ROI Calculator
Calculate return on investment as a percentage and net gain, plus an annualized return when you provide a holding period.
🔒 Runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploadedThe ROI formula
Return on investment measures how much an investment earned relative to its cost. The core formula is ROI = (final value − initial investment) ÷ initial investment × 100. The numerator is your net gain — the profit after returning the original capital — and dividing by the initial investment expresses that gain as a percentage of what you put in. A $10,000 investment that grows to $15,000 has a $5,000 gain and a 50% ROI. A negative result means a loss: if the final value is below the initial amount, the ROI is below zero. Because it is a simple ratio, ROI works for stocks, real estate, a business project or a marketing campaign — anything with a clear cost and a clear return.
Total versus annualized return
Total ROI ignores time, which makes it hard to compare investments held for different lengths. Annualized return fixes that by spreading the gain across the holding period using ((final ÷ initial)1 ÷ years − 1) × 100. This is the compound average growth rate, or CAGR, and it answers "what steady yearly return would produce this result?" A 50% total ROI earned over three years is about 14.5% per year, while the same 50% earned in one year is simply 50%. When you compare opportunities, the annualized figure is usually the fairer measure because it puts every investment on a per-year footing regardless of how long you held it.
What ROI leaves out
ROI is a clean headline number, but a few things sit outside the basic formula. It does not account for risk: a volatile asset and a stable one can share the same ROI while feeling very different to own. It ignores cash flows in between, such as dividends or additional deposits, unless you fold them into the final value. It also excludes taxes and transaction fees, which reduce real returns. For irregular contributions and withdrawals, an internal-rate-of-return calculation is more precise. Everything here is computed locally in your browser with no account or live price feed, so treat the output as an educational estimate.
How to use
- Enter the amountsType the initial amount you invested and the final value you received or hold now.
- Add the holding timeOptionally enter how many years you held the investment to get an annualized return.
- Read the returnsSee the net gain, the total ROI percentage and, if a period is given, the annualized return.