Startup Runway Calculator

(Cash Runway Tool)

Calculate exactly how many months of runway your startup has left from cash on hand and monthly burn — with an optional model for burn that grows as you hire.

Step 1 — Cash & Burn

Current balance across all business bank accounts

Cash spent minus cash earned each month — use our Burn Rate Calculator if you need to work this out

Calculated Results

Enter your cash on hand and monthly burn to calculate runway.

Runway Is the Single Most Important Startup Number

Runway answers the one question every founder eventually has to answer honestly: how many months until the business runs out of cash if nothing changes. It's a simple division, but the number it produces drives nearly every major decision — when to raise, when to cut costs, and how aggressively to spend on growth.

Runway (Months) = Cash on Hand ÷ Monthly Net Burn

Why a Flat Burn Assumption Can Be Misleading

The simple formula assumes burn stays constant every month, but most growing startups increase spend as they hire — which means real runway is often shorter than the flat-rate number suggests. The optional growing-burn mode in this calculator simulates burn increasing by a set percentage each month rather than assuming it holds steady, giving a more conservative and often more realistic estimate for a team that's actively expanding.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

This calculator focuses on the burn side — if revenue is also growing, net burn should shrink over time, which would extend runway beyond what a flat-net-burn estimate shows. Revisit the calculation periodically with updated net burn figures as revenue changes rather than treating one snapshot as fixed for the whole runway period.

Use our Burn Rate Calculator first to build net burn from itemized payroll, rent, software, and marketing expenses minus monthly revenue, then bring that figure here.