Free Startup Burn Rate Calculator — How Long Is Your Runway?
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Every startup lives on borrowed time. The distance between your current cash balance and zero is your runway, and burn rate is the speed at which you are covering that distance. Knowing your exact numbers is not optional — it is the difference between making strategic decisions and discovering you are broke.
Our free burn rate calculator gives you the answer in seconds. Enter your cash on hand, monthly expenses, and monthly revenue, and see your gross burn, net burn, and runway in months. No spreadsheet, no signup, no financial advisor needed for this basic math.
What Burn Rate Means
Burn rate is how much money your company spends per month. If you start the month with $500,000 in the bank and end the month with $460,000, your burn rate for that month was $40,000. Runway is simply your remaining cash divided by your monthly burn rate — in this case, $460,000 / $40,000 = 11.5 months of runway.
This is the single most important number for any startup that is not yet profitable. It tells you how long you can keep operating before you either need more funding, need to reach profitability, or need to shut down. Every board meeting, every investor update, and every strategic decision should start with this number.
Gross Burn vs. Net Burn
Gross burn rate is your total monthly operating expenses, ignoring revenue entirely. Payroll, rent, software subscriptions, marketing spend, hosting costs, legal fees — everything that goes out the door.
Net burn rate is your total monthly expenses minus your monthly revenue. This is the number that actually determines your runway. A company with $80,000 in monthly expenses and $30,000 in monthly revenue has a gross burn of $80,000 but a net burn of $50,000.
Gross burn tells you your fixed cost structure — what you would spend even with zero revenue. Net burn tells you how fast you are actually depleting cash. Investors ask about both because gross burn reveals operational efficiency while net burn reveals actual financial trajectory.
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There are only two levers: reduce expenses or increase revenue. Here are the most common tactics, ranked by speed of impact:
- Cut unused software and subscriptions. Most startups accumulate SaaS tools they barely use. An audit of all recurring charges typically reveals 10-20% in waste. This can be done in a day.
- Renegotiate vendor contracts. Ask for annual pricing instead of monthly (usually 20% cheaper), request startup discounts, or switch to cheaper alternatives. Takes a week, saves money immediately.
- Reduce office costs. Go fully remote, downsize to a smaller space, or switch to a coworking arrangement. This is often the single largest non-payroll expense a startup can cut.
- Pause non-essential hiring. Every new hire adds $8,000-$15,000 per month in fully-loaded cost (salary, benefits, equipment, taxes). Delaying one hire by 3 months extends runway by $24,000-$45,000.
- Increase prices. Most startups underprice their product. A 20% price increase with minimal churn directly reduces net burn. This is the fastest revenue-side lever.
When to Start Raising Your Next Round
Fundraising takes 3 to 6 months for most startups — sometimes longer in tight markets. If you wait until you have 3 months of runway left, you are already in crisis mode. Investors can smell desperation, and desperation leads to worse terms.
The standard advice: start fundraising when you have 9 to 12 months of runway remaining. This gives you 6 months to close the round while maintaining 3 to 6 months of buffer. If the fundraise takes longer than expected, you still have time to adjust.
Running your burn rate calculator monthly (or weekly if runway is under 6 months) keeps you from being surprised. The number changes as expenses and revenue fluctuate, and a single bad month can shorten your runway faster than you expect.
Burn Rate Benchmarks by Stage
| Stage | Typical Monthly Burn | Typical Runway Target |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-seed | $10K – $30K | 12 – 18 months |
| Seed | $30K – $100K | 18 – 24 months |
| Series A | $100K – $300K | 18 – 24 months |
| Series B+ | $300K – $1M+ | 18 – 24 months |
These are rough benchmarks — actual numbers vary wildly by industry, location, and business model. A bootstrapped SaaS with one founder can operate on $3,000 per month. A biotech startup burns through $500,000 per month before generating a dollar of revenue. Context matters more than averages.
Calculate Your Burn Rate Now
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Open Burn Rate CalculatorFrequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between gross burn and net burn?
Gross burn rate is your total monthly expenses — everything you spend regardless of revenue. Net burn rate is your monthly expenses minus your monthly revenue. If you spend $50,000/month and earn $20,000/month, your gross burn is $50,000 and your net burn is $30,000. Net burn is the number that determines your actual runway.
How much runway should a startup have?
The standard recommendation is 12 to 18 months of runway. This gives you enough time to hit milestones, adjust strategy, and raise your next round if needed. Less than 6 months is a red zone — fundraising takes 3 to 6 months, so by the time you start, you may already be too late. More than 24 months means you are likely under-investing in growth.
How do I reduce my burn rate without killing growth?
Focus cuts on non-revenue-generating expenses first: office space, unused software subscriptions, over-hired support roles, and vendor contracts you can renegotiate. Avoid cutting sales, marketing, or engineering that directly drives revenue or product development. Many startups find 15 to 25 percent savings in operational fat without touching growth-driving functions.