Quick answer: CPL (cost per lead) pays for a lead, which in iGaming usually means a player registration. CPA (cost per acquisition) pays for a customer, which in iGaming usually means a player who registers and deposits. CPL pays less per event but happens more often. CPA pays more but only for the players who go on to deposit.
I'm Rihards, founder of Seven Affiliates, and I've spent five years in iGaming. This post exists because two three-letter acronyms differ by one letter and that letter is worth real money.
Think of fishing. [Mimes casting a rod. Hooks own sleeve.] A lead is a nibble on the line, and an acquisition is a fish in the bucket. CPL pays you for nibbles, CPA pays you for fish, and the whole argument is about how many nibbles turn into dinner.
CPL vs CPA at a glance
| CPL | CPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Cost per lead | Cost per acquisition |
| You're paid when | Someone registers | Someone registers and deposits |
| Payout per event | Lower | Higher |
| How often it triggers | More often | Less often |
| Who carries the quality risk | Mostly the operator | Shared: you only earn on depositors |
| Best suited to | Testing new offers and countries | Traffic you know converts |
"Registers" and "deposits" are the usual iGaming meanings. The exact trigger is whatever your deal says, so read it before you count anything.
What is CPL?
CPL means cost per lead: a fixed payment for each lead you send. Outside gambling, a lead is "a potential customer who has shown interest in your product or service, usually by filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, or engaging with gated content" (Blazeo).
In iGaming the lead is a registration. When the affiliate platform Affilka added the model in August 2022, the trade press described it as letting operators "pay a fixed fee for every player registration" (InterGame).
So no deposit is needed: someone signs up, you get paid. It's the nibble, and you're paid for the nibble. [Looks very pleased with the fishing thing. It's early.]
What is CPA?
CPA means cost per acquisition: a fixed payment for each customer you send. Blazeo's definition is that it "measures the cost of acquiring a paying customer", and the word doing the work there is "paying".
The same InterGame report draws the line for gambling. It describes "the CPA commission model, which requires specific actions such as a deposit or further gaming activity from players upon registration". Those "specific actions" are the qualification rules, and they differ from offer to offer.
Our CPA vs RevShare guide covers CPA against the long-term model. This post stays on the short end of the line: the registration against the deposit.
Why do CPL and CPA seem to mean two different things?
Because they do. Each term is used both as a cost you pay and as a commission you're paid, and guides switch between the two without warning. I have read articles that changed meaning mid-paragraph, which is impressive in a bad way.
| Used as | Who uses it | CPL means | CPA means |
|---|---|---|---|
| A cost metric | Anyone buying ads | Ad spend divided by leads | Ad spend divided by customers |
| A commission model | Affiliates and programs | A fixed fee per registration | A fixed fee per qualified player |
The cost formulas are simple. Blazeo gives them as "CPL = Total Marketing Spend / Number of Leads Generated" and "CPA = Total Marketing Spend / Number of Acquisitions (Paying Customers)". In its own worked numbers, $5,000 of spend that brings 500 leads is a CPL of $10, and the same spend bringing 50 customers is a CPA of $100.
If you buy traffic, you live in both rows at once: you pay a cost per lead to the ad platform and you're paid a commission by the program. Our traffic arbitrage guide covers that gap, and the glossary has the rest of the alphabet.
Which pays more, CPL or CPA?
Per event, CPA. Per hundred clicks, it depends on one number: the share of your registrations that go on to deposit. Anastasiya Borovaya, head of product at Affilka by SOFTSWISS, put the trade-off in seven words: "CPL pays less than CPA, but converts better."
That gives you a break-even you can work out on a napkin. A CPL deal earns more than a CPA deal when the CPL fee is bigger than the CPA fee multiplied by your registration-to-deposit rate.
Read that chart the other way round and it tells you something uncomfortable. CPL looks best when few of your registrations deposit. In fishing terms, it's the deal you want when you get plenty of nibbles and not much in the bucket, which is also exactly when an operator least wants to offer it.
Why are operators careful with CPL deals?
Because a registration is easy to fake and a deposit is not. The security firm Group-IB lists it among affiliate fraud methods: "affiliates abuse the cost-per-lead (CPL) model by using bots to generate fake leads and trigger rewards" (Group-IB).
So CPL deals come with filters. The InterGame report says operators "can exclude commissions for players who have not been verified, who have another account in the casino, have been disabled or have set a self-exclusion limit". It adds that operators can limit CPL to particular countries and set different fees by country.
| A CPL registration may not count if | Why |
|---|---|
| The player isn't verified | Unverified accounts are the easiest to fake |
| The player already has an account | It isn't a new lead |
| The account has been disabled | The operator can't keep the player |
| The player has self-excluded | They shouldn't be marketed to at all |
| The country isn't in the deal | CPL can be limited to chosen countries |
Rows 1 to 4 are the exclusions InterGame lists for Affilka's CPL model. The reasons in the second column are mine.
My read, and this is a view from working in the industry, not a published statistic: CPL is the less common model in iGaming, and CPA and RevShare do most of the work. One hint is that a large platform adding CPL was still news in 2022.
Which should you choose?
Choose by what you know about your traffic. If you have no deposit data yet, a per-registration deal tells you quickly whether an offer and a country respond at all. If you know your traffic deposits, CPA usually rewards that.
| Your situation | Leans towards | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New to iGaming, no data yet | CPL, where offered | Borovaya calls CPL "great for affiliates who are just starting out in the igaming vertical" |
| Testing a new offer or country | CPL, where offered | You learn the registration rate fast |
| Traffic with proven deposit rates | CPA | You're paid for the quality you already have |
| Players who stay for months | RevShare or Hybrid | A one-off fee undersells long-term players |
Whatever you pick, track both events yourself. If you only count registrations you'll never know your deposit rate, and without that number the formula above is just a nice sentence. Our postback URL guide covers passing registrations and deposits back to your tracker, and the metrics guide covers what to do with them.
How deals work at Seven Affiliates
We offer CPA, RevShare and Hybrid deals. RevShare is calculated on NGR, 35% by default, with no negative carryover. The terms of a specific offer are agreed privately with your account manager, so you won't find a rate card on this site.
| Ask your account manager | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| What counts as a qualified player on this offer? | It's the event you're paid on |
| Which countries does the offer accept? | Traffic from elsewhere won't count |
| Which traffic sources are allowed? | Rules differ by offer |
| Which deal type fits my traffic? | Bring your registration and deposit numbers |
Bring your own numbers to that conversation. An affiliate who knows their registration-to-deposit rate is describing fish in a bucket. One who only knows their clicks is describing a nice day by the river.
FAQ
What is the difference between CPL and CPA?
CPL pays for a lead, such as a registration. CPA pays for an acquisition, meaning a paying customer. In iGaming, CPL usually pays per player registration and CPA pays per player who registers, deposits and meets the offer's qualification rules.
Is CPL better than CPA for affiliates?
It depends on your registration-to-deposit rate. CPL earns more only when the CPL fee is larger than the CPA fee multiplied by the share of your registrations that deposit.
How do you calculate CPL and CPA?
As cost metrics, CPL is total marketing spend divided by the number of leads, and CPA is total marketing spend divided by the number of paying customers.
What counts as a lead in iGaming?
Usually a player registration. Operators can exclude registrations from players who are unverified, already have an account, have been disabled or have self-excluded.
Why is CPL lower than CPA?
Because a lead is earlier in the journey and less certain to become a paying customer. Only some registrations go on to deposit, so each one is worth less to the operator than a qualified depositing player.
Know your numbers and want a deal that fits them? See how the Seven Affiliates iGaming affiliate program works, then apply here.