Rule of 40 Calculator

Calculate your Rule of 40 score to evaluate your SaaS company's balance between growth and profitability. This widely-used benchmark helps investors and operators assess the overall health of a SaaS business.

Calculate Your Rule of 40 Score

Enter your year-over-year revenue growth as a percentage (e.g., 25 for 25%)
Enter your profit margin as a percentage (can be negative for companies investing in growth)

Which profit metric should I use?

  • EBITDA margin - Most commonly used for the Rule of 40
  • Free cash flow margin - Provides insight into cash generation capability
  • Net profit margin - Accounts for all expenses including taxes and interest

Pro Tips for Optimizing Your Rule of 40 Score

  • Balance your growth initiatives with profitability improvements rather than focusing exclusively on one dimension.
  • Track your Rule of 40 score over time to identify trends and assess the impact of strategic changes.
  • Compare your score with competitors and industry benchmarks to gauge your relative performance.
  • Adjust your strategy based on company stage - early-stage companies typically favor growth, while mature companies often prioritize profitability.
  • Consider using trailing twelve months (TTM) data to smooth out seasonal fluctuations.
  • Be consistent with your profitability metric when tracking changes over time.
  • Use the Rule of 40 as one of several metrics to evaluate your business, not in isolation.