ROI Calculator
Work out the net profit, ROI, annualized ROI and payback period of a campaign, purchase or project, and compare up to three scenarios side by side. Every calculation runs in your browser.
Calculate your ROI
Type numbers the way you normally write them, like 1,234.56.
The total amount you put in upfront.
Revenue or value gained, before costs. Use a minus sign for a loss.
Ongoing or extra costs over the same period.
Needed for annualized ROI and payback.
Results
Enter an investment and a total return to see your results.
Results are estimates from the figures you enter. The share link contains only these numbers, the currency and the period, nothing else.
How the ROI Calculator Works
Enter your figures
Investment is what you spent upfront. Total return is the revenue or value the investment brought in over the period, before costs. Extra costs (optional) are any ongoing or additional costs over the same period, such as fees or maintenance. The time period (optional) is how long the return took to earn, in months or years. Pick the currency you want results shown in; numbers can be typed with your usual separators.
Net profit and ROI
Total cost = Investment + Extra costs. Net profit = Total return − Total cost. ROI = Net profit ÷ Total cost × 100. For example, a $10,000 investment with $2,000 of extra costs that returns $18,000 has a total cost of $12,000, a net profit of $6,000 and an ROI of 50%.
Annualized ROI
Annualized ROI = ((Total return ÷ Total cost) ^ (12 ÷ months) − 1) × 100, where months is the time period in months (years × 12). It is the yearly compound rate that would turn your total cost into your total return over that period, so results over different lengths of time can be compared. The example above, earned over 6 months, annualizes to 125%. A period shorter than a year is scaled up as if the same result repeated. Annualized ROI isn't defined when the total return is negative, and isn't shown when it would exceed a trillion percent.
Payback period
Payback period = Investment ÷ ((Total return − Extra costs) ÷ months). This assumes the investment is paid upfront and the return and extra costs arrive evenly across the period. In the example, $10,000 ÷ ($16,000 ÷ 6) = 3.75 months, shown as 3.8 months. If the payback is longer than the period you entered, it is extrapolated at the same pace and labeled as after the period ends. If the return doesn't exceed the extra costs, the investment never pays for itself.
Compare, copy and share
Switch to Compare scenarios to fill in two or three sets of figures, for example different campaigns, and see them in one table with the best ROI and annualized ROI marked. Copy results puts every input, output and summary on your clipboard as text. Copy share link creates a URL holding only the numbers, currency and period units, so whoever opens it sees the same calculation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is ROI calculated?
ROI = Net profit ÷ Total cost × 100, where Net profit is your total return minus your total cost (the investment plus any extra costs). An ROI of 50% means you made back your costs plus half as much again. An ROI below 0% means a loss, and below −100% means the total return itself was negative.
What is a good ROI?
It depends on the risk, the time involved, and what else the money could have done. A common yardstick is to beat what a low-risk alternative would have earned over the same period, which is why annualized ROI matters: 20% over five years is far weaker than 20% in one year. Marketing teams often aim for campaigns to return several times their cost, while long-term investments are usually judged against market returns. Compare against your own past results and alternatives rather than a single universal number.
What is the difference between ROI and ROAS?
ROAS (return on ad spend) is revenue divided by ad spend, so $5 of revenue per $1 of ads is a ROAS of 5, or 500%. It ignores every other cost, such as product costs, fees and staff time. ROI subtracts all the costs you include and divides the profit by them, so the same campaign could have a strong ROAS and still a low or negative ROI. To get ROI from this calculator for an ad campaign, enter the ad spend as the investment and other campaign costs as extra costs.
What are the limits of a simple ROI calculation?
Simple ROI ignores timing: money returned later is worth less than money returned now, and the payback period assumes returns arrive evenly. It also ignores risk, inflation, taxes and the opportunity cost of what else the money could have done, and it is only as good as the costs you include. Annualizing a short period assumes the result could be repeated all year, which it often can’t. For large decisions with uneven cash flows, use net present value (NPV) or internal rate of return (IRR) alongside ROI.
Are my figures saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculations run entirely in your browser. Your figures aren’t sent to a server, saved to storage or cookies, or added to the page address as you type, and the calculator is masked from session recording. They only leave the page if you choose Copy share link, which builds a URL containing the numbers, currency and period units, and nothing else. Like any web address, that link is visible to whoever you send it to, and to this site’s analytics when it is opened.
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