See the real return on any investment or project. Enter the amount invested and the amount returned — and get your net profit, ROI %, and annualized return.
Simple ROI — it doesn't account for risk, taxes, or cash flows in between. Annualized return assumes steady compounding over the period; use it to compare, not to promise.
Return on investment is just profit divided by what you put in. It's the quickest way to compare very different opportunities on the same footing.
ROI = (Amount returned − Amount invested) ÷ Amount invested
Over multiple years, the annualized return is more honest than raw ROI — a 30% return in one year is far better than 30% over five. This calculator shows both.
Return on investment compresses an entire opportunity into one ratio: the profit it produced divided by the money it consumed. That is genuinely useful, because it puts an ad campaign, a piece of equipment and a share purchase on the same footing. But the ratio has no time in it. Doubling your money is a 100% ROI whether it took nine months or nine years, and treating those as equivalent is the single most expensive misreading of this number — which is why this calculator shows the annualized return beside it.
The page loads with $1,000 invested, $1,300 returned, over one year. Net profit is $1,300 − $1,000 = $300. ROI is $300 ÷ $1,000 = 30%. The return multiple is $1,300 ÷ $1,000 = 1.3×. Because the period is exactly one year, the annualized return is also 30%.
Now change only the time. The annualized return is the rate that, compounding over the period, turns $1,000 into $1,300 — the multiple raised to the power of one over the years, minus one:
All four are the same $300 of profit and the same 30% ROI. Only the last two are worse than leaving the money in a boring index fund, and the five-year version is competing with a savings account. Whenever someone quotes an ROI without a period attached, the period is the number they are hiding.
The most common way this calculator is used wrong is entering revenue in the "amount returned" box. Suppose the $1,000 was ad spend and it produced $1,300 of sales. If your gross margin is 60%, those sales delivered $1,300 × 0.60 = $780 of gross profit against $1,000 of spend — an ROI of −22%, not +30%. The campaign looked like a 30% winner and actually destroyed $220. Put the gross profit the investment generated in the returned box, not the turnover, and the number starts telling the truth.
One ratio at one moment cannot tell you which of your projects, campaigns or product lines is actually carrying the business — that needs the returns tracked alongside the costs, period after period. Our small business bookkeeping template keeps that record so every campaign and purchase is measured against what it earned. For the compounding side of the same maths see the compound interest calculator, and for the margin figure the trap above depends on, the profit margin calculator.
Subtract what you invested from what you got back, then divide by what you invested, and multiply by 100 for a percentage. This calculator also shows the return multiple and, over multiple years, the annualized return.
It depends entirely on the risk and the alternative. Compare an opportunity's annualized return to what you'd earn elsewhere at similar risk — a number only looks "good" next to the option you're giving up.
Related: compound interest calculator · profit margin calculator · all free calculators.
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Yes. The ROI Calculator is completely free, runs in your browser, and never asks for a signup, email, or download. Enter your numbers and the result updates instantly.
It uses standard formulas and recalculates the moment you change a value, so the math is exact for the inputs you enter. Treat the result as a reliable planning estimate; for decisions with legal or tax consequences, confirm the figures with a qualified professional.
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Last reviewed: September 2026. Free to use, no signup — ROI Calculator by ToolWise Digital.
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