FreeToolStation

IRR Calculator

The rate at which a set of cash flows breaks even.

Finance Calculators Free, no sign-up Runs in your browser

Optional. The return you need before the project is worth doing.

The investment first, as a negative number, then what comes back.

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IRR
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As a yearly rate
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Against the hurdle
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NPV at the hurdle rate
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Money multiple
Discount rateNPVVerdict

About the IRR Calculator

IRR Calculator finds the discount rate at which a series of cash flows has a net present value of exactly zero. That rate is the return the project earns on the money while it is tied up, which is why it can be compared directly with what the money costs or could earn elsewhere.

It is solved by bisection: the calculator brackets the answer between -99% and 1000% and halves the interval two hundred times. That is slower than the iterative method a spreadsheet uses and considerably more reliable, because it cannot diverge or latch onto a nonsense root. Where the flows do not change sign there is no root at all, and the page says so rather than returning a number.

IRR has a real weakness worth knowing about. It implicitly assumes every interim cash flow is reinvested at the IRR itself, which for a high-return project is optimistic. It can also have several values when the flows change sign more than once. For ranking projects of different sizes, net present value is the sounder measure, and the NPV at your hurdle rate is shown here for that reason.

This is arithmetic, not financial advice. It tells you what the numbers do; it cannot tell you whether a decision is right for your circumstances. Fees, taxes and local rules vary, so check anything that matters against the actual offer and speak to someone qualified before committing.

Everything is worked out inside your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged or stored, which matters for the financial calculators in particular: the figures you put into them are nobody else's business.

How to use the IRR Calculator

  1. Choose each flow is oneThe fields below change to match what you pick, so only the figures that matter to your case are asked for.
  2. Enter hurdle rate to beat (% a period) and cash flows, one per lineDecimals are fine, and thousands separators are accepted and ignored.
  3. Read the irr, as a yearly rate and against the hurdleThe figures update as you type. The Calculate button is there if you would rather press something, but nothing waits for it.
  4. Copy or check the resultCopy the summary with the copy button, or open the table to check it row by row.

Features

  • Shows irr, as a yearly rate, against the hurdle, npv at the hurdle rate and money multiple together, so you are not running it twice
  • A results table you can read across
  • Updates as you type, with no button to press and no page reload
  • Copy the result in one click
  • Free, no sign-up, and it runs entirely in your browser

Who uses this tool

The irr calculator is used by writers, developers, students, marketers and anyone else who needs the job done once without installing software. Common cases include:

  • Working out the return a property deal actually produced
  • Comparing a project's return against the cost of borrowing
  • Checking an IRR figure quoted in an investment deck
  • Finding the break-even return on an uneven set of flows

Frequently asked questions

What is a good IRR?

One comfortably above what the money costs you and above what you could earn on something less risky. There is no universal number; it is a comparison, not a grade.

Why can there be more than one IRR?

Because the equation is a polynomial. Flows that go negative, positive and negative again can cross zero several times. This calculator returns the first root it brackets and flags flows that have no root.

IRR or NPV?

NPV when you are choosing between projects of different sizes, because it measures value in cash. IRR when you want a rate to compare with a rate.

If the irr calculator is not quite what you need, these other free tools solve closely related problems, and there are 38 more in finance calculators.

NPV Calculator

NPV, IRR and payback period from any cash flow list.

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ROI Calculator

Net gain, ROI and the annualised figure from what you put in and got out.

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CAGR Calculator

The smoothed yearly growth rate between a starting and an ending value.

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Checked and rebuilt on 2026-10-14. The method this calculator uses is described in the section above, and corrections go through the contact page.