Burn rate is how quickly a startup spends cash. Gross burn is total monthly spending. Net burn subtracts revenue.

How do I reduce burn rate?

Focus on revenue growth, cut non-essential expenses, negotiate better vendor terms, and delay hires until product-market fit.

What is a good burn rate for a startup?

There is no single number, because burn rate scales with stage and team size. The better measure is the burn multiple (net burn divided by net new revenue): below 1x is excellent, 1x to 2x is healthy, and above 2x means you are spending heavily to buy each new dollar of recurring revenue. Pair that with at least 12 months of runway.

How do I calculate runway?

Runway in months equals your current cash on hand divided by your monthly net burn (monthly expenses minus monthly revenue). For example, $120,000 in the bank with a $10,000 net burn gives you 12 months of runway.

What is the burn multiple?

The burn multiple is net burn divided by net new ARR or recurring revenue added in the same period. It measures how efficiently you turn cash into growth. A burn multiple under 1x is best in class; over 2x suggests inefficient growth that will shorten your runway quickly.

Free Burn Rate & Runway Calculator (2026)

Q: How much runway should a startup have?

Most experts recommend 12-18 months of runway. Less than 6 months is a red flag for investors and employees.

Updated July 26, 2026 · Data snapshot July 2026

Burn rate calculator: know your cash runway in 2026

BigIdeasDB's free burn rate calculator shows you exactly how long your cash will last. Enter your expenses, revenue, and cash on hand to calculate net burn and runway in months. It is essential for fundraising, board updates, and deciding when to hire or cut. No signup, no email, instant result.

How much runway should a startup have?

The fast answer: aim for 12 to 18 months of runway after a raise, and start fundraising again when you hit about 6 months. Dropping below 6 months is the point where investors and strong hires get nervous, because it signals you may have to raise from a position of weakness. Runway is simply your cash on hand divided by your monthly net burn, which is exactly what the calculator above computes.

Gross burn vs net burn vs burn multiple

Gross burn is your total monthly cash spend, regardless of revenue.
Net burn is gross burn minus monthly revenue. It is the number that actually drains your bank account, and the one that sets your runway.
Burn multiple is net burn divided by net new revenue. Below 1x is excellent, 1x to 2x is healthy, and above 2x means you are spending a lot to buy each new dollar of recurring revenue.

How to extend your runway

Grow revenue first. Every dollar of recurring revenue directly reduces net burn and lengthens runway.
Delay big hires until you have clear product-market fit. Payroll is usually the largest line item.
Cut or renegotiate software and vendor costs. Annual prepay and startup discounts add up.
Watch the burn multiple, not just the burn. Efficient growth buys you far more time than aggressive growth.

The revenue side of runway, with real numbers

Runway has two levers and most advice only covers one. Cutting costs is bounded; revenue is not. But founders routinely overestimate how fast the revenue lever moves, so here is the honest distribution from 3,700+ startups reporting live revenue.

Percentile	MRR	Monthly burn it offsets
50th (median)	$145	Roughly your hosting and tooling bill
75th	$894	A meaningful dent, not a salary
90th	$5,107	Covers one modest salary
99th	$58,404	A funded-company burn rate

Only 23.6% of revenue-earning startups clear $1,000 MRR and just 6.1% clear $10,000. The planning implication is blunt: if your runway model assumes revenue meaningfully offsets burn within twelve months, you are modelling the top quartile. Build the plan on cost control and treat revenue as upside.

How this calculator works

Enter your monthly expenses, monthly revenue, and current cash. The tool calculates gross burn, net burn, burn multiple, and runway in months, then flags whether your runway is healthy or a risk. It runs entirely in your browser, requires no signup, and stores nothing.

Methodology and limitations

Input	What it contributes	Limitation
Revenue corpus	The MRR percentiles above	Self-reported and indie-skewed. Not representative of venture-backed burn profiles.
Runway and burn-multiple rules	The 12-18 month and sub-1x guidance	These are industry conventions, not our data. We track revenue, not company spending, so we cannot publish a measured burn benchmark and will not invent one.

Stated plainly: we do not have a proprietary dataset on what startups actually spend. The revenue side above is measured; the runway thresholds are the standard conventions and should be treated as rules of thumb.