ROI Calculator
Work out your return on investment in seconds — simple ROI, annualised ROI, marketing ROAS and rental property cash-on-cash return, all in one calculator with a full breakdown of the numbers behind the percentage.
- Simple & annualised ROI
- Investment, marketing & property
- Benchmark comparison
- Nothing stored, no sign-up
Net profit of $4,250 on $10,250 invested
How the number is built
Against the benchmark
Why this ROI calculator beats a spreadsheet
Most ROI tools online do one division and print a percentage. That percentage is nearly useless on its own, because a 40% return over six months and a 40% return over six years are completely different investments.
Annualised, not just total
Every result shows both total ROI and annualised ROI, so a three-year gain is never mistaken for a one-year one. That is the only fair way to compare opportunities.
Benchmarked against doing nothing
See what the same money would have become in an index fund, a savings account, or simply losing ground to inflation. Beating zero is not the same as beating the alternative.
Three real modes
Investment ROI, marketing ROI with ROAS and break-even, and rental property cash-on-cash return with cap rate. One tool instead of three tabs open.
Costs counted properly
Fees, closing costs, agency retainers and running expenses all reduce your return in reality, so they reduce it here. Ignoring them is how paper returns get invented.
Losses shown honestly
A negative return turns the result panel red and states the loss in cash, not just a minus sign buried in a percentage. No sugar-coating a bad deal.
Instant, private, eight currencies
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere, nothing is saved, and the page carries no trackers or heavy libraries.
How to use the ROI calculator
- 1
Choose your mode
Investment for anything you buy and sell, Marketing for a campaign, Rental property for a buy-to-let deal.
- 2
Enter what you put in
Include every cost you actually paid — fees, commissions, closing costs, agency retainers. Understating them inflates your return.
- 3
Enter what you got back
Total value returned, including dividends, interest and payouts, not just the sale price.
- 4
Read the annualised figure
Use annualised ROI to compare deals of different lengths, and check the benchmark bar before deciding it was a good one.
The ROI formula explained
Return on investment measures how much you gained relative to what the investment cost you. The standard formula is:
ROI = (Net profit ÷ Total cost of investment) × 100
Net profit is the value you received minus everything you put in. If you invested 10,000 with 250 in fees and it came back as 14,500, your net profit is 4,250 and your total cost is 10,250, giving an ROI of 41.5%.
Annualised ROI
Total ROI ignores time, which makes long holds look better than they are. Annualised ROI — effectively the compound annual growth rate — fixes that:
Annualised ROI = ((Final ÷ Cost) ^ (1 ÷ Years) − 1) × 100
That same 41.5% over three years is only 12.3% a year. Over six years it is 5.9% a year, which no longer beats a decent index fund. Whenever you compare two opportunities of different lengths, the annualised figure is the one that matters.
ROAS versus marketing ROI
Return on ad spend divides revenue by ad spend and ignores both your other campaign costs and your margin. Marketing ROI uses gross profit and counts every cost, which is why a 4x ROAS campaign can still lose money at a 20% margin. The calculator shows both, plus the break-even ROAS your margin requires.
What counts as a good ROI?
There is no universal answer, because return has to be judged against risk, time and the alternative use of the money. These are the reference points most investors work from.
| Asset or activity | Typical annual return |
|---|---|
| US stock market, long-run average | About 10% before inflation, roughly 7% after |
| Government bonds | Roughly 3% to 5% |
| High-yield savings | Whatever the current base rate supports |
| Rental property, cash-on-cash | Investors commonly target 8% to 12% |
| Established marketing channel | ROAS of 3x to 5x is a common target |
| Small business or startup | Highly variable; most of the risk sits here |
Three traps ROI hides
- It ignores time. Always annualise before comparing. This is the single most common ROI mistake.
- It ignores risk. A 15% return from a volatile venture is not equivalent to 15% from a bond. ROI says nothing about how likely you were to lose the lot.
- It ignores what you gave up. If your money would have earned 8% elsewhere, a 6% return is a real loss in opportunity terms even though the number is positive.
ROI is a first filter, not a verdict. Use it to rule things out quickly, then look at cash flow timing, tax treatment and downside risk before committing.
ROI in different situations
| Situation | What goes in the cost | What goes in the return |
|---|---|---|
| Stocks or funds | Purchase price plus commission and platform fees | Sale proceeds plus dividends received |
| Marketing campaign | Ad spend, creative, agency fees, tooling, staff time | Gross profit from attributed revenue, not revenue itself |
| Rental property | Deposit, closing costs, refurbishment — the cash you actually committed | Annual rent minus running costs and mortgage payments |
| Business equipment | Purchase, installation, training, maintenance | Cost savings or extra output the equipment produced |
| Education or a course | Tuition, materials, and income given up while studying | Increase in earnings over a defined period |
| Website or SEO project | Build cost, content, links, ongoing retainer | Gross profit from organic revenue, measured after the ramp-up |
ROI calculator FAQs
How do you calculate ROI?
Subtract the total cost of the investment from the total value you received to get net profit, divide that by the total cost, then multiply by 100 for a percentage. If you spent 10,250 including fees and received 14,500 back, your net profit is 4,250 and your ROI is 41.5%. Include every cost you actually paid, or the figure will flatter the investment.
What is the difference between ROI and annualised ROI?
ROI tells you the total percentage gain over the whole holding period, with no reference to how long that took. Annualised ROI converts it into an equivalent yearly rate using compounding, so a 41.5% return over three years becomes 12.3% a year. Only the annualised figure lets you fairly compare a six-month trade against a five-year hold.
What is a good ROI percentage?
It depends entirely on risk and time frame. The US stock market has averaged roughly 10% a year before inflation over the long run, so many investors treat that as the bar a riskier investment should clear. Rental property investors commonly target 8% to 12% cash-on-cash, and marketing teams often aim for a ROAS of 3x to 5x. A 20% annual return is excellent; a 20% total return over ten years barely keeps up with inflation.
Can ROI be negative?
Yes. If the value you received is less than what you put in, ROI is negative and represents a real loss. An ROI of minus 100% means the entire investment was wiped out. The calculator switches the result panel to red and reports the loss in cash so the scale of it is obvious rather than hidden in a percentage.
Does ROI account for inflation and taxes?
Not by default. The figure this calculator produces is a nominal, pre-tax return. To see it in real terms, subtract the inflation rate from your annualised ROI, or use the inflation benchmark option to compare directly. For an after-tax view, enter your net proceeds after capital gains tax rather than the gross amount.
Our inflation calculator shows what a sum from a past year is worth today.
How do I calculate marketing ROI and ROAS?
ROAS is revenue divided by ad spend, expressed as a multiple such as 4.4x. Marketing ROI is stricter: it takes the gross profit from that revenue, subtracts every campaign cost including creative and agency fees, and divides by total cost. A campaign with a 4x ROAS and a 20% margin is actually losing money, which is why the calculator also shows the break-even ROAS your margin requires.
What is cash-on-cash return for a rental property?
Cash-on-cash return divides your annual pre-tax cash flow by the cash you actually invested — deposit, closing costs and refurbishment — rather than the full purchase price. Because mortgage payments come out of the cash flow, it reflects what leverage really does to your return. Cap rate, shown alongside it, ignores financing entirely and compares the property itself.
To model the loan side, use our mortgage calculator.
Is ROI the same as profit margin?
No. Profit margin divides profit by revenue and tells you how much of each sale you keep. ROI divides profit by the amount invested and tells you how hard your capital worked. A business can have a strong margin and a poor ROI if it needed enormous capital to generate those sales.
For the margin side of the equation, see our profit margin calculator.
This calculator is for general information and education. It is not financial, investment or tax advice, and it does not account for risk, liquidity or your personal circumstances. Speak to a qualified adviser before making an investment decision.
Know what your money actually earned
Total ROI, annualised return, ROAS or cash-on-cash — with every cost counted and a benchmark to judge it against.