ROI Calculator
Calculate total ROI, annualized ROI (CAGR), and the multiple of money returned — for any investment.
About this calculator
Return on investment is the most-quoted financial metric, but "30 % ROI" means nothing without knowing whether that's over 3 years or 30. This calculator computes both the simple ROI (total gain as a percent of initial) and the annualized ROI — the only number you should use when comparing investments held for different lengths of time.
How it works
Simple ROI is straightforward: gain ÷ initial investment × 100. If you bought for $10,000 and sold for $13,000, that's $3,000 of gain on $10,000 = 30 % ROI. The number doesn't tell you whether you held it for 1 year or 10.
Annualized ROI (also called CAGR — Compound Annual Growth Rate) answers "what's the per-year return if the gain were spread evenly?" Formula: (final / initial) ^ (1 / years) − 1. A 30 % ROI over 3 years is a ~9.1 % annualized return — meaningful for comparing to the S&P 500's ~7 % real long-term return.
Use annualized ROI when comparing investments held for different time periods. Use simple ROI when the time horizon is identical or when you're talking about a single deal.
The multiple (the "X" return) is final ÷ initial — useful in venture capital and real estate. A 2.5× multiple means you got back 2.5 times what you put in. Multiples and ROI are equivalent: 2.5× = 150 % ROI.
Formula
gain = final − initial
total_ROI% = (gain / initial) × 100
annualized_ROI% = ((final / initial) ^ (1 / years) − 1) × 100
multiple = final / initialExamples
$10,000 → $15,000 over 3 years
A 50 % total gain over 3 years sounds great, but the annualized 14.5 % is the directly comparable figure — well above the long-run stock market average of ~7 % real return.
Result: Total ROI 50 % — Annualized ROI 14.47 % — Multiple 1.5×
$50,000 → $200,000 over 10 years
Quadrupling money in 10 years is also a 14.87 % annualized — interestingly almost identical to the first example. Annualized ROI makes that equivalence visible.
Result: Total ROI 300 % — Annualized ROI 14.87 % — Multiple 4×