ROI Calculator

What is an ROI calculator?

An ROI calculator works out your return on investment: how much you gained or lost relative to what you put in, shown as a percentage. You enter two numbers — the amount invested (your cost) and the final value — and the tool instantly returns your net profit in money terms and your ROI as a percent. Add an optional holding period in years and it also reports the annualized ROI, the steady yearly rate behind the total return.

ROI answers the plain question “was this worth it, and by how much?” Because it is expressed as a percentage of the money you risked, it lets you compare very different investments — a stock, a rental property, a marketing campaign, a course — on the same footing.

This tool is part of our finance calculators collection and runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you type is sent anywhere.

How does the ROI calculator work?

The calculator uses the standard return-on-investment formula:

ROI = (final value − amount invested) ÷ amount invested × 100

It also reports the raw dollar gain:

Net profit = final value − amount invested

When you supply a holding period and the final value is positive, it computes the compounded yearly rate:

Annualized ROI = (final value ÷ amount invested)^(1 ÷ years) − 1

The annualized result is a decimal the tool multiplies by 100 to show as a percent. Where:

• Amount invested (cost) — what you paid in, including fees if you want a true net figure. Must be a positive number.
• Final value — what the investment is worth now or sold for.
• Years — the length of the holding period (optional; used only for annualized ROI). Decimals like 2.5 are fine.

Total ROI and annualized ROI differ because of compounding. A 30% total return over two years is not 15% a year — a slightly lower rate (about 14.02%) compounded twice produces the 30% total. The tool handles that exponent for you.

Examples

Example 1 — invest 10,000, final 13,000 over 2 years

Net profit = 13,000 − 10,000 = +3,000 ROI = 3,000 ÷ 10,000 × 100 = +30% Annualized ROI = (13,000 ÷ 10,000)^(1 ÷ 2) − 1 = 1.3^0.5 − 1 = 0.1402

That is a +30% total ROI, a +3,000 net profit, and an annualized ROI of 14.02% per year.

Example 2 — invest 5,000, final 4,000 (a loss)

Net profit = 4,000 − 5,000 = −1,000 ROI = −1,000 ÷ 5,000 × 100 = −20%

This investment lost money: an ROI of −20% and a net profit of −1,000. Without a holding period, the tool simply reports the total loss with no annualized figure.

Example 3 — invest 8,000, final 16,000 over 3 years

Net profit = 16,000 − 8,000 = +8,000 ROI = 8,000 ÷ 8,000 × 100 = +100% Annualized ROI = (16,000 ÷ 8,000)^(1 ÷ 3) − 1 = 2^0.3333 − 1 ≈ 0.2599

Doubling your money is a +100% ROI and a +8,000 net profit, which works out to about 25.99% per year compounded over the three years.

Example 4 — invest 2,000, final 2,500 over 1 year

Net profit = 2,500 − 2,000 = +500 ROI = 500 ÷ 2,000 × 100 = +25% Annualized ROI = (2,500 ÷ 2,000)^(1 ÷ 1) − 1 = 1.25 − 1 = 0.25

Over exactly one year the annualized ROI equals the total ROI: +25%, with a +500 net profit. The two figures only diverge when the period is longer or shorter than a single year.

ROI reference table

The table below shows ROI, net profit, and annualized ROI for a fixed 10,000 amount invested over a 2-year hold, using the same formulas the tool applies. It is a quick way to sanity-check a result.

Amount invested	Final value	Net profit	ROI	Annualized ROI (2 yr)
10,000	8,000	−2,000	−20%	−10.56%
10,000	11,000	+1,000	+10%	+4.88%
10,000	13,000	+3,000	+30%	+14.02%
10,000	15,000	+5,000	+50%	+22.47%
10,000	20,000	+10,000	+100%	+41.42%

Notice how the annualized figure is always milder than the total ROI for a multi-year hold — that gap is compounding spread across the two years.

Common uses for ROI

• Comparing investments — reduce a stock, a fund, a property flip, or a side project to one percentage so you can rank them fairly.
• Tracking a portfolio — enter what you invested and what it is worth now to see your true gain or loss.
• Marketing and business spend — measure return on an ad campaign, a piece of equipment, or a hire by comparing cost against the value it produced.
• Real estate — gauge a property purchase by total cost in versus current value or sale price.
• Goal setting — work out the annualized rate you would need to hit a target final value within a chosen number of years.

Tips and common mistakes

• Include all costs. A true ROI counts fees, commissions, and improvements in the amount invested, not just the headline purchase price.
• Match the period for annualized ROI. The years field should cover exactly the time between buying and the final value; an off-by-one year skews the annual rate.
• Don’t confuse total ROI with annual ROI. A 30% total over 2 years is 14.02% a year, not 15% — never just divide total ROI by the number of years.
• Use the same basis for both numbers. Cost and final value must measure the same thing (both gross, or both net of tax), or the percentage is meaningless.
• Watch the sign. A negative ROI is a real loss; a −20% ROI means you ended with 80% of what you put in.

Limitations and notes

ROI is a simple, point-to-point measure. It compares one cost to one final value and ignores everything in between, so it hides volatility and risk — two investments can share the same ROI while one was far bumpier along the way. It also does not, on its own, account for deposits or withdrawals made during the holding period; if you added money over time, plain ROI will not reflect your true per-dollar return.

Annualized ROI assumes a single lump sum growing at a constant compounded rate, which real assets rarely do. The figure is also sensitive to the start and end points you pick, and basic ROI does not adjust for inflation, taxes, or the timing of cash flows. Treat it as a clear comparison tool, not a forecast: past ROI does not guarantee future returns.

For related money planning, try the compound interest calculator to project future value, the SIP calculator for regular monthly investing, or the loan calculator for borrowing costs — all in the finance calculators hub.