ROAS Calculator
Calculate return on ad spend from revenue and ad spend, with a plain-language interpretation and how it differs from ROI.
ROAS only compares revenue to ad spend — it ignores product cost, shipping, overhead, and other expenses, so a high ROAS does not necessarily mean the campaign was profitable. ROI (return on investment) accounts for total costs, not just ad spend, and is a different calculation. What counts as a "good" ROAS varies enormously by margin, industry, and business model — there is no single universal target.
Calculated entirely in your browser — nothing you enter here is sent to a server.
ROAS (return on ad spend) tells you how much revenue each dollar of ad spend generated — a 4x ROAS means $4 of revenue for every $1 spent on ads. It says nothing about profit: if your product costs $3 to make and ship for every $4 it sells for, a 4x ROAS could still mean you're barely breaking even once non-ad costs are included.
There is no single "good" ROAS — the break-even point depends entirely on your margins, so a 2x ROAS can be excellent for a high-margin service and unprofitable for a low-margin product.
ROAS, ROI and break-even ROAS
ROAS = revenue from ads ÷ ad spend. It measures revenue, not profit. A campaign that spends $2,000 and brings in $8,000 of revenue has a ROAS of 4.0 (often written 400% or 4:1).
Whether that is profitable depends on your margin. At a 40% gross margin, $8,000 of revenue leaves $3,200 of gross profit, so the return on the $2,000 spend is (3,200 − 2,000) ÷ 2,000 = 60% ROI. The ROAS at which ads only just pay for themselves is 1 ÷ 0.40 = 2.5: below that, each sale loses money after product costs.
Work out your threshold with the break-even ROAS calculator and the profit view with the marketing ROI calculator.
How to use the ROAS Calculator
- Enter the revenue the campaign generated in Revenue ($).
- Enter what you spent on the ads in Ad spend ($).
- Click Calculate to see ROAS as a multiple, plus the revenue earned per $1 of spend.
- Click Reset to clear both fields and the result.
Example: A campaign with $3,200 in ad spend
Enter Revenue ($) 12500 and Ad spend ($) 3200, then click Calculate. The result reads 3.91x, with the line "$3.91 in revenue for every $1 of ad spend." The exact ratio is 3.90625, rounded to two decimal places for display.
Questions about the ROAS Calculator
- What does a ROAS below 1x mean?
- Revenue was lower than ad spend. For example, $800 revenue on $1,000 spend gives 0.8x, so the ads did not even return their own cost, before any product or operating costs.
- Can I use a currency other than dollars?
- Yes. ROAS is a ratio, so the result is the same as long as revenue and ad spend are in the same currency. The dollar sign in the labels is only a label.
- Why do I get an error?
- Both fields must be filled in, neither can be negative, and ad spend cannot be zero because ROAS is undefined without any spend. Revenue of zero is allowed and returns 0x.
- How do I know what ROAS I need to be profitable?
- That depends on your profit margin. The Break-Even ROAS Calculator turns a margin percentage into the minimum ROAS at which ad spend pays for itself.
- What is a good ROAS?
- There is no universal figure, because it depends on your margin. The ROAS at which ads break even is 1 ÷ gross margin: 2.5 at a 40% margin, 5 at 20%. Anything above your break-even ROAS is profitable before other costs.
- Is ROAS the same as ROI?
- No. ROAS divides revenue by ad spend; ROI divides profit by cost. A ROAS of 4.0 at a 40% gross margin is a 60% ROI, and the same ROAS at a 20% margin loses money.