Break-Even Calculator
Calculate the exact price level where your trade covers all costs and breaks even.
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Quick answer
The break-even price is your entry plus the cost of the trade in pips: break-even pips = spread + (commission ÷ pip value). The price must move this far in your favour just to cover spread and commission before any profit.
What is the Break-Even Calculator?
Break-even price is where a trade generates zero profit and zero loss after accounting for all costs. Most traders think entry price equals break-even. It doesn't. Spreads, commissions, and swap fees shift your actual break-even point away from entry. For a buy trade, break-even is always above your entry (you pay the ask price (higher than mid), so the market must rise to cover that gap). For a sell trade, it's below entry. Understanding this gap is critical for scalpers and tight-stop traders where a few pips determine success.
The Real Break-Even Formula
Break-Even (Buy) = Entry Price + Spread + (Commission ÷ Pip Value ÷ Lot Size)
Break-Even (Sell) = Entry Price - Spread - (Commission ÷ Pip Value ÷ Lot Size)
On an ECN account with 0.3 pip spread and $7 round-turn commission on 1 lot EUR/USD, your actual cost is 0.3 + 0.7 = 1 pip. The market must move 1 pip in your favor before you're at zero.
How to Use This Calculator
How to Use This Calculator
- Select trade direction — Buy or Sell affects which way break-even shifts.
- Enter entry price — The exact price you opened or plan to open the trade.
- Input spread — Check your broker's current spread for the pair. This varies by time of day and volatility.
- Add commission — If your account charges commission per lot, include it. Standard accounts typically have zero commission but wider spreads.
- Enter lot size — Commission is often fixed per lot, so size affects per-pip cost.
- View true break-even — This is the price the market must reach for you to exit with $0 profit/loss.
Real-World Example
Worked Examples
Example 1: Standard Account (No Commission)
- Direction: Buy EUR/USD
- Entry: 1.1000
- Spread: 1.8 pips
- Commission: $0
Break-Even = 1.1000 + 0.00018 = 1.10018
Price must rise 1.8 pips before you break even. A take profit at 1.1010 (10 pips) actually nets only 8.2 pips after spread.
Example 2: ECN Account (Tight Spread + Commission)
- Direction: Buy EUR/USD
- Entry: 1.1000
- Spread: 0.2 pips
- Commission: $7 per round turn (1 lot)
- Pip Value: $10
Commission in pips = $7 ÷ $10 = 0.7 pips
Break-Even = 1.1000 + 0.00002 + 0.00007 = 1.10009
Total cost: 0.9 pips. Despite the commission, this is cheaper than the 1.8 pip spread account above.
Example 3: Scalper's Reality Check
- Target: 5 pips profit
- Total cost: 1.2 pips (spread + commission)
- Net profit per trade: 5 - 1.2 = 3.8 pips
- Cost as percentage of target: 24%
Nearly a quarter of your target goes to trading costs. This is why scalpers obsess over finding low-cost brokers.
When to Use
When to Calculate Break-Even
- Scalping — When targeting 5-15 pips, a 2-pip spread represents 13-40% of your target. Know this number.
- Tight stop losses — A 10-pip stop with 2-pip spread means you're actually risking 12 pips to make 8 net pips on a 10-pip target.
- Broker comparison — Calculate true break-even across different brokers to find the lowest actual cost.
- Moving stop to break-even — When you trail stop to "break-even," place it at the true break-even price, not entry.
- Strategy testing — Back-test results must account for spreads and commissions. A strategy that wins 10 pips per trade loses money if costs are 3 pips.
Common Mistakes
Costly Mistakes
- Ignoring spread entirely — New traders calculate risk/reward from entry to stop/target without subtracting spread. This makes every trade look better than it actually is.
- Using fixed spread in variable spread accounts — Spreads widen during news and low liquidity. A 1-pip typical spread might be 5 pips during NFP.
- Forgetting commission exists — ECN traders sometimes only look at tight spreads while forgetting the $3-$7 commission per lot.
- Not calculating for each broker — Assuming all brokers cost the same. A 0.5-pip difference across 1,000 trades equals significant money.
- Forgetting swap fees — For positions held overnight, swap fees also shift break-even.
Use Together With
Spread Cost Calculator
Calculate the exact cost of spreads for your trades and understand how spread impacts your profitability.
Commission Calculator
Calculate broker commission fees for your trades. Compare per-lot vs per-side commissions and understand your true trading costs.
Profit & Loss Calculator
Calculate your potential profit or loss for any trade before entering the market.
Swap Fee Calculator
Calculate the daily swap fees for holding positions overnight in the forex market.
Frequently Asked Questions
Related Calculators
Tools that work best with the Break-Even Calculator
Spread Cost
Free spread cost calculator for forex. Calculate the exact dollar cost of the bid-ask spread for any position size and currency pair. Compare spread costs across brokers.
Commission
Free broker commission calculator. Calculate per-trade and monthly commission costs based on lot size and commission structure. Supports per-lot and round-trip calculations.
Profit & Loss
Free forex profit and loss calculator. Enter entry price, exit price, and lot size to see your PnL in both pips and dollars. Supports buy and sell positions.
Swap Fee
Free swap fee calculator for forex. Calculate daily and total overnight rollover costs for holding positions across multiple days. Supports long and short positions.