ROI Calculator
Measure your return on investment as a clear percentage and profit figure.
How to use the ROI Calculator
- Enter the amount you invested.
- Enter what it is worth now (or when you sold).
- See your ROI percentage and net profit.
ROI = (Final value − Amount invested) ÷ Amount invested × 100
About the ROI Calculator
ROI expresses a gain as a share of what you put in: ROI = (Final value − Amount invested) ÷ Amount invested × 100. This calculator returns that percentage plus the net profit in currency, and flags whether the position is up or down. Because it normalises by the amount invested, a 500 gain on 1,000 and a 50,000 gain on 100,000 both read as 50% — which is exactly what makes ROI useful for comparing deals of very different sizes.
The limitation is time. Simple ROI has no term in it, so a 20% return earned in one year and a 20% return earned over ten years produce an identical figure despite being completely different outcomes. Whenever holding periods differ, annualised return is the honest comparison — that is what the CAGR calculator is for.
It also ignores everything that happened between the two numbers you type in: money added or withdrawn along the way, dividends, interest or rent received, transaction and platform fees, tax on gains, and risk. Two investments can share an ROI when one moved steadily and the other nearly collapsed halfway through. Enter net-of-fee figures if you want the percentage to reflect what you actually kept. For per-sale profitability rather than investment return, see the profit margin calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Can ROI be negative?
Yes. If the final value is below the amount invested, ROI is negative and the result is flagged as a loss. A ROI of −100% means the investment went to zero.
Does ROI account for how long I held the investment?
No, and this is its biggest weakness. The formula contains no time term, so a fast gain and a slow one of the same size look identical. Use CAGR — annualised return — whenever you are comparing investments held for different lengths of time.
What counts as a good ROI?
There is no universal benchmark. It depends entirely on the asset, the risk taken and the period involved, and ROI on its own cannot tell you whether a return compensated for the risk. Comparing against what a similar-risk alternative did over the same period is more meaningful than any absolute number.
Should I include fees and tax?
The calculator uses exactly the two numbers you give it, so it is up to you. If you want the ROI you actually realised, add fees and commissions to the amount invested and use the after-tax proceeds as the final value.
Can I use it for marketing or business ROI?
Yes — enter campaign spend as the amount invested and the return as the final value. Just be clear about what you are entering: using revenue as the final value measures revenue against spend, not profit. Use gross profit instead if you want a profitability figure.
Guides & articles about this tool
The Power of Compound Interest, Explained Simply
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