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ROI Calculator
See exactly what an investment returned. Enter what you paid, what it is worth now, any fees and how long you held it, then press Calculate for the total and annualized return.
Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026
Value over the holding period
Value Cost basis
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How the ROI calculator works
Return on investment compares what you got back to what you put in. The tool adds your initial outlay to any fees to find the true cost, subtracts that cost from the final value to get net profit, and divides the two to show the percentage you earned or lost.
When you enter a holding period it also works out the annualized return. That smooths the total gain across each year, so a five year double and a one year double no longer look the same. The chart traces the value climbing from cost to final value year by year.
A worked example
Suppose you buy shares for 10,000 dollars, pay 150 dollars in commissions, and sell five years later for 16,500 dollars. Your total cost is 10,150 dollars and your net profit is 6,350 dollars, a total ROI of about 63 percent. Spread over five years that is roughly 10 percent a year, a more useful figure for comparing other holdings.
Things to keep in mind
ROI ignores risk and the timing of any cash you added or withdrew along the way, so use it alongside other measures. For a primer on evaluating investments from a neutral source, see Investor.gov. To project what a return could grow into, try our future value calculator.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate ROI?
Return on investment is the net profit divided by the total cost, written as a percent. Net profit is the final value minus everything you put in, including fees. So ROI equals final value minus total cost, divided by total cost, times 100.
What is the difference between ROI and annualized return?
ROI is the total return over the whole holding period, no matter how long that is. Annualized return, or CAGR, spreads that gain evenly across each year so you can compare a two year holding against a ten year one on the same yearly basis.
Why does this calculator ask for fees and extra costs?
Commissions, loads and other charges raise what the investment really cost you, which lowers your true return. Adding them to the cost basis gives a more honest ROI than comparing the final value to the purchase price alone.
Is a higher ROI always better?
Not on its own. A large ROI earned over many years may be a weaker yearly return than a smaller gain made quickly, and higher returns usually come with more risk. Look at the annualized figure and the risk taken, not just the headline percent.
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