Free tool
Startup runway calculator. Are you default alive?
Enter your cash, revenue, and expenses. Get your runway with a real month-by-month model that counts your growth. Free, no signup.
Runway
8 months
Cash runs out around May 2027.
Net burn / mo
$60,000
Gross burn / mo
$80,000
Net burn is expenses minus revenue. Runway is simulated month by month, so revenue growth is counted, not ignored.
Runway is a number. The reason behind it is every call you made to get here. Almanack keeps those, sourced, so you can ask why later, not just how much is left.
Built for foundersAn estimate from flat monthly expenses and compounding revenue. Not financial advice.
Why founders trust the number
Month-by-month, not a guess
It simulates each month and compounds your revenue growth, so a growing startup's runway is right, not understated by a flat division.
Net and gross burn
See both: gross burn is total spend, net burn is spend minus revenue. Runway depends on net burn.
Default alive or dead
The one status that matters, in Paul Graham's words: do you reach breakeven before the cash runs out?
A real zero-cash date
Not just a month count, an actual date, so the deadline is concrete.
Any currency
Pick your symbol. The math is the same wherever you bank.
Private
Nothing you type is uploaded or stored. It runs entirely in your browser.
FAQ
Runway, answered
How do you calculate runway?
Runway is how many months your cash lasts. This tool simulates each month: it adds revenue minus expenses to your cash and grows revenue by your rate, until cash hits zero or revenue covers expenses.
What is the difference between net burn and gross burn?
Gross burn is your total monthly spend. Net burn is spend minus revenue, the amount you actually lose each month. Runway is based on net burn.
What does default alive mean?
Default alive, a term from Paul Graham, means your revenue growth reaches breakeven before your cash runs out, so you survive without raising again. Default dead is the opposite.
Is this burn rate calculator free?
Yes. It runs in your browser with no signup, and nothing you enter is stored.
What is the difference between gross and net burn?
Gross burn is everything going out. Net burn is that minus revenue coming in, which is the number that actually determines your runway.
What counts as default alive?
Default alive means that on your current growth and spend you reach profitability before the money runs out, without raising again.
Should I include founder salaries?
Yes. If you are paying yourselves, it is burn. If you are not, note it, because the number will change the moment you start.
How often should I recalculate?
Monthly, in the first week once the previous month has closed. Burn moves more than most founders expect.
Is anything I type stored?
No. It runs entirely in your browser and nothing you enter is sent anywhere or saved.
A free burn rate and runway calculator for founders. Enter your cash in the bank, your monthly spend and any revenue, and see your gross burn, your net burn and the month the money runs out. Change a hire or a line of spend and watch the runway move, so you can see the trade before you commit to it. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere.
How it works
Three steps, no account
Enter cash and spend
Put in what you have in the bank and what goes out each month. Revenue too, if you have it.
Read the runway
You get net burn, gross burn, and the month the money runs out, laid out plainly.
Change one number
Adjust a hire or a line of spend and watch the runway move, so you can see the trade before you make it.
Common uses
What people use it for
Before a hire
Model the salary against the runway before you make the offer, not after.
Before a raise
Investors will ask for the number. Better that you already know it than that you work it out in the meeting.
After a bad month
Revenue missed. Recalculate and find out whether you have a problem this quarter or next year.
Pro tips
Get more out of it
- Use the last three months averaged, not your best month. Burn is lumpy and the average is what actually drains the account.
- Count the annual invoices. Insurance and tooling renewals are the line that quietly eats a month of runway.
- Net burn is the number that matters for survival. Gross burn is the number that matters when you are forecasting a hire.
- Under twelve months of runway is where fundraising usually needs to start, because the raise itself takes months.
- Model the downside case as well as the plan. A month where revenue does not arrive is the one worth being ready for.
- Recalculate after every hire and every price change, not once a quarter.
- Separate one-off costs from recurring ones. A single legal bill is not a burn rate.
- Recalculate in the first week of the month, when last month's numbers have actually landed.
- Share the runway figure with your team. Vague reassurance is worse for morale than a real number.
- Track the trend, not just the level. Burn creeping up 10% a month is the signal, and the single figure hides it.
Related tools
Other free tools you might want
The app behind the tool
The number changes. The reasoning behind it is what you lose.
Almanack keeps the thinking around decisions like this. Talk through why you cut the spend, and it files itself where you can find it when the question comes back.
- Talk out the reasoning after the call and it organizes itself into a note you can actually read later.
- Ask what you decided about hiring in March and get an answer built from your own words, with the date attached.
- Nothing to file. No folders, no templates, no system to maintain while you are busy.
- Personal and business stay separated, so what you dumped after a hard day never turns up in work context.
Free to start. $96 a year or $14 a month when you want more.
Your runway is a number. Your decisions are the reason.
Almanack keeps every call you make, sourced, so you can ask why later, not just how much is left.
$96 a year or $14 a month. Cancel anytime.