ROI Calculator

Enter cost, final value and optional holding years for profit, total return, simple and compound annualized return, and the profit multiple.

All calculations happen locally in your browser. Nothing leaves your device.

Profit
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Total ROI
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Annualized ROI (simple)
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Annualized ROI (compound)
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Profit multiple
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Excludes dividends, fees and taxes. Leave the holding period blank to skip the annualized figures. A calculator, not financial advice.

How It Works

ROI answers one question: for every dollar you put in, what did you get back? Enter the cost you paid, the value the position ended at, and (optionally) how long you held it. The tool computes the profit, the total return percentage, the per-year return in two common ways, and the growth multiple.

Profit and total ROI
Profit = final value − initial cost. Total ROI = profit ÷ initial cost, as a percentage. If the final value is lower than the cost, both numbers go negative — that is a loss, and the same formulas apply with the sign flipped.
Two ways to annualize
Simple annualized = total ROI ÷ holding years: it splits the gain evenly across years, ignoring compounding. Compound annualized (CAGR) = (final ÷ initial)^(1/years) − 1: it finds the one constant yearly rate that grows the initial cost into the final value when interest is reinvested. CAGR is the standard way to compare investments held for different periods.
The profit multiple
Final value ÷ initial cost. It tells you how many times your money was worth at the end: 1.50x means your $10,000 became $15,000. Traders and investors often speak in multiples ("a 3-bagger") because they are intuitive for gains and losses alike.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is ROI and how is it calculated?

Return on investment (ROI) measures how much you gained relative to what you put in: profit divided by the initial cost, expressed as a percentage. Profit is the final value minus the initial cost. A 50% ROI means you earned 50 cents for every dollar invested.

What is the difference between simple and compound annualized ROI?

Simple annualized ROI spreads the total gain evenly across the holding period: total ROI ÷ years. Compound annualized ROI (the CAGR) finds the single constant annual growth rate that turns the initial cost into the final value with yearly compounding: (final ÷ initial)^(1/years) − 1. The compound figure is what makes different investments comparable over different lengths of time.

What is the profit multiple?

It is the final value divided by the initial cost — how many times your money grew. A 2.00x multiple means your $1 became $2. A 0.50x multiple means you lost half. It is the same information as ROI written differently: multiple = 1 + ROI.

Does this account for dividends or fees?

No. The tool only sees two numbers: what you paid and what it became. Dividends, distributions, reinvested income, trading fees and taxes are not modeled. If your position paid income along the way, add it to the final value before calculating to get a more complete picture.

Is this accurate?

For the numbers you enter, the arithmetic is exact. In practice, ROI is only as good as your inputs: use the full purchase cost (including fees) and the full selling value (including distributions) for a true figure. This tool is a calculator, not financial advice — past returns do not guarantee future results.