Glossary
What is the Conversions API?
The Conversions API is a way for your own server, website platform, app or CRM to send marketing events directly to Meta. It is the server-side counterpart of the Meta Pixel, which runs in a browser. Meta uses the events to measure results and improve ad delivery.
Updated 6 October 2026
A Meta connection that sends your website, app, messaging or offline events from your server or CRM to Meta, to measure outcomes and improve ad targeting.
What it is for
Meta’s overview says the Conversions API creates a connection between an advertiser’s marketing data and Meta’s systems “that optimize ad targeting, decrease cost per result and measure outcomes”. The data can be website events, app events, business messaging events and offline conversions, sent from a server, website platform, mobile app or CRM.
It also lets you keep fewer separate connections: you can send several kinds of events through one integration. Meta says server events are linked to a dataset ID and are processed like events sent using the Meta Pixel, an app SDK, an offline event set or a CSV upload. So they can be used for measurement, reporting and optimisation in a similar way.
Pixel, API, or both
| Point | Meta Pixel | Conversions API |
|---|---|---|
| Runs where | In the visitor’s browser | On your server, platform or CRM |
| Needs code on pages | Yes | Not necessarily |
| Offline conversions | Tracks website visitor activity | Listed by Meta as a supported source |
Meta says that if you already have a Pixel, you can set up the Conversions API for website events in one click from Events Manager, with no code, configuration or setup fees. The overview’s recommended path is: choose an integration method, send requests, then verify. The verifying step confirms Meta has received your events and that they are deduplicated and matched correctly, which matters when the same action could be reported twice.
Where it meets messaging
The Conversions API has a section for business messaging events, which is how a conversation outcome can be reported back. The lead ads guide also mentions sending CRM lead quality data this way. If you sell through DMs, the useful part is that a sale agreed in a chat can be reported to Meta even though no web page was involved.
- Report the same events you track in the Pixel so numbers line up.
- Send only data you are allowed to share, and check Meta’s data-use terms for your region.
- Test with Meta’s tools before spending real money on a campaign that depends on the data.
An example
A language school closes most sales on the phone. Its CRM sends a “paid” event to Meta through the Conversions API when a student pays, so Ads Manager can count those sales against the ads that started the enquiry.
Questions people ask
What is the Conversions API?
A connection from your server, website platform, app or CRM to Meta that sends marketing events such as purchases or leads. Meta says it helps optimise ad targeting, lower cost per result and measure outcomes.
Do I need a developer to use the Conversions API?
Not always. Meta says that if you have a Meta Pixel on your website, you can set up the Conversions API for website events in one click from Events Manager, with no code. Direct integrations from your own server do need developer work.
Does the Conversions API replace the Pixel?
Meta’s overview does not say it replaces it. It describes the API as another connection channel whose events are processed like Pixel events, and its verification step checks that events are deduplicated, which implies they can be sent from both.
What events can it send?
According to Meta: website events, app events, business messaging events and offline conversions, from a server, website platform, mobile app or CRM. Check the current documentation for the event types and fields you plan to use.
Sources
Related terms
- Meta PixelA snippet of JavaScript on your website that reports visitor actions to Meta, so you can measure ads, define custom audiences and analyse conversion funnels.
- Lead adsFacebook ads with a built-in form, so people can sign up without leaving the app. The contact details they submit are stored against your Facebook Page.
- Custom AudienceAn ad audience built from people you already know, such as customers or visitors, which Meta matches to its users from data you supply, or from events you share.
- ROASReturn on ad spend: revenue attributed to your ads divided by what you spent on them. A ROAS of 3 means three units of sales for every one unit of ad spend.
- Conversion rateThe percentage of people who finished a chosen goal, such as buying or signing up, out of everyone who could have: conversions divided by visitors, times 100.
- WebhookA webhook is an automatic HTTP request one app sends to a URL you choose whenever an event happens, such as a new comment, so nobody has to keep checking.
More terms
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