ROI Calculator
Calculate return on investment, net gain and annualized ROI from your initial and final values.
Formula last reviewed 4 August 2026 · How we verify our calculators
Total ROI
- Net gain
- ₹50,000
- Annualized ROI
- 14.5%
Updates live as you type
Frequently asked questions
ROI = (final value − initial investment) ÷ initial investment × 100. Turning ₹1,00,000 into ₹1,50,000 is a 50% total return.
It is the equivalent yearly return, computed as (final ÷ initial)^(1/years) − 1. A 50% gain over 3 years is about 14.5% per year — far less impressive than 50% sounds.
It lets you compare investments held for different lengths of time on a level footing. A 50% return in one year beats 50% over five years.
No. Basic ROI ignores interim cash flows, taxes and risk. For staggered investments use XIRR, and always weigh returns against the risk taken.
A 50% return sounds great — until you find out it took 3 years
₹1,00,000 invested, growing to ₹1,50,000 over 3 years, is a 50% total ROI — (1,50,000 − 1,00,000) ÷ 1,00,000 × 100 — with a net gain of ₹50,000. But annualized, using (1.5)^(1/3) − 1, that identical 50% gain works out to only about 14.47% per year. Now compare a second investment that also returned 50%, but in a single year: its annualized ROI is the full 50%, making it a dramatically better investment despite an identical total return — a difference a total-only ROI figure would never reveal on its own.
Why the annualized figure is the one worth trusting for comparisons
A 50% total return looks impressive in isolation, but spread across three years it's roughly 14.5% a year — a number that can be compared directly against a fixed deposit, another investment, or any option held for a completely different length of time. Total ROI answers "how much did I make," but annualized ROI answers the more useful question: "how good was this investment, given how long my money was tied up."
What this simple version deliberately leaves out
Basic ROI ignores interim cash flows, taxes and risk entirely. If money went in across instalments rather than as a single lump sum, an XIRR calculation is the more appropriate tool — it correctly weights each instalment by how long it was actually invested. And a high return earned by taking on heavy risk isn't equivalent to the same return earned steadily; ROI alone can't distinguish the two.
Use this for business projects, property, equipment or any investment where the money in and the money out are both known. Lean on the annualized figure specifically whenever comparing options with different holding periods — it's the number that actually makes the comparison fair.