How bidding works on Pinterest ads

Bids are how your budget pays for the actions you care about. The two options:

• Performance+ bids are managed by Pinterest and updated automatically several times a day, aiming for the most Pin clicks at the lowest cost per result while spending your whole budget
• Performance+ bidding is available for brand awareness, consideration, leads and sales campaigns, and is the default for them
• Expect costs to move, usually early in a campaign, as delivery searches for results and auction competition changes. Ad group budgets are still required
• Custom bids are set by you: the maximum an action is worth to you, which you can update as often as you like through the day

Source: Pinterest Business Help: Set and edit your bid, checked 15 October 2026

Pinterest's objective page describes the custom option for each goal:

Source: Pinterest Business Help: Select a campaign objective, checked 15 October 2026

In Ads Manager:

1. Click the menu icon at the top left and, under Manage campaigns, click Create campaign.
2. Click Custom create campaign, then Get Started, and choose an objective.
3. Enter the campaign details (for consideration, the budget is also set at campaign level) and click Continue.
4. Enter the ad group details, targeting, budget and schedule.
5. Under Optimization and delivery, click Custom, enter your maximum bid and choose your pacing.
6. Select your ads and click Launch.

• In bulk editor: download the sample sheet, enter CUSTOM under Bid Strategy and your amount under Max bid, then upload it

Source: Pinterest Business Help: Set and edit your bid, checked 15 October 2026

For Performance+, follow the same flow with a brand awareness, consideration, leads or sales objective and, under Optimization & delivery, click Pinterest Performance+ (recommended). In bulk editor, enter Pinterest Performance+ under Bid Strategy and leave Max bid blank.

Performance+ ROAS bidding predicts the value of each checkout and adjusts bids to raise return on ad spend, rather than just the number of conversions. Pinterest suggests it for campaigns with high checkout volume and varied prices. To qualify:

• Use a Sales or Leads objective
• Track Checkout events, the only event it supports
• Send valid checkout values (the basket value) through the Pinterest tag or Conversions API
• Then, under Optimization, select Return on ad spend (ROAS), choose the tag as conversion data, Checkout as the event and Performance+ as the bidding type

Source: Pinterest Business Help: Set and edit your bid, checked 15 October 2026

Every campaign has a bid floor that depends on campaign type and the countries you target. Pinterest converts each country's floor to US dollars and uses the highest one; with several formats, the highest format's floor applies. Its example: a CPC campaign targeting the US, UK and Canada has floors of $0.10, £0.07 and $0.10, so the minimum is $0.10.

You only pay what's needed to win at the time. If you bid $3 and the minimum needed to win is $0.50, only $0.50 is used.

Source: Pinterest Business Help: Set and edit your bid, checked 15 October 2026

You can change the bid type on an existing ad group at any time:

1. Open the menu and click Campaign manager under Manage campaigns.
2. Tick the ad group you want to change and click Edit above the table.
3. Review the objective and campaign details, then click Continue.
4. Under Optimization & delivery, select Pinterest Performance+ (recommended) or Custom.
5. Click Save edits.

• Custom option missing: video completion campaigns only allow Performance+, and so does optimising for outbound clicks
• Unsure of your minimum bid: it's the highest floor among the countries and formats you target
• Costs swinging at launch: that's expected with Performance+ while delivery learns
• ROAS option missing: check you're on Sales or Leads and sending Checkout events with values

Sources: Pinterest Business Help: Set and edit your bid, checked 15 October 2026; Pinterest Business Help: Select a campaign objective, checked 15 October 2026

Disclosure: this is our product. Bids decide how often your ad shows; the Pin decides whether people click. Zolyp doesn't run Pinterest ads, but it plans, writes and designs organic Pins styled to your Brand Brain and publishes them after you approve them, so you can promote the ones that already work. There's a 3-day free trial, no card required.