CAGR Calculator
Free CAGR calculator. Works for stocks, crypto, funds, real estate, and business metrics.
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What is CAGR Calculator?
A CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) calculator determines the annualized growth rate of an investment between two points in time. Given a beginning value, an ending value, and a holding period in years, it applies the geometric mean formula CAGR = (End / Begin)^(1/Years) - 1 to produce a single percentage that represents the equivalent constant yearly return. This figure makes it possible to compare investments of different durations on equal footing.
Key Benefits
- Compare investments with different holding periods fairly
- Smooth out volatile year-by-year returns into one number
- Communicate performance in an industry-standard metric
- No sign-up, fully client-side and offline
Common Use Cases
- •Evaluate stock, ETF, or mutual fund performance
- •Compare real estate or crypto returns across years
- •Present business revenue growth to stakeholders
- •Benchmark portfolio performance against an index
How to Use the CAGR Calculator
- Enter beginning value: Type the value of your investment at the start of the period (e.g. $10,000).
- Enter ending value: Type the value at the end of the period (e.g. $25,000).
- Enter number of years: Enter how many years passed between the two values. Fractions like 3.5 are allowed.
- Review results: See the CAGR percentage, total return, absolute growth, multiple, and the formula used.
Key Features
- Compute CAGR from beginning value, ending value, and number of years
- Shows total return percentage, absolute growth, and growth multiple
- Supports fractional years (e.g. 3.5) for partial holding periods
- Precise results to 4 decimal places for professional use
- Displays the exact CAGR formula with a plain-English explanation
- Copy or download the result report — 100% client-side, no API
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate)?
CAGR is the constant annual rate that would grow an initial value into a final value over a given number of years, assuming profits are reinvested. It smooths out year-to-year volatility into one comparable number. For example, growing from $10,000 to $25,000 over 5 years is a CAGR of about 20.11% per year.
How is CAGR different from total return?
Total return is the overall percentage gain across the entire period (e.g. 150% over 5 years). CAGR converts that into an annualized rate (e.g. 20.11% per year). Two investments with the same total return over different periods will have different CAGRs, which is why CAGR is better for comparing performance.
Can I use fractional years?
Yes. Enter values like 3.5 for three and a half years. This is useful when an investment was held for a partial year. The calculator accepts any positive number up to 1000 years.
Does CAGR assume the investment grew steadily?
No. CAGR does not mean the investment grew at that rate every single year. It is a geometric mean that describes the equivalent steady rate. The actual path may have had large swings up or down. CAGR hides that volatility, so it should be used alongside metrics like standard deviation or maximum drawdown.