ROI Calculator

What it does

ROI compares what an investment returned with what it cost: (final value − amount invested) ÷ amount invested. It works for any investment: shares, a property, a marketing campaign or new equipment. Because a 50% return in one year is very different from 50% in ten, the calculator also gives the annualized ROI, which spreads the return evenly over the years with compounding.

How to use it

1. Type how much you invested, including fees and other costs.
2. Type what you got back, or what the investment is worth now.
3. Add how long the money was invested to see the ROI per year.

The arithmetic runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere and nothing is stored, so you can use these with real numbers.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the annualized ROI lower than the ROI divided by the years?
Because returns compound: each year's gain earns a return in the following years. A 50% ROI over 5 years is not 10% a year but 8.45% a year, because 1.0845 multiplied by itself 5 times gives 1.5.

What should I count as the amount invested?
Everything you paid to make and keep the investment: the price, fees, taxes, commissions and running costs. Leaving costs out makes the ROI look better than it was.

What is a good ROI?
It depends on the risk and on what else you could have done with the money. Compare the annualized ROI with a safe alternative, such as a savings account or government bonds, and with a broad stock index over the same period.

What is the difference between ROI and CAGR?
ROI is the total return over the whole period. The annualized ROI is the same as the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of the investment: the steady yearly rate that would take the amount invested to the final value.

Wikipedia — Return on investment
Wikipedia — Compound annual growth rate
Wikipedia — Rate of return