ROI Calculator ( Return on Investment )
Calculate Return on Investment with optional annualized returns and comparisons
Investment Details
Results
Enter investment details to see ROI
Investment Comparison
What is the ROI Calculator?
ROI stands for return on investment. The calculator tells you, as a percentage, how much you gained or lost relative to what you put in. Businesses use it to evaluate whether a project was worth the money. Investors use it to compare how different assets performed. Marketers track it to see if an ad campaign paid off. CalciHub's ROI calculator handles the math instantly, and if you include the time period, it also calculates annualized ROI so you can compare investments that ran for different lengths of time.
How Does It Work?
ROI measures the net gain or loss as a percentage of the original investment. The formula is the same whether you're evaluating a stock purchase, a marketing campaign, or a business decision.
Formula: ROI = [(Net Return ÷ Cost of Investment) × 100]
Net Return = final value minus initial investment
Cost of Investment = the original amount invested or spent
ROI is expressed as a percentage, positive means profit, negative means loss
How to Use CalciHub's ROI Calculator
1. Enter the initial investment amount.
2. Enter the final value or total return.
3. Optionally enter the time period in years for annualized ROI.
4. Click Calculate to see your ROI percentage and net gain or loss.
Tip: Use annualized ROI when comparing two investments that ran for different durations, a 30% gain over 4 years is very different from a 30% gain over 1 year.
A Quick Example
Mike invested $12,000 in stocks two years ago. Today, the portfolio is worth $16,800.
Initial investment: $12,000
Current value: $16,800
Net return: $4,800
Time period: 2 years
ROI: ($4,800 ÷ $12,000) × 100 = 40%
Annualized ROI: approximately 18.3% per year
40% total sounds great, but the annualized figure is what really matters for comparison, it lets Mike evaluate whether those stocks outperformed his other options over the same two years.
Frequently Asked Questions
It depends entirely on context and risk. The S&P 500 averages around 10% annually over the long term, so many investors use that as a benchmark. A real estate investment might target 8–12%. A marketing campaign ROI of 200–300% is considered solid for many industries. There's no universal number — what counts as good depends on what you're comparing it to.
Regular ROI just measures total gain or loss regardless of how long the investment ran. Annualised ROI adjusts that figure to reflect a per-year rate, which makes comparing investments of different durations fair. A 50% ROI over 5 years works out to about 8.4% per year — not as impressive as it sounds at first.
Yes, and that's fine — it just means the investment lost value. A -20% ROI on a stock position is a loss. Knowing the exact percentage helps you assess whether to hold, cut losses, or reassess the decision-making behind it. Negative ROI isn't shameful; ignoring it is.
The basic formula doesn't. For a more accurate picture, subtract brokerage fees, transaction costs, and applicable taxes from your net return before calculating. After-tax ROI is particularly useful for comparing taxable accounts vs tax-advantaged accounts like a Roth IRA.
Yes, free with no sign-in required. Run as many investment scenarios as you want — there's no limit.
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