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Business · Free · Private

ROI Calculator

What an investment really returned, per year, side by side, and how long until you get your money back.

  • Runs in your browser
  • No upload
  • No sign-up

What the numbers mean, and their limits

ROI (return on investment)
Net profit ÷ amount invested. (13,000 − 10,000) ÷ 10,000 = 30%. It says how much you made, but not how long it took.
Annualised ROI (CAGR)
The steady yearly growth rate that turns what you put in into what you got out. 1.3^(1/2) − 1 = 14.02% a year. Use this to compare investments held for different lengths of time.
ROAS (return on ad spend)
Sales from ads ÷ ad spend. A ROAS of 4× means 4 back in sales for every 1 spent, but sales are not profit: the product still has to be paid for.
Break-even ROAS
The ROAS where ads exactly pay for themselves. With a 40% margin and no other costs it is 1 ÷ 0.4 = 2.5×. Below it, the campaign loses money.
Payback period
How long until the cash coming back equals what you put in. Shorter means less time at risk, but it ignores anything earned after that point.
Discounted payback
The same, but money arriving later is shrunk by your discount rate, because 1,000 next year is worth less than 1,000 today. It is always a little longer.

What ROI leaves out. Simple ROI ignores time and the time value of money: a 30% return over 10 years is far worse than 30% over 1 year. The annualised figure fixes the time part, and discounted payback the value part. None of these measure risk, and they are only as honest as the numbers you type, so include fees, tax and your own time where they matter. Annualised figures for less than a year scale a short result up and can look extreme.

An estimate to help you compare, not financial advice. Past returns don’t promise future ones, and these figures leave out risk and tax unless you include them in the amounts.

About this tool

This ROI calculator answers the question behind most money decisions: was it worth it? Type what you put in, what it is worth now and how long you held it, and you get the total return on investment, the annualised return (the steady yearly growth rate, often called CAGR), your net profit and how many times your money grew. Time can be typed in years or worked out from two dates. Add up to four investments to compare them side by side, with bars, a table and a plain note on which one really did best per year.

The Ads (ROAS) tab is for ad campaigns. From ad spend, the sales the ads brought in and your gross margin, it works out return on ad spend, true marketing ROI after product costs, net profit and the break-even ROAS you need to stop losing money. Add the number of orders to see your cost per order and the most you can afford to pay for one.

The Payback tab shows how long it takes to earn back an investment, from a steady monthly amount or a month-by-month list, with a running-total chart, a table and an optional discount rate for discounted payback. Every number comes with a plain explanation of what it means and what it leaves out.

How to use ROI Calculator

  1. Pick your currency at the top.
  2. In the ROI tab, type the amount invested, the final value and the time held, in years or between two dates.
  3. Press Compare another investment to add up to four and read the Side by side table.
  4. For ads, open Ads (ROAS) and type ad spend, revenue from the ads and your gross margin.
  5. For a project or purchase, open Payback, type what you invested and the cash it brings back each month, then press Download CSV or Copy table.
Example

Invest 10,000 and get back 13,000 after 2 years: net profit 3,000, ROI 30%, and an annualised return of 14.02% a year, because 1.1402 × 1.1402 = 1.30. Spend 2,000 on ads that bring in 8,000 of sales at a 40% margin: ROAS is 4×, but the true marketing ROI is 60%.

Features

  • Simple ROI, net profit and money multiple for any investment.
  • Annualised return (CAGR) from a number of years or from purchase and sale dates.
  • Compare up to four investments with bars, a table and a note on which grew fastest each year.
  • Marketing mode: ROAS, marketing ROI after product costs, break-even ROAS, cost per order and the most you can pay per order.
  • Payback period from a steady monthly amount or a pasted month-by-month list, including months that cost money.
  • Discounted payback using a yearly discount rate, for the time value of money.
  • Running-total chart you can read with the arrow keys, plus a table with CSV download.
  • Plain-English explanations and warnings, such as when a short holding period makes the yearly figure look extreme.

Tips and good to know

  • Always compare investments on the yearly figure. 50% over five years (8.45% a year) is worse than 30% over two years (14.02% a year).
  • Put every cost into the amount invested: fees, commissions, repairs, tax. Leaving them out flatters the result.
  • A high ROAS is not the same as profit. If your margin is 25%, you need a ROAS above 4× before the ads pay for themselves.
  • If dividends or rent came in along the way, add them to the final value so the return counts them.
  • For payback on a big purchase, try a discount rate equal to your loan interest. If discounted payback is far longer, the deal is thinner than it looks.
Are my numbers uploaded anywhere?

No. Every calculation runs in your browser on your own device. Nothing you type is sent to a server or saved by us.

Is it free, and are there limits?

It is completely free with no sign-up. You can compare up to four investments at once and list up to 600 months of cash flows for payback.

Does it work on my phone, and offline?

Yes. It works in Safari on iPhone, Chrome on Android and every modern desktop browser. After the page loads, the sums run on your device, so it keeps working without a connection.

How is ROI calculated?

ROI = (final value − amount invested) ÷ amount invested × 100. Investing 10,000 and ending with 13,000 gives (13,000 − 10,000) ÷ 10,000 = 30%.

What is annualised ROI, or CAGR?

It is the steady yearly rate that would turn your starting amount into your final amount: (final ÷ invested) to the power of (1 ÷ years), minus 1. For 10,000 to 13,000 over 2 years that is 1.3 to the power 0.5, minus 1, or 14.02% a year.

What is a good ROAS?

It depends on your margin. Break-even ROAS is 1 ÷ gross margin, so with a 40% margin you need 2.5× just to cover product costs, and more to cover fees and overheads. The calculator shows yours.

Does ROI take inflation and the time value of money into account?

Simple ROI does not: it ignores how long the money was tied up and that money later is worth less. The annualised figure accounts for time, and discounted payback in the Payback tab accounts for the value of money over time.

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