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Free tool
APY Calculator
Work out what a rate actually returns once compounding is applied, convert between APR and APY, and — because crypto yields are paid in the token you staked — see how far that token can fall before the yield stops being worth anything.
Balance over time
The gap between the two lines is compound interest. It widens slowly at first, which is why the early years feel disappointing.
What if the token price moves?
Crypto yields are paid in the token you staked, so the APY alone never tells you whether you made money. Drag this to apply a price change over the whole period.
At 8.33% APY over 5 years, the token can fall 33.0% before you are back to break-even. Any further and the yield has not covered the loss.
Use a real rate
loadingLive APYs from large pools, to save you guessing a plausible rate. Only pools above $20M TVL are listed — the eye-watering headline yields almost always come from pools small enough that the rate collapses the moment real money arrives.
How much does compounding frequency actually matter?
Less than most people expect. At 8.00% APR, moving from annual to continuous compounding changes the effective rate by just 0.33%. The rate itself matters far more than how often it is applied.
| Frequency | Effective APY | Balance after 5y |
|---|---|---|
| Annually | 8.00% | $14,693 |
| Quarterly | 8.24% | $14,859 |
| Monthly | 8.30% | $14,898 |
| Weekly | 8.32% | $14,914 |
| Dailyselected | 8.33% | $14,918 |
| Continuous | 8.33% | $14,918 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between APR and APY?
APR is the simple annual rate with no compounding assumed. APY is what you actually end up with once your earnings start earning too. At 12% APR compounded monthly the APY is 12.68%. The gap widens as the rate rises: at 100% APR compounded daily the APY is over 171%. Platforms quote whichever number flatters them, so always check which one you are looking at.
Does compounding more often make a meaningful difference?
Far less than most people assume. At 8% APR, moving from annual to daily compounding takes the effective rate from 8.00% to 8.33% — about a third of a percentage point. Continuous compounding, the mathematical ceiling, adds almost nothing beyond daily. The rate itself matters enormously more than how often it is applied, so a protocol advertising 'compounds every block' is selling you a rounding error.
Why does the calculator ask about token price changes?
Because it is the single most common way people lose money while earning a positive yield. Staking rewards are paid in the token you staked, so a 20% APY on an asset that halves is still a substantial loss. The break-even figure shows exactly how far the token can fall before the yield stops covering it — for most realistic rates that cushion is much thinner than people expect.
Where do the live rates come from?
DefiLlama's public yields data, refreshed hourly, limited to pools holding more than $20 million. That floor is deliberate: the spectacular headline APYs almost always come from pools small enough that the rate collapses as soon as meaningful money arrives. Rates marked 'emissions' are paid mostly in incentive tokens rather than genuine protocol revenue, and can stop without warning.
Is a high APY a sign of a good investment?
Usually the opposite. Sustainable yield comes from real activity — lending interest, trading fees, staking rewards — and that tends to sit in the low single digits. Anything dramatically higher is typically paid in freshly minted tokens, which means it is funded by dilution and lasts only as long as the incentive programme. A yield that looks too good to be true is generally a countdown timer rather than an opportunity.
Does this account for fees, gas, lock-ups or tax?
No. Deposit and withdrawal fees, gas costs, performance fees, unbonding periods and income tax on rewards all reduce what you keep, and they vary hugely by protocol and jurisdiction. Treat every figure here as an upper bound.
When are recurring deposits added?
At the end of each compounding period, so a deposit earns nothing during the period it arrives in. This is the conservative convention and matches how most platforms actually credit funds. Crediting deposits at the start of the period would inflate results — over a long horizon with frequent deposits the difference is not trivial.
What does continuous compounding mean?
It is the theoretical limit of compounding infinitely often, calculated as e raised to the power of the rate. No real platform does this, but it is useful as a ceiling: it shows the absolute maximum that compounding frequency can contribute at a given rate. Once you see how close daily already is to that limit, claims about ultra-frequent compounding stop being persuasive.