ROI Calculator
Measure how well an investment did: enter what you put in and what it is worth now, then add the holding period if you want the annualized return.
ROI ignores how long the money was tied up — a 20% gain in one year beats a 20% gain in five. Compare the annualized figure when the periods differ.
Formula and calculation
Worked example
$10,000 grows to $12,000 over 2 years: the ROI is 20% and the profit is $2,000.00. Annualized, the return is 9.54% — lower than the total, because the same gain was earned over two years rather than one.
What the results mean
- Return on investment (ROI)
- Total return as a percentage of the amount invested: profit ÷ amount invested. A 20% ROI means 20 cents of profit per dollar put in, over the whole holding period.
- Annualized return (CAGR)
- The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) — the steady yearly rate that turns your investment into the final value over the holding period. Blank when no holding period is entered.
- Profit
- Final value minus the amount invested, in dollars. Negative when the investment lost money.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate ROI?
Subtract what you invested from the final value, then divide by what you invested: ($12,000 − $10,000) ÷ $10,000 = 20%. The same arithmetic works for a project or an ad campaign — swap the final value for the revenue it produced.
What is the difference between ROI and annualized return?
ROI is the total gain over the whole period, however long that was. The annualized return (CAGR) converts it into a per-year rate, so a 20% ROI over two years is a 9.54% annualized return — and that is the number to compare against other investments.
Can ROI be negative?
Yes. Invest $10,000 and end with $8,000 and the ROI is −20% with a $2,000 loss. If the investment is worth nothing the ROI comes out at −100%, which the calculator reports like any other number.
What is a good ROI?
There is no universal answer — it depends on the risk. Broad stock market returns have historically averaged around 10% a year before inflation, with decade-long stretches well above and below that; savings accounts return far less but cannot halve in a year. Judge an ROI against the alternative uses of the same money.
How do fees and taxes change the ROI?
They are not included automatically. The cleanest fix is to enter net figures — the amount invested including commissions, and the final value after selling costs and taxes — so the ROI reflects what actually stayed in your pocket.