Position size calculator
Sizing every trade by risk is the single most effective habit in trading. Enter your balance, the percentage you are willing to lose and your stop distance, and get the lot size that keeps that risk fixed.
Results
- Position size
- 0.5 lots
- units
- 50,000
- Risk amount
- 100 USD
- Pip value per standard lot
- 10 USD
These tools are for education only. Check your broker's contract specifications — pip sizes, lot sizes and margin rules vary.
What is a position size calculator?
A position size calculator works out how many lots to trade so that, if your stop loss is hit, you lose exactly the amount you planned — no more. Instead of picking a round lot size and hoping, you start from the risk you accept (say 1% of the account), the distance to your stop in pips and the value of one pip for the pair, and the calculator returns the lot size that fits.
This is the tool behind consistent risk management. A 20-pip stop on EURUSD and a 200-pip stop on GBPJPY can carry the same dollar risk when the lot size is adjusted for each trade. Sizing by risk also stops one oversized trade from wiping out weeks of small gains, which is the most common way retail accounts fail.
How to use the lot size calculator
Pick the pair and account currency
Choose the instrument you are trading and the currency your account is denominated in. The pip value changes with both.
Enter your balance and risk per trade
Type your current account balance and the percentage you are willing to lose on this trade. Most traders use 0.5% to 2%.
Set your stop-loss distance in pips
Measure the distance from your planned entry to your stop loss. A wider stop means a smaller position for the same risk.
Add the exchange rate if asked
When the account currency is neither side of the pair (for example a EUR account trading USDJPY), enter the current cross rate so the pip value can be converted.
Read the lot size
The result shows the position in standard, mini and micro lots plus units. Round down to what your broker allows, never up.
Position size formula
Risk amount = Balance × Risk %
Lot size = Risk amount ÷ (Stop loss in pips × Pip value per lot)Example: a $10,000 account risking 1% ($100) on EURUSD with a 25-pip stop. One standard lot of EURUSD is worth $10 per pip, so lot size = 100 ÷ (25 × 10) = 0.40 lots (4 mini lots, or 40,000 units). If the stop is hit, the loss is 25 pips × $4 per pip = $100.
Position sizing tips
- Decide the stop-loss level from the chart first, then let the calculator set the lot size — never widen the stop to fit a bigger position.
- Keep risk per trade fixed at 1–2% of the account; recalculate after each win or loss so the size grows and shrinks with the balance.
- Round lot sizes down to your broker's minimum step (usually 0.01 lots). Rounding up quietly raises your risk.
- Count correlated positions together: two open EURUSD and GBPUSD trades at 1% each behave much like a single 2% position.
Position size calculator FAQ
How do I calculate lot size from a 1% risk?
Multiply the balance by 0.01 to get the risk amount, then divide by the stop-loss distance in pips times the pip value of one lot. On a $5,000 account with a 50-pip stop on EURUSD: 50 ÷ (50 × 10) = 0.10 lots.
What is a good risk percentage per trade?
Most professional guidance sits between 0.5% and 2% of the account per trade. Lower risk lets you survive long losing streaks; ten straight losses at 1% costs about 9.6% of the account, at 5% it costs about 40%.
What is the difference between standard, mini and micro lots?
A standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, a mini lot 10,000 and a micro lot 1,000. In lot terms they are 1.00, 0.10 and 0.01. On EURUSD they are worth roughly $10, $1 and $0.10 per pip.
Does the calculator work for gold and silver?
Yes. XAUUSD uses a 100-ounce contract with 0.01 counted as one pip, and XAGUSD a 5,000-ounce contract with 0.001 as one pip. Check your broker's contract specification, because some quote gold in 0.10 increments.
Why does my broker show a different lot size?
Brokers differ in contract size, pip definition, minimum lot step and the exchange rate used for conversion. Small differences are normal; large ones usually mean the pip size or contract size differs from the defaults here.
Should I size positions by pips or by money?
By money. Pips only matter once they are converted into your account currency. Fixing the money at risk per trade is what keeps a 15-pip scalp and a 300-pip swing trade equally risky.