Margin, Markup & ROI Calculator
Enter a cost and selling price to see profit, margin (profit over price), and markup (profit over cost) side by side, or switch to the Investment view to calculate ROI and return multiple.
Inputs
ViewTarget prices
Current price
- Profit
- 20
- Margin
- 20%
- Markup
- 25%
Target prices
- Price for margin
- 114.29
- Profit at margin
- 34.29
- Price for markup
- 112
- Profit at markup
- 32
Use current price to audit a sale, or target prices to decide what to charge for a desired margin or markup.
How margin and markup differ
Enter a cost and a selling price to see profit, margin (profit over price), and markup (profit over cost) side by side.
Margin vs. markup
Margin divides profit by the selling price; markup divides the same profit by the cost. The two match only when profit is zero, and grow further apart as the profit percentage increases.
Common uses
- Price a product to hit a target margin.
- Check whether a markup convention matches the margin your finance team expects.
- Compare pricing strategies across products with different costs.
Worked example
A product costing $80 sold for $100 has $20 profit: a 20% margin (20/100) but a 25% markup (20/80) — the same profit, two different percentages.
Calculation notes
All math runs in your browser; the cost and price you enter are never sent anywhere.
FAQ
Why are margin and markup different for the same sale?
Margin is profit divided by price; markup is the same profit divided by cost. Since price is always higher than cost when there's a profit, markup is always the larger percentage.
What if cost is 0?
Markup would be undefined (division by zero), so the calculator shows a symbol for infinite markup instead of a number.
Which one should I use to set my price?
If your target is a percentage of revenue, use margin. If your target is a markup over cost (common in retail and manufacturing), use markup — plugging the same profit into the wrong formula will misprice the product.
Can I use this for investment return instead of retail pricing?
Yes. Switch the view to Investment (ROI): cost becomes your initial investment (plus any extra costs), price becomes the amount returned, and markup becomes ROI — the same formula, since ROI is profit divided by total cost. That view also adds a return multiple.