Short answer: if your customers look you up when they need you, start with Google Ads. If they choose you after they see you, start with Facebook and Instagram. A plumber, an AC company or an injury firm usually belongs in the first group. A salon, a med spa or a new restaurant, in the second.
The prices in our two cost articles measure different things. On Google you pay for a click, and in the Miami area a click at the top of the page runs from $0.73 to $500.00 depending on the search. On Meta you usually pay for impressions, and a lead costs $27.39 at the national median. Compare the two by what a customer costs you.
The difference is when you reach the customer
Someone who types "emergency plumber" already has the problem and wants it fixed today. Google shows your ad at that moment. In Google's words, the Search Network "can reach people while they search for specific goods or services". Ads outside search "can help you capture someone's attention earlier in the buying cycle" (About Display ads).
You don't open Instagram to hire a contractor. Every time someone could see an ad, Meta's auction picks one, among the people you chose and for the result you asked for (About ad auctions). Your ad has to make someone want something they weren't looking for a few seconds earlier. On Google you answer demand that already exists, and on Meta you have to create it.
Google Ads vs Facebook Ads at a glance
| Question | Google Ads (search) | Facebook and Instagram |
|---|---|---|
| Who sees your ad | People searching for what you sell | People Meta picks from the audience you set |
| What you pay for | Clicks | Usually impressions |
| Price in our articles | $0.73 to $500.00 a top-of-page click in Miami | $27.39 a lead and $1.80 a click, US medians |
| Best fit | Services people look up when they need them | Businesses people choose by seeing them |
| Budget | No minimum. A month never goes over 30.4 × your daily budget | Minimum by country and goal. Learning needs about 50 results a week |
Sources: our articles on Google Ads cost in Miami (Google Keyword Planner, read October 16, 2026) and Facebook ads cost (WordStream, Facebook Ads Benchmarks 2026).
Which businesses do better on each
Google first: the customer is already looking
Plumbers, AC repair, roofers, injury lawyers, car insurance. People search for these when something breaks or when they're ready to buy, and the Miami prices show what advertisers think those searches are worth: "emergency plumber" runs $20.39 to $72.68 a click, "AC repair" $22.17 to $93.57 and "personal injury lawyer" $36.62 to $347.54. One call from those searches pays for a lot of clicks.
Meta first: the customer chooses by what they see
Salons, med spas, restaurants, gyms, real estate agents, and any new business people don't know to search for yet. In Miami, searches for a salon or a restaurant nearby stay under $4.00 a click, but you only get as many searches as people make. On Facebook and Instagram, a photo of the work or a video of the team reaches people who weren't looking.
Real estate has one of the lowest costs per lead on Facebook, $13.74 at the median, and beauty and personal care one of the highest, $50.91. Compare that with what a new customer leaves you.
Dentists and clinics: often both
"Dentist near me" runs $9.01 to $31.97 a click in Miami. A dentist lead on Facebook costs $61.56 at the median, the highest of the 14 industries in WordStream's data. A clinic can take the people already searching on Google and use Meta for the treatments people think about before they look for a clinic.
Cost per click against cost per lead
A click is one visit. A lead is a form, a message or a call. To compare Google with Meta you need the share of clicks that become a lead.
The example in our Google Ads article: at $50.00 a click, if 1 in 10 visitors calls, each call costs $500.00. If 2 in 10 call, each one costs $250.00 at the same click price. The lead campaigns in WordStream's Facebook data paid $27.39 per lead.
On paper, $27.39 a lead looks cheap next to $500.00 a call. But the person who called a plumber from Google had water on the floor, and the person who filled in a form on Instagram may only have been curious. Count how many leads from each platform become customers.
How much to start with
Google has no minimum. You set an average daily budget, and in a month Google never charges more than 30.4 times that amount (About average daily budgets). $10.00 a day is $304.00 a month at most. At that budget an injury lawyer gets eight clicks a month at most, too few to learn which searches bring cases, and a hair salon gets at least 76.
Meta asks for a minimum budget that varies by country and objective, and Ads Manager warns you when you're below it (minimum budgets). An ad set usually leaves the learning phase after about 50 results in a week (About the learning phase). At the median of $27.39 per lead, that's $1,369.50 a week. Our Facebook article suggests a budget that buys at least 20 leads a month at your industry's median: about $547.80 for all industries, $1,231.20 for a dentist and $274.80 for real estate.
With a small budget, pick one platform. Split between two, each one gets too few results to tell which ad works. Start where your customers already are, give it a month, and add the second once the first shows you a cost per customer.
Our PPC Starter plan covers one platform, Google or Meta, from $1,250.00 a month plus $500.00 setup, with a 3-month minimum. You pay Google and Meta for the ads, not us. The plans are on our pricing and PPC pages.
When to use both
Google only shows your ad when someone searches, so your volume rises and falls with the season. In Miami, "plumber near me" had 6,600 searches in November 2025 and 27,100 in September 2026. In a slow month, a bigger budget doesn't buy searches nobody makes. Meta can reach people before they search, in English and in Spanish.
The two also work on the same people. Google says its display ads can "remind people of what they're interested in" when you use data from visitors to your website. Someone who saw you on Instagram and later searches for you should find your ad there.
Add the second platform when the first already has a stable cost per customer, someone can answer the extra calls and chats, and the budget covers each platform's minimum.
WhatsApp and Spanish in Miami
On Meta, an ad can open a WhatsApp chat with your business instead of a form. The ad is charged like any other.
Meta never charges for the messages a customer sends you. Your replies can be free too, under two conditions on Meta's WhatsApp pricing page. The person wrote from the ad on WhatsApp's Android or iOS app, not web or desktop. You reply through the WhatsApp Business Platform within the 24-hour customer service window. That reply isn't charged and opens a free entry point window of up to 7 days.
For a business that sells in conversation, a chat can be worth more than a form, as long as someone answers it.
On Google, the language depends on the person. Google shows ads to people it believes understand the languages you target, from the language of the search, their settings and other signals. Its own example is a woman who understands English and Spanish and "may also enter a query in Spanish and be served an ad in English" (About language targeting). The Miami click prices in our Google Ads article are for searches in English. For a business that serves both, we target both languages and write an ad and a page in each, not one translated from the other.
How to measure it
- Calls, forms and chats as conversions. On Google, conversion tracking for calls, forms and bookings before the first dollar goes out. On Meta, the pixel and the Conversions API.
- Every lead in one place. Each form, call and WhatsApp chat with the platform and the ad it came from.
- Cost per customer by platform. What you spent on each one divided by the customers it brought.
Frequently asked questions
Is Google Ads or Facebook Ads cheaper?
They charge for different things. In WordStream's 2026 benchmarks, a click in a Facebook lead campaign costs $1.80 and a lead $27.39 at the US median. In Google's Keyword Planner for the Miami area, a top-of-page click runs from $0.73 to $500.00 depending on the search. Compare the cost per customer, not the click price.
Should a small business start with Google Ads or Facebook Ads?
Start where your customers already are. If they search for what you sell when they need it, start with Google, whose Search Network reaches people "while they search for specific goods or services". If they choose you after seeing your work, start with Meta.
Can I run Google Ads and Facebook Ads with a small budget?
Yes, one at a time. Google has no minimum and never charges more than 30.4 times the daily budget in a month. Meta asks for a minimum that varies by country and objective, and an ad set leaves the learning phase after about 50 results in a week.
Can Google show my ads to people who speak Spanish?
Yes. Google shows ads to people it believes understand the languages you target, from the language of the search, their settings and other signals, according to its page on language targeting. A bilingual person may search in Spanish and see an ad in English.
Can Facebook ads send customers to WhatsApp?
Yes. An ad can open a WhatsApp chat instead of a form, and it's charged like any other ad. Meta doesn't charge for the messages customers send. Your reply is free too if the person wrote from WhatsApp's Android or iOS app and you answer on the WhatsApp Business Platform within the 24-hour customer service window. That reply opens a window of up to 7 days in which your messages are free.
Before you choose
Write down how your last ten customers found you. If most of them searched, start with Google. If most of them saw you somewhere first, start with Meta. Then read the cost article for that platform: what a Google Ads click costs in Miami or what Facebook ads cost. Our Google Ads and Meta Ads pages show how we run each one.