Calculate ROI as a simple percentage or annualized rate
💡 Why This Matters A dollar return means different things depending on how long it took to earn. This calculator shows your simple ROI percentage, or converts it to an annualized rate so you can fairly compare investments held for different lengths of time.
A 50% return over 5 years sounds impressive, but it's only about 8.4% annualized — roughly in line with a typical stock market year. Annualizing turns headline numbers into something you can actually compare.
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Simple ROI is (Final Value − Amount Invested) ÷ Amount Invested × 100. Annualized Return uses the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) formula — it takes the same gain but spreads it evenly across however many years you held the investment, so a return can be fairly compared year-over-year regardless of how long the money was invested.
Simple ROI tells you your total percentage gain or loss over the whole period — useful for a quick gut check. Annualized return tells you the equivalent yearly rate, which is what actually lets you compare a 3-year investment against a 10-year one on equal footing.
This calculator doesn't account for taxes, fees, dividends reinvested along the way, or additional contributions during the holding period — it assumes one investment amount and one final value. It also doesn't adjust for inflation, so a large nominal return in a high-inflation period may represent less real purchasing power gain than it appears.
Use Simple ROI for a quick headline number, and switch to Annualized Return whenever you're comparing investments held for different lengths of time — a 15% return over 1 year is very different from a 15% return over 5 years. Unlike our Automation ROI or Robotics Investment calculators, which are built for specific business tools, this one works for any general investment: stocks, real estate, a business venture, or anything with a cost and a return.
Example: You invest $10,000 and it grows to $13,500 over 3 years. Simple ROI: (13,500 − 10,000) ÷ 10,000 × 100 = 35% total. Annualized: (13,500 ÷ 10,000)^(1/3) − 1 = about 10.5% per year.
Those calculators are built for specific business tools — automation software savings or robot hardware payback. This one works for any investment: stocks, real estate, a business venture, or anything else with a cost and a return.
Simple ROI shows your total percentage gain or loss regardless of how long you held the investment. Annualized return converts that into a yearly rate, which makes it possible to fairly compare investments held for different lengths of time.
No — this calculates return based on the raw investment and return amounts you enter. Subtract any fees or taxes from your return amount first if you want a post-cost figure.