Position Size Calculator
Calculate the right lot size for any trade based on your account balance, risk tolerance and stop loss distance.
Position Size Calculator
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This tool is for informational and educational purposes only. Results are estimates. Trading forex carries significant risk. Never trade with money you cannot afford to lose.
What is the Position Size Calculator?
The Position Size Calculator (also called a lot size calculator) works out the exact lot size to trade so that, if your stop loss is hit, you lose only a fixed percentage of your account. Position sizing is the single most important risk management decision a trader makes on any given trade: correctly sized positions keep one bad result from undoing a profitable week.
How to use it
- Enter your account balance (or equity, if you want a more conservative result).
- Enter the risk percentage you are willing to lose on the trade. A common starting point is 1% per trade.
- Enter your stop loss distance in pips (the number of pips from entry to stop).
- Select the currency pair you are trading. The pip value is pulled automatically.
- Read the result: the lot size to use plus the cash amount you are risking.
Worked example
You have a $5,000 account and want to risk 1% on a EUR/USD trade with a 25-pip stop loss.
- Cash at risk: $5,000 × 1% = $50
- Pip value for 1 standard lot of EUR/USD ≈ $10
- Lot size = $50 / ($10 × 25) = 0.20 lots
Open a 0.20 standard lot (2 mini lots) position. If the stop loss hits, you lose exactly $50.
Frequently asked questions
What percentage should I risk per trade?
Most professional traders risk between 0.5% and 2% per trade. New traders are usually advised to start at 0.5% to 1% while they build a track record. Risking more than 2% per trade means a string of three or four losses can do meaningful damage to the account.
Does the calculator account for leverage?
Lot size is independent of leverage. Your risk on a trade is set by your stop loss and lot size, not by the leverage. Leverage only changes how much margin your broker holds open against the position. Use the Margin Calculator for that.
What if I am trading metals or crypto, not forex pairs?
Pip value differs significantly for gold, silver, and crypto pairs. The calculator handles common instruments, but for unusual assets always double-check with your broker's contract specifications before sizing a position.
Should I use account balance or equity?
Either works. Equity (balance minus current floating profit/loss) is slightly more conservative because it shrinks position size after losses and dampens drawdowns. Account balance gives more stable sizing across a trading week.
Prefer your phone? The Position Size Calculator is also available as Lot Size inside Lot Size Calculator GT, our free Android app bundling 8 forex calculators. Works fully offline.
