Yield Farming ROI Calculator
Yield farming involves depositing tokens into DeFi protocols to earn rewards, trading fees, or both. The headline APY advertised by protocols does not account for the gas costs you pay to enter, harvest, and exit a position. This calculator computes your actual net ROI by subtracting all gas costs from your total income (rewards plus fees). Enter your token rewards earned in USD, any trading fees earned as a liquidity provider, the total gas fees you paid across all transactions, and your initial principal. The result shows your true net return as a percentage of principal, giving you an accurate picture of whether the position was profitable after all on-chain costs.
Yield farming ROI formula
Net Income = Rewards + Fees - Gas Costs
ROI (%) = Net Income / Principal * 100
All values should be in the same currency (USD). Gas costs include every on-chain transaction fee: deposit, harvest, and withdrawal.
Key factors in yield farming profitability
- Gas costs have a larger proportional impact on small positions. A $150 gas bill on a $1,000 position costs 15% before rewards are counted.
- Reward token price risk: if the reward token falls in price before you sell, your USD value of rewards decreases. This calculator uses USD values at the time you enter them.
- Compounding: auto-compounding protocols reinvest rewards on your behalf, which can increase effective APY but also increases gas costs.
- Protocol risk (smart contract exploits, rug pulls) is not reflected in ROI calculations but is a real cost that must be weighed.
Yield farming ROI: frequently asked questions
What is yield farming ROI?
Yield farming ROI is the net return on your deposited principal after subtracting all costs. The formula is: ROI = (Rewards + Fees - Gas Costs) / Principal * 100. A positive ROI means you profited; a negative ROI means total costs exceeded rewards.
What costs should I include in gas costs?
Include all Ethereum (or other chain) transaction fees paid: the initial deposit transaction, any reward claim transactions, and the withdrawal transaction. On mainnet Ethereum, these can total $50-$300 or more for complex protocols.
Does this include impermanent loss?
No. This calculator computes reward-based ROI only. If your farming strategy involves providing liquidity, you must also account for impermanent loss separately. The true net ROI is often lower than the rewards alone suggest.
Why is my yield farming ROI negative?
Gas costs can exceed rewards for small positions or short farming periods. The break-even period for a given position size and gas cost is: Days to break even = Gas / (Daily rewards + Daily fees).
How do I find my rewards and fees earned?
Most DeFi protocols display accrued rewards in their interface. For fees from liquidity pools, subtract your initial deposit value from your current position value (excluding any token price changes). On-chain portfolio tools like Zapper or DeBank also aggregate this data.
Official sources
- Ethereum Foundation: Decentralized Finance (DeFi).
- Ethereum Foundation: Gas and fees.
Reviewed by the CalculatorHub team, edited by James Graham, 15 June 2026. See our methodology.