A lifetime budget is a fixed total you set for the whole run of a campaign or ad set, together with a start and end date. Meta spreads that total across the schedule, spending more on days it expects better results and less on others. The alternative is a daily budget, which sets an average amount per day with no fixed end.
Lifetime budget vs daily budget
| Lifetime budget | Daily budget | |
|---|---|---|
| What you set | Total spend and an end date | Average spend per day |
| End date | Required | Optional |
| Ad scheduling (dayparting) | Available | Not available |
| Day-to-day spend | Can vary widely | Can exceed the daily figure on some days, within a weekly limit |
| Best for | Sales, launches, events with fixed dates | Always-on campaigns |
At the time of writing, Meta says a daily budget can spend up to 75% more than the daily figure on a good day, but not more than seven times the daily budget over a calendar week. A lifetime budget doesn't have a per-day limit, only the total.
Where you set it
A lifetime budget can sit on the campaign, with Advantage+ campaign budget, or on each ad set, as an ad set budget. You choose daily or lifetime when you create the campaign or ad set. In most cases Meta doesn't let you switch between the two after publishing, so to change type you duplicate and relaunch.
Ad scheduling
The main practical reason to choose a lifetime budget is ad scheduling: running ads only during chosen hours or days, in the viewer's time zone. At the time of writing, Meta offers it with lifetime budgets only. It can help a business that only takes orders by phone in office hours. For most online stores, scheduling narrows delivery for little gain, because people buy at all hours.
Worked example
Example: a four-day festive sale with ₹80,000 to spend.
- Lifetime budget: ₹80,000 from Thursday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59. Meta might spend ₹15,000 on Thursday and ₹28,000 on Saturday, depending on where it finds results. The total won't exceed ₹80,000.
- Daily budget: ₹20,000 a day, which Meta could exceed on strong days. You would need to turn it off on time yourself.
For a fixed sale period, the lifetime budget is safer and less work.
Common mistakes
- Very short schedules with big budgets. A huge total over one or two days forces Meta to spend fast, often at high CPMs.
- Extending end dates repeatedly. Each big change to budget or schedule can disturb delivery and may restart the learning phase.
- Forgetting the account-level ceiling. An account spending limit can stop all campaigns before a lifetime budget runs out.
To plan festive budgets, see festive sale Meta ads in India, and size the total with the Meta ads budget calculator.
Frequently asked questions
What is a lifetime budget on Facebook ads?
A lifetime budget is the total you'll spend on a campaign or ad set over its scheduled run, with a fixed start and end date. Meta paces the spend across the period and spends more on days with better opportunities.
Is a lifetime budget better than a daily budget?
Neither is better in general. A lifetime budget suits campaigns with fixed dates, such as sales and launches, and is needed for ad scheduling. A daily budget suits always-on campaigns that you scale gradually.
Can I change a daily budget to a lifetime budget?
In most cases Meta doesn't allow switching budget type after a campaign or ad set is published. Duplicate it, choose the other budget type on the copy, and turn off the original.
Will Meta spend my lifetime budget evenly?
Not necessarily. Meta paces spend toward the total by the end date but puts more into days where it expects better results. Daily spend can vary a lot, while the total stays within the lifetime budget.
