Forex Position Size
Calculator
Calculate your exact lot size, pip value, margin, and risk:reward ratio before every trade.
Trade Inputs
Enter your trade details below
Ready to Calculate
Fill in your balance, risk, instrument, entry and stop loss — then press Calculate.
How Position Sizing Works
Position sizing is the single most important risk management decision on every trade. It controls how much of your account is at risk — and how many losses you can absorb before your account is damaged.
Set Your Risk %
Decide what percentage of your account you’re willing to lose on this one trade. Professional traders risk 0.5–2%. For prop firm challenges, stick to 0.5–1% to protect drawdown limits.
Place Your Stop Loss
Set your stop loss at a technically valid level — below structure for longs, above for shorts. Never pick your stop based on how much you want to risk. The stop price determines the pip distance.
Calculate Pip Value
Pip value depends on the instrument and your lot size. For standard lots on USD-quoted pairs like EUR/USD: 1 pip = $10. For JPY pairs it’s approximately $10 divided by the current price.
Divide to Get Lots
Lot Size = Risk Amount ÷ (Stop Pips × Pip Value per Lot). This gives you the exact lot size so you risk the defined amount — no more, no less.
📐 Core Formula
Example: $10,000 account, 1% risk = $100 at risk. EUR/USD with 20 pip stop: $100 ÷ (20 × $10) = 0.50 lots.
⚖️ Risk:Reward Formula
A 1:2 R:R means you only need a 33% win rate to break even. A 1:3 R:R requires only 25% wins — extremely powerful when combined with high-probability setups.
🏦 Margin Formula
Margin is collateral held by your broker — not a fee. Keep your margin level above 100% at all times. Below 50% on most brokers triggers automatic stop-out.
💎 Pip Value Reference
Pip values shift when your account currency differs from the pair’s quote currency. The calculator handles this automatically for USD accounts.
📚 Key Terms Glossary
Everything you need to know defined simply
How Much Should You Risk Per Trade?
Risk percentage is deeply personal — but some amounts are clearly wrong. Use this guide to find the right zone for your experience and goals.
Conservative
Best for prop firm challenges and new live traders.
- Protects prop firm drawdown limits
- Survives 50–100+ consecutive losses
- Keeps focus on process over P&L
- Recommended for all challenge phases
Moderate
The professional standard. Growth with protection.
- Industry standard for funded traders
- Meaningful account growth over time
- Suitable after 3+ months consistency
- Compatible with most prop firm rules
Aggressive
High risk — handle with care.
- Account halves in 14–20 losses
- Breaches most prop firm drawdown rules
- Not recommended during challenges
- Emotionally demanding at all times
📉 Drawdown Recovery Table
The larger your drawdown, the larger the gain needed to recover — the math gets brutal fast.
| Account Loss | Balance Remaining | Gain Needed to Recover | At 1% Risk/Trade |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5% | $9,500 | 5.3% | ~5 winning trades |
| 10% | $9,000 | 11.1% | ~11 winning trades |
| 20% | $8,000 | 25% | ~25 winning trades |
| 30% | $7,000 | 42.9% | ~43 winning trades |
| 40% | $6,000 | 66.7% | ~67 winning trades |
| 50% | $5,000 | 100% | 100 consecutive wins |
🎯 Win Rate vs R:R — Break-Even Table
The minimum win rate needed to break even at each R:R ratio.
| R:R Ratio | Min Win Rate | At 40% Wins | At 50% Wins | At 60% Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1:1 | 50% | Break even | Profitable | Strong |
| 1:1.5 | 40% | Break even | Good | Excellent |
| 1:2 | 33.3% | Profitable | Strong | Excellent |
| 1:3 | 25% | Strong | Excellent | Outstanding |
| 1:4 | 20% | Excellent | Outstanding | Outstanding |
| 1:5 | 16.7% | Outstanding | Outstanding | Outstanding |
Complete Pip Value Guide
Pip values for every major instrument. All values shown for 1 standard lot on a USD account. Scale for mini (÷10) and micro (÷100) lots.
All Instruments
| Symbol | Name | Type | Pip Size | Contract | 1 Std Lot | 1 Mini | 1 Micro |
|---|