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Conversion tracking

What is Meta Signals Gateway, and what can it do that Meta's free hosted setup can't?

By The Tofu team ·

Signals Gateway is Meta's event pipeline that runs in your own AWS or Google Cloud account, or with a hosting partner such as Stape. It takes events from your site, app or CSV files and sends them to Meta, Google BigQuery or your own API. Meta's free hosted setup, Conversions API with Meta, only copies your pixel's web events to Meta, and Meta says to use it if that's all you need. Pick Signals Gateway for several destinations or event filters, and budget for cloud fees: Meta estimates from about $13 a month on Google Cloud or $39 on AWS.

As of November 2026.

Conversions API with Meta vs Conversions API Gateway vs Signals Gateway

Conversions API with MetaConversions API GatewaySignals Gateway
What it doesSends the events and parameters your Meta Pixel already shares to Meta from the server side tooTakes your pixel's events on a server you run and forwards them to Meta, with deduplication built inRuns event pipelines: sources in, optional filters, one or more destinations out
Who hosts itMeta. You don't "host or maintain anything"You, in your own AWS or Google Cloud account, or a partner that hosts it for youYou (AWS ECS Express, GCP GKE or GCP Cloud Run), or a partner: Stape, Madgicx, DataHash or Birch
CostFree, with "no code, configuration, or setup fees"Cloud fees, or partner fees if a partner hosts it. Meta's help center says its cloud storage fees "start at $30 per month"Cloud fees only if you host it. A partner charges its own price
Data inMeta Pixel, web onlyMeta Pixel onlySignals Gateway Pixel (can reuse your fbq() event code), an iOS SDK, CSV file uploads, and Meta Pixel pipelines
Data outMetaMeta Conversions API onlyMeta Conversions API, Google BigQuery, custom HTTPS endpoints
SetupOne click in Events ManagerFrom Events Manager. Meta's AWS setup guide says the server takes 30 to 40 minutes to build. Its guides for both gateways say about 25 minutes on AWS ECS Express and usually under 10 minutes on Google CloudFrom Events Manager or Meta's Signals Gateway site. Meta gives the same AWS ECS Express and Google Cloud times as for the Conversions API Gateway
Main limitShares only what the pixel sharesPixel in, Meta out, and you look after a cloud accountThe most to set up and own. Meta names no LinkedIn or Google Ads destination

The cost figures come from Meta's own pages, and they don't all match. The help center's Conversions API Gateway article says cloud storage fees "start at $30 per month." Meta's developer docs give estimates for each cloud: on AWS ECS Express (Oregon region), about $39 a month for 10 million events, $84 for 250 million and $600 for 2.5 billion. On Google Cloud Run (us-central1), from $12.60 a month for up to 10 events a second to $54 for up to 100. Meta says both gateways share "a common set of components and infrastructure," so the same estimates apply to either one. Your cloud provider sets the actual bill.

When Conversions API with Meta is the right pick

For most B2B sites that track demo requests and form fills with the pixel and want a server-side copy of those events. Meta's Signals Gateway page says it plainly: if you have a Meta Pixel "and only need to send website events to Meta, Conversions API with Meta does it for you, without you having to host or maintain anything. Turn it on in Events Manager."

Meta's help center calls the same option the Meta-enabled Conversions API and lists it as "Free," "One click" and needing only the Meta Pixel. The limit is that it's web only and sends the same events and parameters as your pixel. If the pixel doesn't fire a Lead event on your form, fix that first. Setup steps are in how to set up the Meta Conversions API without a developer. To raise match quality afterwards, see why Event Match Quality is low on Meta lead events.

When the Conversions API Gateway is the right pick

When you want the server-side connection in a cloud account you own, and Meta is your only destination. Meta says the Gateway's pipeline "will only allow Meta Pixel as a data source, and Meta Conversions API as a data destination." Its help center says the Gateway suits businesses that use the pixel, aren't yet sending web events through the Conversions API, and "spend more than $300 per month on campaigns that optimize towards web events."

Meta puts the same note on the Gateway's developer page as on Signals Gateway's: pixel-only sites can use the free hosted option instead. So the Gateway mostly makes sense if your company wants the server, its logs and its domain inside your own cloud account. Meta recommends a custom domain on your site, which it says "may help optimize data routing and may reduce costs." You'll need access to your DNS provider for that.

When Signals Gateway is the right pick

When you want one pipeline that feeds Meta and something else. Meta's docs list what it adds:

  • More destinations. Meta's Conversions API (through a plugin), Google BigQuery (through a plugin) and custom destinations "such as your own API." Meta's changelog says custom HTTPS destinations can use basic auth, OAuth or an API key. A custom endpoint must answer within 5 seconds or it "may not receive data."
  • More sources. The Signals Gateway Pixel, the Signals Gateway SDK for iOS apps, and CSV file uploads for website, offline, app and CRM events.
  • Filters. You can block an event type for a whole pipeline, or for one destination only.
  • A pixel you run. Meta says the Signals Gateway Pixel is "business-deployed and managed code" that "is not reliant on third-party cookies or code from Meta's servers." Meta recommends running it alongside your existing Meta Pixel. If both send the same events, you need deduplication, which Meta says is automatic when you reuse your fbq() event code.
  • Audiences. A Custom Audience feature, which Meta labels open beta, builds audiences from your events and publishes them to destinations you choose.

A B2B example: send demo-request and sign-up events to Meta for ad optimization, and the same events to BigQuery for pipeline reporting, with page views filtered out of BigQuery. A Signals Gateway instance can also run Conversions API Gateway pipelines, in a separate tab.

Know the limits before you start:

  • No named LinkedIn or Google Ads destination. Meta's docs name only the Meta and BigQuery plugins and custom endpoints. Its changelog says the custom destination option "now supports major providers" (May 2025) but doesn't name any. Any other tool would need to accept events at a custom HTTPS endpoint.
  • Meta's pages disagree on effort. The developer overview says Signals Gateway "does not require any dedicated developer resources." The help center's setup article says some steps "may require a developer," and self-hosting "requires more technical expertise." The SDK setup hands instructions to your "app developer." Plan for someone who can manage a cloud account and DNS.
  • You connect Meta yourself. You either log in with Facebook or paste your business ID, dataset ID and an access token from Events Manager. For tokens that keep working, see Meta Conversions API access tokens.

Hosting with a partner moves the cloud work to them, at their price. Stape, one of the partners Meta names, lists Signals Gateway plans from free (up to 10,000 events a month) to $167 a month billed annually for up to 40 million events, with custom pricing above that. Up to 10 million events costs $83 a month billed annually. Meta's pages don't list partner prices.

Sources

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