ROI & ROAS Calculator
Work out Return on Investment for any business decision, or Return on Ad Spend for marketing campaigns.
How to use
- 1
Pick ROI for a general investment-return calculation, or ROAS if you're evaluating an advertising campaign.
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Enter the investment amount (what you spent) and the return (what you got back).
- 3
For ROI, enter the time period in months. The calculator gives you annualised return so you can compare investments of different durations fairly.
- 4
For ROAS, optionally add your gross margin percentage. Pure ROAS of 4× sounds great until you realise the revenue had a 20% margin — the ads actually lost you money. Adding margin shows you the truth.
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The result tells you: profitable yes/no, the raw return percentage, and (for ROI) the annualised return so 6-month vs 5-year comparisons make sense.
Frequently asked questions
Depends on the alternative. UAE savings account: 1-3% annualised. Diversified investment portfolio: 6-8% annualised over 20 years. Bank fixed deposit: 4-5%. Real estate: 4-8% annual rental yield plus appreciation. Any business investment should target 15%+ annualised to justify the risk and effort.
Depends on your margins. With 20% gross margin, break-even ROAS is 5× — anything below loses money. With 50% margin, break-even is 2×. Industry rules of thumb: e-commerce typically targets 3-4× ROAS, B2B SaaS targets 2-3× because customer lifetime value compounds over time.
ROI = (gain − cost) / cost — a percentage like '40%'. ROAS = revenue / ad spend — a multiplier like '4×'. ROAS measures revenue regardless of profitability. ROI subtracts costs first. A 4× ROAS could be a great ROI or a terrible one depending on whether margins cover costs.
Because 30% return over 6 months is much better than 30% over 5 years. The first annualises to ~70%, the second to ~5%. Without annualising you can't fairly compare investments of different durations.
Only loosely through the annualised figure. For rigorous analysis (especially long-term projects with multi-year cash flows), use Internal Rate of Return (IRR) or Net Present Value (NPV) instead. This calculator is suited to short-term comparisons.
Three reasons. First, revenue isn't profit — a 4× ROAS with 25% margin actually breaks even (4 × 25% = 100%). Second, attribution windows vary by platform. Third, ad spend often only counts media cost — not the team time, creative production, landing page, payment processing. True marketing ROI needs the full cost stack.
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Source: Standard financial formulae · Last verified 2026-06. This tool provides estimates only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Always verify your specific situation with the relevant UAE authority or a licensed advisor before taking action.