Business
ROI Calculator
Measure the return on an investment as a total percentage and, where a time period is given, as a compound annual growth rate.
Updated 16 Sep 2026
Turning 100,000.00 into 250,000.00 is a gain of 150,000.00 — a total return of 150.00%. Over 5 years that is a compound annual growth rate of 20.11%.
Enter what you put in and what it became. The calculator returns the total return percentage and the net gain. Add the number of years to also get the annualised (CAGR) return.
What is the ROI Calculator?
Return on investment expresses gain as a percentage of what was invested. It is simple and widely quoted, but on its own it ignores time — which makes it misleading for comparing investments held for different periods.
The annualised figure fixes that.
How to use the ROI Calculator
- Enter the initial amount invested.
- Enter the final value.
- Enter the holding period in years to also see the annualised return.
Formula
ROI = (gain ÷ initial investment) × 100
Compound annual growth rate:
CAGR = ((final ÷ initial)^(1 ÷ years) − 1) × 100
CAGR is the constant annual rate that would take the initial amount to the final amount over the period. It is not the average of yearly returns — it is the geometric mean, which correctly accounts for compounding.
How the calculation works
Total ROI is a single division. CAGR takes the growth multiple, raises it to the power of one over the number of years, and subtracts one. That reverses the compounding to find the steady rate underneath.
A 150% total return sounds impressive until you learn it took twenty years, which is why the annualised figure is the one to compare across investments.
Worked example
₹1,00,000 invested, worth ₹2,50,000 after 5 years:
- Gain = ₹1,50,000
- ROI = 150000 ÷ 100000 × 100 = 150%
- Growth multiple = 2.5
- CAGR = (2.51/5 − 1) × 100 = 20.11% a year
Uses and benefits
- Compare investments held for different periods on equal terms.
- Assess whether a business project returned enough to justify the capital.
- Convert a headline total return into a meaningful annual figure.
Frequently asked questions
ROI is the total percentage gain regardless of how long it took. CAGR is the equivalent steady annual rate. A 150% return over 5 years is a CAGR of 20.11%; the same 150% over 20 years is only 4.69% a year.
No. It measures a single amount in and a single amount out. If you made additional contributions or withdrawals, use XIRR in a spreadsheet instead — it handles irregular cash flows correctly.
Before. It also excludes fees and inflation. Real, after-tax returns are meaningfully lower, particularly over long holding periods.
References
This measures a simple two-point return. It does not account for additional contributions or withdrawals during the period — for those, internal rate of return (IRR) or XIRR is the correct measure. Returns here are also before tax, fees and inflation.
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