ROI (Return on Investment) Calculator

About this calculator

This tool calculates return on investment (ROI) — the net profit from an investment expressed as a percentage of its initial cost — by taking the final value, subtracting the original cost to find the profit, and dividing that profit by the cost. A positive ROI means the investment gained value, a negative one means it lost value, and expressing the result as a percentage makes it possible to compare investments of very different sizes on equal footing.

It is used by individual investors evaluating a stock, property or business purchase after the fact, by marketers judging whether an ad campaign's revenue justified its spend, and by small business owners deciding whether a piece of equipment or a project paid for itself. Because ROI on its own doesn't account for how long the money was tied up, people often use it alongside the time period involved to judge whether a return was actually good relative to other options over the same span.