (−0.44). Within each phase on its own, the direction held, but there weren't enough ads to confirm it.
Watch out for cheap impressions. The meme ad group had the lowest cost per 1,000 impressions ($14.71 vs $18.96 for the campaign), but its CTR was so low that each click cost more ($1.91 vs $1.70). Cheap impressions are not the same as cheap installs.
Is feed or conversation placement better for app installs?
Feed placement worked better here. In the optimized phase, where placements were split, feed ads delivered installs at $14.71. The conversation placement delivered 4 installs at $26.97, on only $107.88 of spend, so the sample is small.
Does remarketing work for Reddit app installs?
Not in this campaign. The remarketing ad group had the cheapest clicks in the account ($1.37 CPC), but only 5.5% of those clicks turned into installs, for a CPI of $24.99. It spent under $100, so it's an early read, and it only ran AI-generated and deal-led creative.
What would we change in the next Reddit app install campaign?
Don't change attribution settings mid-campaign. The window change on 12 June made it impossible to compare the two phases on retention. Lock tracking settings before launch and leave them alone until the test ends.
Set up ad-level MMP tracking from day one. Add ad group and ad name macros to the tracking link and confirm they resolve. A few clicks in this campaign arrived with the raw {{ADGROUP_NAME}} macro instead of a name.
Keep the community callout headline as the control. Test new angles against it one variable at a time.
Drop AI-generated creative. Test more human-made memes against real photos.
Default to feed placement. Only test conversation placement or remarketing with enough budget to learn from.
If you're choosing subreddits for a campaign like this, our free subreddit finder returns ad-targetable subreddits with match scores.
FAQ
What is a good CPI for Reddit app install ads?
There's no universal number. This campaign averaged $16.49 per install, with the best ad at $12.04. A good CPI is one that pays back against what an installed user is worth to your business.
Why doesn't Reddit's install count match AppsFlyer?
The two platforms can differ because of postback settings, iOS privacy settings, view-through attribution and lookback windows. In this campaign, AppsFlyer attributed 222 installs while Reddit reported 32. Use your MMP as the source of truth for installs.
Does changing the attribution window affect Reddit install numbers?
Yes. A shorter click-through window credits fewer installs to Reddit, so reported installs go down and CPI goes up. Changing it mid-campaign also makes before-and-after comparisons unreliable.
Do memes work in Reddit ads?
Human-made memes performed about as well as real photos in this campaign. AI-generated memes had the lowest CTR (0.73%) and the highest CPI ($51.50).
What kind of headline works for Reddit app install ads?
In this campaign, a headline that named a specific subreddit beat a feature-led headline in both phases, at $13.16 vs $20.11 CPI in the optimized phase.
How long should a Reddit app install test run?
One month gives an early read, not a final verdict. Reddit campaigns typically need around 90 days to learn and stabilize, so set expectations before launch.
Want a Reddit Ads plan built for your app?
The Reddit Ads Game Plan is for companies with proven offers and real budgets. You get a subreddit opportunity map, a competitor and category audit, Reddit-native messaging angles, a 90-day campaign roadmap, and a 1-on-1 strategy walkthrough, delivered within a week.
About the author
Written by Dāvis Lejnieks, CEO of Undecided Agency and a Redditor for 15+ years. He plans and runs Reddit ad campaigns for DTC, gaming and app brands, and shares what the data shows here.
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