Profitability calculator
Estimate profit per cycle, profit per hour, margin and ROI for every building. Prices are pulled from the live market — and you can override any of them.
Pick a recipe, adjust the building level and quality bonuses, and see at a glance whether to produce or buy on the market. Use "Share result" to generate a permanent link with your configuration.
Labour cost index. 1.0 = base
0 to 2. Reduces input cost by that %
0 to 2. Raises sale price by that %
Used to compute ROI in hours
Sale price — Steel
= $10.20 (0% bonus)
Inputs
- Iron Ore1,000 · Market price: $4.50
- Bauxite200 · Market price: $9.00
- Power800 · Market price: $0.25
Results
- Input cost / cycle · $6,498.40
- Wages / cycle · $1,500.00
- Profit / cycle · $161.60
Input breakdown
| Input | Amount | Unit price | Subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iron Ore | 1,000 | $4.50 | $4,500.00 |
| Bauxite | 200 | $9.00 | $1,800.00 |
| Power | 800 | $0.25 | $198.40 |
How the math works
The calculator uses a simple, transparent formula so you can sanity-check the numbers by hand:
- Revenue per cycle = output amount × sale price × (1 + output quality bonus).
- Input cost per cycle = sum of (amount × input price × (1 − input quality bonus)).
- Wages per cycle = recipe's base wage × wage multiplier.
- Profit per cycle = revenue − input cost − wages.
- Profit per hour = profit per cycle × (3600 ÷ cycle time in seconds).
- ROI in hours = building cost ÷ profit per hour (only when positive).
Quality bonuses are modelled as a flat percentage on price: 0.20 = +20%. It's a useful approximation for comparing recipes; the full in-game model has quality shelves and non-linear curves that we'll layer on next.
Want the full breakdown of the reasoning? Read our guide: How to tell if a building is profitable .