The Conversions API Gateway is a no-code Meta product that relays your Meta Pixel’s website events to the Conversions API from a server instance in your own cloud account, or one a partner hosts for you (Meta for Developers). The Pixel sends each event both to Meta and to the Gateway, which forwards it server-to-server with an automatically generated event_id, so the two copies deduplicate.
How the Conversions API Gateway works
Meta describes two modules: middleware that receives browser events, turns them into Conversions API events and sends them to Meta, and an admin UI at /hub/capig showing connected Pixels, event activity and the Conversions API success rate. One instance can serve several Pixels and several domains.
Setup starts in Events Manager: Settings tab, Set up with Conversions API Gateway, Get started. You pick a cloud setup and a single hosting region, then launch a prefilled AWS stack that Meta says takes 30 to 40 minutes to create. Data takes 5 minutes to 2 hours to show up, and Meta recommends adding a custom domain (setup guide).
The Pixel relay is the core. The Gateway can also take uploaded event files, and from version 1.6.0 it has an endpoint your server can post non-web events (offline, app, CRM) to (sending events from a server). Once your server posts to it, though, you’re writing the integration code the Gateway was meant to spare you.
Who hosts the Conversions API Gateway
- Your own cloud account. The instance runs on AWS (EKS or ECS Express) or Google Cloud, in an account owned by the business. Meta says ECS Express Mode can offer a lower fixed monthly cost and takes about 25 minutes (ECS Express).
- A partner service. During setup you can have your account hosted by a partner instead (same article).
- A multi-account host. Agencies, partners and resellers can set up the Gateway for multiple accounts once and onboard client businesses, which then connect their Pixels without running infrastructure of their own.
On cost, Meta’s Help Center article says cloud fees are the only cost and start at $30 a month, varying with region, usage and Pixel traffic. It pitches the Gateway at businesses that already use the Pixel, don’t yet send web events through the Conversions API, spend more than $300 a month on campaigns optimizing for web events, and don’t work with an ecommerce partner such as Shopify.
Gateway vs direct integration
| Conversions API Gateway | Direct integration | Meta-enabled Conversions API | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who sends the event | the Gateway, relaying the Pixel | your server, when the event happens | Meta, mirroring the Pixel |
| Code | none for the Pixel relay | a developer; 2 to 4 weeks for a new integration | none, one click |
| Hosting | your AWS or Google Cloud account, or a partner | your own infrastructure | nothing to host |
| Event sources | website via the Pixel; uploads or the server endpoint for others | web, app, offline, CRM, messaging | web only |
| A Lead the Pixel never fired | not relayed, unless your server posts it | sent by the server that got the form | lost |
The direct and Meta-enabled columns come from Meta’s comparison of setup options, which now lists those two plus partner integrations and leaves the Gateway out.
A Lead that starts in the browser can be lost in the browser. DropCPL sends the Lead event through the Conversions API from the server that receives the form submission, with event_id for deduplication and fbc/fbp, and nothing for you to host. Start free →
Limits for lead generation
The Gateway’s starting point is the browser. On a lead gen landing page, the submission reaches a server whatever the browser does, while the Pixel’s copy exists only if the script loaded and ran. When the Pixel is blocked, the standard Gateway setup has nothing to forward. A direct integration reports the lead from the server that saved it, which is the server-side tracking pattern in its plain form.
So my rule: if your form posts to a backend you control, skip the Gateway and send the Lead from that backend. The Gateway fits teams with many Pixels and domains, no developers and a cloud account they’re happy to run. Either way, check what lands in your Meta dataset. The Conversions API setup guide has the step-by-step for both routes, and Pixel + CAPI deduplication explains the event_id match.
Related terms
- Meta CAPI: the API the Gateway forwards to
- Meta dataset: where the relayed events arrive
- Server-side tracking: the pattern a direct integration follows