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Startup runway and burn rate calculator

Runway is the cash you have divided by your net monthly burn, which is what you spend minus what you earn. Enter cash, monthly costs and revenue to see the burn, the months left and the month the money runs out, with revenue growth if you have it.

Only changes how amounts are shown.

Money you can spend today, after any amounts already owed.

Everything you spend in a month: salaries, rent, software, contractors, marketing.

Cash you actually collect in a month.

%

Compounded every month. Use 0 if revenue is flat, a negative number if it is falling.

Optional, such as a hire's full monthly cost. Leave at 0 for none.

Month 1 is the coming month.

Runway

15.8 months

Cash runs out in month 16 at these numbers

Net burn this month
₹4,50,000Costs minus revenue.
Gross burn this month
₹6,00,000Everything you spend, before revenue.
Runway at this month's burn
13.3 monthsCash ÷ this month's net burn, with no growth or planned cost.
Month the cash runs out
month 16
Break-even month
month 30From this month on, revenue covers costs for the rest of the projection.
Extra cash needed to reach break-even
₹20,51,593How far below zero the balance would fall, by month 29, before revenue catches up, if nothing else changes.
Month by month until the cash runs out (month 16)
MonthRevenueCostsNet burnCash at month end
1₹1,50,000₹6,00,000₹4,50,000₹55,50,000
2₹1,57,500₹6,00,000₹4,42,500₹51,07,500
3₹1,65,375₹6,00,000₹4,34,625₹46,72,875
4₹1,73,644₹6,00,000₹4,26,356₹42,46,519
5₹1,82,326₹6,00,000₹4,17,674₹38,28,845
6₹1,91,442₹6,00,000₹4,08,558₹34,20,287
7₹2,01,014₹6,00,000₹3,98,986₹30,21,301
8₹2,11,065₹6,00,000₹3,88,935₹26,32,366
9₹2,21,618₹6,00,000₹3,78,382₹22,53,985
10₹2,32,699₹6,00,000₹3,67,301₹18,86,684
11₹2,44,334₹6,00,000₹3,55,666₹15,31,018
12₹2,56,551₹6,00,000₹3,43,449₹11,87,569
13₹2,69,378₹6,00,000₹3,30,622₹8,56,947
14₹2,82,847₹6,00,000₹3,17,153₹5,39,795
15₹2,96,990₹6,00,000₹3,03,010₹2,36,785
16₹3,11,839₹6,00,000₹2,88,161−₹51,376
  • Assumes no new funding or loans, costs that stay flat apart from the planned cost, revenue that grows by the same rate every month, and money collected and spent in the month it is earned or due.
  • 5% growth a month compounds to 79.6% over 12 months.

How is startup runway calculated?

Runway is the number of months your cash lasts at your net burn. Net burn is what you spend in a month minus the revenue you collect; gross burn is the spending alone. With flat revenue it is one division: ₹60,00,000 of cash at a net burn of ₹4,50,000 a month lasts 13.3 months.

Growth changes the answer, so the calculator projects month by month instead. Month 1 is the coming month at today's revenue; each month after, revenue grows by the rate you enter, compounded, and any planned cost is added from its start month. Each month's net burn comes out of the cash, and the runway ends partway through the first month the cash can't cover.

If revenue overtakes costs before the cash runs out, there is no runway limit at these numbers, and the result shows the break-even month and the lowest balance on the way. Paul Graham calls this being "default alive": with costs flat and revenue growing at its recent rate, the company reaches profitability on the money it has.

net burn = monthly costs (+ planned cost from its month) − monthly revenue
revenue in month m = revenue × (1 + growth)^(m − 1)
runway = whole months covered + cash left ÷ net burn of the month it runs out

How to calculate your startup's runway

  1. 1
    Enter cash, costs and revenueType the cash you can spend today, everything you spend in a month, and the revenue you collect in a month.
  2. 2
    Add revenue growthEnter your monthly growth rate, or 0 if revenue is flat. The calculator compounds it each month.
  3. 3
    Add a planned costIf you plan a hire or another new monthly cost, enter its amount and the month it starts.
  4. 4
    Read the runway and the tableThe result shows the months of runway, the month the cash runs out, the break-even month if revenue catches up, and each month's numbers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between gross burn and net burn?
Gross burn is everything you spend in a month; net burn is that spending minus the revenue you collect. Runway uses net burn, because revenue pays for part of the spending.
How many months of runway should a startup have?
There is no single right number. You need enough to reach the next result that lets you raise money or cover costs from revenue, plus the months a fundraise itself takes; raising more buys time but usually means giving up more of the company.
How do I calculate my startup's monthly burn rate?
Add up a month's spending, including salaries, rent, software, contractors and taxes paid, to get gross burn, then subtract the revenue collected that month to get net burn. Averaging the last three months smooths out one-off bills.
Does revenue growth extend runway?
Yes, because each month's revenue covers more of the costs. With ₹60,00,000 in cash, ₹6,00,000 of monthly costs and ₹1,50,000 of revenue, flat revenue gives 13.3 months, while 5% monthly growth stretches it to 15.8 months. At that rate revenue overtakes costs only in month 30, after the cash has run out.
Will my startup reach profitability before the cash runs out?
Enter your growth rate and see whether the result shows a break-even month or a runway. This is the question Paul Graham's essay "Default Alive or Default Dead?" asks: with costs flat and revenue growing at its recent rate, do you reach profitability on the money you have left?

Sources

Built and maintained by CountryDevs. Updated October 2026. Runs in your browser; what you type is not sent to us.

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