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Lot Size & Position Size Calculator

Find the lot size that risks exactly the amount you choose, from your balance, risk per trade and stop-loss distance.

Stop loss as
Contract specs: 1 lot = 100,000 units, 1 pip = 0.0001

Standard forex lots are 100,000 units of the base currency. Check the contract specification in your broker's platform (MT4/MT5: right-click the symbol → Specification).

USD
Risk as
%
pips
More options: commission, take profit, lot step
USD

Round turn, added to the risk.

pips

Optional.

lots

Optional broker minimum.

lots

Optional broker maximum.

lots

Your broker's size increment, usually 0.01.

Position size

0.50 lots

Exact: 0.5000 lots

Amount at risk

$100.00

Target: $100.00

Value per pip

$5.00

$10.00 per lot

Units

50,000

5 mini lots

Position value

$55,974.50

1:5.6 effective leverage

Show the math
  1. Amount at risk$10,000.00 × 1% = $100.00
  2. Pip value per lot0.0001 × 100,000 = 10 USD
  3. Position size$100.00 ÷ (20.0 pips × $10.00) = 0.5000 lots
  4. Rounded down to your lot step0.50 lots
  5. Amount at risk at this size0.50 lots × $200.00 = $100.00
  6. Position value and effective leverage0.50 lots × 100,000 × 1.11949 = 55,974.50 USD; ÷ $10,000.00 = 1:5.6
  7. Standard, mini and micro lots0.50 = 0 × 1.00 + 5 × 0.10 + 0 × 0.01

Rates from ECB, gold-api.com, CoinGecko, FX reference 2026-10-14, checked 08:27 UTC. Use your broker's live quote to trade.

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Quick answer

Position size in lots = amount at risk ÷ (stop loss in pips × pip value per lot). Risking 1% of a $10,000 account ($100) with a 20-pip stop on EUR/USD, where a pip is $10 per standard lot, gives $100 ÷ (20 × $10) = 0.50 lots. Round down to your broker's lot step so the risk never exceeds your limit.

Worked examples: Lot size

Lot Size Calculator by instrument

Lot size for a $10,000 account by risk and stop loss

Find your risk per trade on the left and your stop-loss distance across the top: the cell is the largest position that keeps the loss at the stop within that risk. Sizes scale linearly, so a $5,000 account trades half these lots and a $20,000 account twice as many.

EUR/USD

Lots for a $10,000 USD account, rounded down to 0.01 · pip value $10.00 per lot
Risk per trade10 pips20 pips30 pips50 pips100 pips
0.5%$500.500.250.160.100.05
1%$1001.000.500.330.200.10
2%$2002.001.000.660.400.20
3%$3003.001.501.000.600.30

USD/JPY

Lots for a $10,000 USD account, rounded down to 0.01 · pip value $6.31 per lot
Risk per trade10 pips20 pips30 pips50 pips100 pips
0.5%$500.790.390.260.150.07
1%$1001.580.790.520.310.15
2%$2003.161.581.050.630.31

XAU/USD (gold)

Lots for a $10,000 USD account, rounded down to 0.01 · pip value $10.00 per lot · 1 pip = 0.10 price move
Risk per trade50 pips($5 move)100 pips($10 move)200 pips($20 move)300 pips($30 move)500 pips($50 move)
0.5%$500.100.050.020.010.01
1%$1000.200.100.050.030.02
2%$2000.400.200.100.060.04

Reference rates: ECB, gold-api.com, CoinGecko · FX reference date . Values update hourly.

Lots are rounded down to the 0.01 step, so the actual risk is never above the target. A 0.00 cell means the stop is too wide for that risk at a 0.01 minimum lot. Spread and commission are not included.

What is the Lot Size & Position Size Calculator?

A position size calculator works out how many lots to trade so that, if your stop loss is hit, you lose a fixed amount you chose in advance — usually a percentage of your balance. The stop distance and the instrument's pip value set the size, not how confident you feel about the trade.

Lots = Risk amount ÷ (Stop loss in pips × Pip value per lot)

With a $10,000 account, 1% risk is $100. A 20-pip stop on EUR/USD, where a pip is worth $10 per standard lot, gives $100 ÷ (20 × $10) = 0.50 lots. Widen the stop to 40 pips and the size halves to 0.25 lots; the money at risk is still $100.

Pip value is converted into your account currency, so the same method works for crosses, exotics, gold, silver, indices, oil and crypto. The result is rounded down to your broker's lot step, so the amount at risk never exceeds the limit you set.

Lot size with leverage. Leverage does not change the lot size that matches your risk; it only decides whether your account can hold it. The result also shows the position value and the effective leverage (position value ÷ balance). 0.50 lots of EUR/USD at 1.10 is about $55,000, so a $10,000 account carries 5.5× effective leverage and needs about $1,830 margin at 1:30. The forex margin calculator gives the margin for any leverage.

How to use this calculator

  1. Instrument — pick the market: forex majors, crosses and exotics, gold or silver, an index (US30, NAS100, SPX500, GER40, UK100, JP225), oil, or BTC, ETH, SOL and XRP.
  2. Account currency — the currency your account is held in. If a separate exchange rate is needed to convert pip value, a rate field appears, pre-filled with a reference rate; type your broker's rate to override it.
  3. Account balance — what the account holds now, not what you first deposited.
  4. Risk as — choose % of balance or a fixed amount, then enter the Risk per trade.
  5. Stop loss — the distance from entry to stop, in pips (in points for indices, oil and crypto).
  6. Lot step — the smallest lot increment your broker accepts, usually 0.01.

Results update as you type: the position size (rounded down, with the exact figure underneath), the size in units, the amount actually at risk at the rounded size, and the value per pip. Gold, index and oil contracts differ between brokers — open Contract specs to enter your broker's contract size and pip size. Show the math lists each step with your numbers, and Copy link with these numbers gives you a URL that reopens the same inputs.

Worked example

GBP/USD, USD account. Balance $8,500, risk 2% = $170, stop 35 pips. GBP/USD is quoted in US dollars, so a pip is $10 per standard lot.

$170 ÷ (35 × $10) = 0.4857 lots → 0.48 lots

At 0.48 lots a stopped-out trade loses 0.48 × 35 × $10 = $168, inside the $170 limit. Rounding up to 0.49 lots would risk $171.50.

USD/JPY, USD account. Risk $100 with a 40-pip stop and USD/JPY at 150. A pip is ¥1,000 per lot, which is ¥1,000 ÷ 150 = $6.67. Size = $100 ÷ (40 × $6.67) = 0.375, rounded down to 0.37 lots, risking $98.67.

Gold. Risk $500 with a $5.00 stop, which is 50 pips of $0.10. At 100 oz per lot a pip is worth $10 per lot, so $500 ÷ (50 × $10) = 1.00 lot.

When to use it

Before every trade, because the right size changes whenever the stop distance, the instrument or the balance changes.

  • A breakout with a 20-pip stop and a swing trade with an 80-pip stop need very different sizes to risk the same amount.
  • Pip value differs between instruments: 1 lot of EUR/USD is $10 per pip, 1 lot of USD/JPY about $6.67 at 150, 1 lot of gold $10 per $0.10.
  • After wins or losses the same percentage is a different amount of money.
  • Under prop-firm rules, sizing to a fixed amount keeps each trade inside the daily loss limit.

Common mistakes

  • Trading the same lot size every time. On EUR/USD, 1 lot with a 20-pip stop risks $200; with a 100-pip stop it risks $1,000.
  • Assuming $10 per pip everywhere. That holds only for 1 lot of a USD-quoted pair in a USD account. JPY pairs, crosses, metals, indices and non-USD accounts all differ.
  • Rounding up. If the exact size is 0.375 lots, trade 0.37. Rounding up raises the risk above your limit.
  • Counting pipettes as pips. On a 5-decimal quote, 1.10000 to 1.09850 is 15 pips, not 150.
  • Forgetting costs and gaps. Spread, commission and slippage add to a stopped-out loss, and a weekend gap can fill the stop well beyond its level.
  • Risking too much per trade. Ten losses in a row cost about 40% of the account at 5% risk per trade (0.95¹⁰ ≈ 0.60), and under 10% at 1%.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of my account should I risk per trade?

Many traders risk between 0.5% and 2% of their balance per trade. The lower the figure, the longer the losing streak you can survive: ten straight losses cost about 9.6% of the account at 1% risk and about 40% at 5%. Pick a level you could live with through your worst realistic run of losses.

Does the calculator work for gold, indices and crypto?

Yes. It uses each instrument's contract size and pip or point size: gold is 100 oz per lot with a $0.10 pip ($10 per lot), indices are 1 contract per lot worth one unit of the quote currency per point, and crypto is 1 coin per lot. Brokers differ for these markets, so check your contract specification and adjust it under Contract specs.

Why is the result rounded down?

Brokers only accept sizes in fixed steps, usually 0.01 lots. Rounding down keeps the risk at or below your limit: an exact size of 0.375 lots becomes 0.37 lots. The exact figure is shown under the result, and the amount at risk is recalculated for the rounded size.

What if my account is not in US dollars?

Select your account currency. Pip value is converted from the instrument's quote currency at a reference rate, which you can replace with your broker's rate. For example, a EUR/USD pip is $10 per lot, which is €9.09 for a euro account at EUR/USD 1.10.

Should I use my balance or my equity?

If you have no open trades they are the same. With open positions, equity (balance plus floating profit or loss) reflects what you actually have at risk; using the lower of the two is the more conservative choice.

How does position size relate to risk-reward?

The risk-reward ratio tells you whether a trade's target justifies its stop. Position sizing decides how much to trade once you have chosen the stop. Work out the risk-reward first, then size the position to the stop.

Related calculators

  • Pip Calculator

    See what one pip or point is worth for any position size, converted into your account currency.

  • Stop Loss Calculator

    Find where to place your stop loss so a losing trade costs exactly what you planned, or see the stop price and the amount at risk for a stop in pips.

  • Risk-Reward Ratio Calculator

    Get the risk-reward ratio of a trade and the win rate you need to break even at that ratio.

  • Forex Margin Calculator

    Work out how much margin a position ties up at your leverage, and the position value behind it.

  • ATR Position Size Calculator

    Set your stop from the Average True Range and size the position so it risks a fixed share of your balance.

  • Prop Firm Drawdown Calculator

    See how much you can still lose today and in total before you breach your prop firm's daily or maximum loss limit, static or trailing — and the biggest position your next stop loss allows.

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