Calculate your return on investment (ROI), net profit, and annualized return (CAGR).
An ROI (Return on Investment) calculator measures how profitable an investment was, based on what you put in and what it's worth now (or what you sold it for). It calculates your net profit, your ROI as a percentage, and your annualized return (CAGR) — which spreads the total return over the investment's holding period to allow fair comparisons between investments held for different lengths of time.
Net profit is the final value minus your total cost basis (initial investment plus additional costs). ROI as a percentage is your net profit divided by your total cost basis, multiplied by 100.
Formula (ROI): ROI % = (Final Value − Total Cost) / Total Cost × 100.
Formula (CAGR / annualized return): CAGR % = [(Final Value / Total Cost)^(1/years) − 1] × 100. This spreads the total gain evenly over each year, making it possible to compare a 2-year investment to a 10-year investment on equal footing.
Example: For a $10,000 initial investment with no additional costs, growing to a $15,000 final value over 5 years, the net profit is $5,000, the ROI is 50%, and the annualized return (CAGR) is roughly 8.4% per year. (Note: all figures in this example are for illustration purposes only.)
ROI is a widely used metric for evaluating all kinds of investments — stocks, real estate, business ventures, or even improvements like a home renovation. While total ROI tells you the overall percentage gain, CAGR (annualized return) is often more useful for comparisons, since a 50% ROI over 2 years is a very different result than a 50% ROI over 20 years. Keep in mind that ROI calculated this way doesn't account for taxes on gains, which may apply depending on the type of investment and how long it was held (short-term vs. long-term capital gains can be taxed differently).
ROI is the total percentage gain or loss over the entire investment period, regardless of how long it took. CAGR (annualized return) spreads that total gain evenly across each year, making it possible to fairly compare investments held for different lengths of time.
Yes — including additional costs like transaction fees, commissions, or improvement costs in your total cost basis gives a more accurate picture of your true return, since these costs reduce your actual profit.
No. This calculator shows pre-tax ROI and CAGR. Depending on the type of investment and how long you held it, capital gains taxes may apply and would reduce your actual after-tax return.
Yes — enter the current market value as the "final value" to calculate your unrealized ROI and annualized return as of today, keeping in mind the value could change before you sell.
CAGR represents the annual rate that, if compounded every year, would produce your total ROI over the investment period. For periods longer than one year, CAGR will generally be lower than the total ROI percentage because it reflects a per-year rate rather than the cumulative total.
Yes. If the final value is less than your total cost basis, both net profit and ROI will be negative, indicating a loss on the investment.
Disclaimer: The information and figures provided on this page are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not account for taxes, inflation, or fees not entered by the user. Financial rules and regulations change frequently. Always consult a qualified financial advisor before making any financial decisions.