Burn Rate Calculator
Track your monthly cash burn and runway
What is Burn Rate?
Burn rate is the speed at which a startup spends its cash reserves. Understanding your burn rate is critical for financial planning because it determines how long your funding will last and when you need to raise more capital or reach profitability.
Key Terms
The total amount of cash a company spends each month on all expenses, regardless of any revenue being generated.
The monthly cash loss after subtracting revenue from expenses. If revenue exceeds expenses, net burn is negative, meaning the company is cash-flow positive.
The number of months a startup can continue operating at its current net burn rate before running out of cash.
Formulas Used
Sum all monthly operating costs including salaries, rent, software, and marketing to find your total cash outflow.
Subtract any revenue from total expenses to see how much cash you are actually losing each month.
Divide your current cash on hand by your net monthly burn to estimate how many months of operations you have left.
Three simple steps
Enter your financials
Input your monthly operating expenses, monthly revenue, and current cash balance.
Calculate burn rate
The calculator computes your gross burn, net burn, and estimated months of runway remaining.
Review your runway
See how long your cash will last and at what point you need to raise or reach profitability.
Built for founders like you
Pre-seed founders
Monitor how quickly you are spending savings or initial investment before generating revenue.
Fundraising planning
Know exactly when you need to start raising your next round based on current burn.
Cost reduction analysis
Model how cutting specific expenses extends your runway and delays fundraising pressure.
Managing your burn rate
Burn rate is the speed at which a startup spends cash. Gross burn is total monthly spending; net burn subtracts any revenue. For pre-revenue startups, gross and net burn are the same.
Most VCs recommend having at least 18-24 months of runway after a funding round. This gives you enough time to hit milestones without the distraction of constant fundraising. If your runway drops below 6 months, it is time to either raise or cut costs aggressively.
Burn rate is not inherently bad — it represents investment in growth. The key question is whether your spending is generating returns in the form of customer growth, product development, or market expansion. Efficient burn leads to faster growth; wasteful burn leads to premature death.
Common questions
What is the difference between gross and net burn?+
What is a safe runway to maintain?+
How do I reduce burn rate without killing growth?+
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