What this calculator gives you
Five inputs, five answers. Type in what you paid per coin, what you sold (or plan to sell) for, how many units you hold, and the fee your exchange charges on each side. Out comes your total cost, total proceeds, net profit or loss, ROI percentage, and the one number most traders forget about: the break-even sell price.
That last one matters more than people think. If you bought at $30,000 and your exchange skims 0.1% on the way in and out, you don’t break even at $30,000. You break even slightly higher, because the fees ate part of your position before the price ever moved.
Why fees change the math
Say you buy 0.5 BTC at $30,000. Gross cost is $15,000. A 0.1% buy fee adds $15, so you’re actually in for $15,015. Now you sell at $42,000. Gross proceeds are $21,000, but the 0.1% sell fee takes $21, leaving $20,979. Net profit lands at $5,964, not the clean $6,000 the headline prices suggest.
Small percentages, sure. But stack them across dozens of trades and the drag adds up fast. Day traders churning positions feel this constantly. The calculator bakes both fees into every result so the profit you see is the profit you’d actually pocket.
How break-even is computed
Break-even is the sell price where your proceeds exactly cover your total cost including both fees. The formula the tool uses:
break-even = total cost / (quantity × (1 − sell fee %))
Push the sell price above that line and you’re green. Drop below it and you’re underwater, even if the coin is trading above what you originally paid. On a zero-fee exchange, break-even equals your buy price. The moment fees enter, that floor creeps upward.
Reading the ROI number
ROI here is net profit divided by total cost, expressed as a percent. A $5,964 profit on $15,015 invested is roughly 39.7%. That’s your return on this single position, fees included.
ROI doesn’t care how long you held. A 40% gain in three days and a 40% gain in three years look identical here. For time-weighted comparisons across holdings of different lengths, you’d reach for an annualized return calculator instead. This tool answers a simpler, more common question: did this trade make money, and how much?
A few things to keep in mind
- Prices are per unit, not totals. Enter the price of one coin, then set quantity separately.
- Quantity accepts fractions. 0.0042 BTC is fine, so is 1,500 DOGE.
- The fee field is a percentage, not a flat dollar amount. Most spot exchanges land between 0.075% and 0.5% per trade. The quick-pick chips cover the common ones.
- Taxes aren’t included. Capital gains can take a real bite out of the net profit shown, and the rate depends on your country and holding period.
- Numbers stay on your machine. Nothing you type gets sent anywhere.
Questions people ask
Does it work for any coin, not just Bitcoin? Yep. The math is identical for ETH, SOL, a random meme token, anything. It works on units and prices, so the ticker doesn’t matter.
Why is my break-even higher than my buy price? Fees. You paid to get in and you’ll pay to get out, so the price has to climb a little past your entry just to cover those costs before any real profit shows up.
Can I use it before I actually sell? Sure. Plug in a target sell price to see what the trade would net at that level. It’s handy for setting exit goals.
What if the trade lost money? Enter the real numbers and the net figure turns red with a negative sign. ROI goes negative too, so you can see exactly how deep the loss runs.
Should I include the spread or slippage? This uses the prices you enter, so if you want to account for slippage, type the actual fill price you got rather than the quoted market price.