Budgeting & Bidding
A daily budget tells Meta to spend roughly that amount every single day, indefinitely, until you pause it — Meta may spend a bit more on a strong day and less on a slow one, but it averages out close to your number over a week. A lifetime budget instead sets a total amount to spend across a fixed start and end date, and Meta paces spending across that whole window itself.
For a trade business that wants leads flowing continuously — not just for a one-off promotion — a daily budget on an ongoing campaign is almost always the better fit, since there's no end date to think about and no risk of the budget running out mid-month. Lifetime budgets suit a short, dated promotion, like a two-week spring cleaning special.
Donded defaults new campaigns to a daily budget for exactly this reason, since it matches how most trade businesses actually want to advertise: always on, adjusted up or down as work gets busier or quieter.