Tools / Position Size Calculator

Forex Position Size Calculator

Know your exact lot size before you click buy. Any pair, any account currency - sized to the risk you actually chose.

Free · no signup · works with FX, gold, indices, oil and crypto
live rates
Instrument
Account currency
Account balance
Risk per trade
Stop loss (pips)
Take profit (pips) optional
Leverage optional, caps size + shows margin
0.50lots
5.0 mini50 micro50,000 units
Risk amount100.00 USD
Pip value at this size5.00 USD
Position value56,997.50 USD
Margin required1,139.95 USD

If your stop moves

10 pips1.00
15 pips0.66
20 pips0.50
30 pips0.33
40 pips0.25
risk stays 100.00 USD at every size

You sized this at 1.0% risk. Do you hold that line on every trade?

Connect your account and Helix AI flags every trade where you sized past your own rule - automatically, on your real fills.

Check my real risk discipline
Connects in minutes · cancel anytime
Put this calculator on your site. One line of code, free forever, updates automatically.

How position sizing works

Position sizing answers one question: how big can this trade be so that if the stop gets hit, you lose only what you planned to lose. Three numbers decide it - your account balance, the percentage of it you are willing to risk, and the distance to your stop loss. Everything else the calculator shows (units, margin, reward) is derived from those three.

position size = (balance x risk%) / (stop distance x value per pip)

The order matters. Most losing traders pick a size first and hope the stop works out; disciplined traders pick the risk first and let the size fall out of the math. Sizing this way makes every trade cost the same when it fails, which is what keeps one bad day from undoing a good month.

Worked example: EURUSD

Say your account is $10,000 and you risk 1% per trade - a $100 budget. Your setup on EURUSD needs a 25 pip stop. One standard lot of EURUSD moves $10 per pip, so 25 pips costs $250 per lot. Your size is 100 / 250 = 0.40 lots. If the stop is hit you lose $100, exactly the budget - not a dollar more because the size was derived from it.

Worked example: gold

Gold trades in 100 oz lots, so each $0.01 move is $1 per lot. With the same $100 budget and a $2.50 stop (250 points at $0.01), one lot risks $250 - your size is 0.40 lots again. Different market, different contract, same discipline. The calculator carries the contract specs for every market it lists, so you never have to remember them.

Pips, points and the JPY convention

For most currency pairs a pip is 0.0001. For yen pairs it is 0.01, which makes one pip worth 1,000 yen per standard lot - and that yen value has to be converted to your account currency at the live rate, not a fixed guess. This is where many free calculators quietly drift; this one converts at the latest market rate every time, and lets you override any rate manually.

Account currency, handled properly

A EUR account trading GBPJPY involves three currencies: your balance in euros, a stop distance priced in yen, and a position in pounds. The calculator converts your risk budget and the pip value through the latest rates so the number you see is the number you would actually lose. When a rate is missing you can type it in - the tool never guesses.

FAQ

Do I need a TradeDNA account to use this calculator?
No. Every tool here is standalone and free - no signup, no usage limits. A TradeDNA account is for what comes after the math: tracking whether you actually hold the risk you set here, on every real trade you take.
What lot size should I use for a $1,000 account?
With 1% risk and a 20 pip stop on EURUSD, $1,000 sizes to 0.05 lots (5,000 units), which risks $10. The calculator above does this instantly for any balance, pair and stop distance.
How many lots is 1% risk?
It depends on your stop distance. The formula is lots = (balance x 1%) / (stop distance in pips x pip value per lot). On EURUSD with a USD account, pip value is $10 per standard lot, so a $10,000 account risking 1% over 50 pips sizes to 0.20 lots.
How do I size gold (XAUUSD) trades?
One standard gold lot is 100 oz, so every $0.01 move is worth $1 per lot. A $5.00 stop is 500 points, or $500 per lot. Risking $100 sizes you to 0.20 lots. Pick XAUUSD in the calculator and it handles the contract math for you.
What is the difference between standard, mini and micro lots?
A standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, a mini lot is 10,000 and a micro lot is 1,000. The calculator shows your size in all three, plus raw units, so you can place it on any platform.
Does leverage change my position size?
Leverage never increases the size you should trade - your risk and stop decide that. What leverage changes is the margin your broker locks up, and it can cap the size you are able to open. Set leverage in the calculator to see your margin requirement and whether the cap binds before your risk budget does.
How does account currency affect the calculation?
Your risk budget lives in your account currency, but pip values land in the pair's quote currency. The calculator converts between them at the latest market rate, so a EUR account trading GBPJPY still gets an exact size.
Forex Position Size Calculator - Free Lot Size Tool | TradeDNA