Return on Investment
Calculator
Enter your cost and return to instantly calculate ROI percentage, net profit, and return multiple.
How to Calculate ROI
ROI (Return on Investment) measures the efficiency of an investment relative to its cost. It tells you how much you gain or lose for every dollar invested.
For example: you invest $10,000 and receive $15,000 back. ROI = ((15,000 − 10,000) ÷ 10,000) × 100 = 50%.
What Is a Good ROI?
It depends heavily on the type of investment and the risk involved. Stock market investments historically average around 7–10% annually. Real estate varies by market. Business investments are often expected to clear 15–25%+ to justify the risk. The higher the risk, the higher the ROI should be to compensate.
ROI vs Profit Margin
ROI uses investment cost as the denominator — it measures return relative to what you put in. Profit margin uses revenue as the denominator — it measures profit as a share of sales. They are related but answer different questions. Use the Profit Margin Calculator for margin.
Common Questions
What does a negative ROI mean?
A negative ROI means your return was less than your investment — you lost money. For example, investing $10,000 and getting back $8,000 gives an ROI of −20%.
How is ROI different from annualized ROI?
Standard ROI doesn't account for time. A 50% ROI over 10 years is far less impressive than 50% over 1 year. Annualized ROI uses compound growth to express the equivalent yearly rate. For time-based comparisons, always use annualized figures.
Can ROI exceed 100%?
Yes. If you double your investment (invest $10k, get back $20k), the ROI is 100%. If you triple it, ROI is 200%. There is no upper limit for ROI. The return multiple is often a cleaner way to express very large ROIs.