Forex position size calculator
Enter your balance, the percentage you are risking and your stop. Free, no sign-up, and it handles forex, gold and indices, plus futures contracts like ES, NQ and CL.
Lot Size Calculator
USD
P&L Calculator
Why position size matters more than entries
Two traders can take the identical trade and end the month in completely different places, because the one who sized it at four percent of the account needs a far smaller losing run to be in trouble. Entry quality decides whether a trade wins; size decides whether a losing streak is survivable.
The arithmetic is not complicated, but doing it in your head while a setup is forming is how people talk themselves into one more lot. Working it out before the session, against a stop you have already chosen, removes that negotiation entirely.
If you trade a prop-firm account
Position size interacts with your daily loss limit. A stop that is acceptable in isolation may be unacceptable as the third open position of the day, because the limit applies to everything at once — and it resets on your firm's clock rather than your local midnight. We keep a breakdown of each firm's reset time and drawdown rules if you want to check yours.
Frequently asked
How do I calculate lot size from risk percentage?
Multiply your account balance by the percentage you are willing to risk to get a cash amount, then divide that by your stop-loss distance in pips multiplied by the value of one pip for the pair. The result is your position size in lots. The calculator above does this for you, including the pip value for each pair.
What is a pip worth?
It depends on the pair and your lot size. On a standard lot of most USD-quoted pairs a pip is about ten US dollars, on a mini lot about one dollar, and on a micro lot about ten cents. Yen pairs, gold and indices use a different decimal place and contract size, which is why the calculator adjusts per instrument rather than assuming one figure.
How much should I risk per trade?
That is a decision only you can make, and it depends on your strategy and your tolerance for a losing run. What the arithmetic can tell you is the consequence: risking a fixed percentage means a string of losses shrinks each subsequent position, while a fixed cash amount does not. Prop-firm traders usually have a further constraint, because a daily loss limit caps how much total risk can be live at once.
Does this work for gold and indices?
Yes. Gold and index CFDs use different contract sizes and pip definitions from forex pairs, and the calculator applies the right one for the instrument you select rather than treating everything as a currency pair.
Keep the record, not just the maths
A calculator tells you what to risk. A journal tells you whether your sizing is actually working — which setups carry their risk and which quietly bleed. See what The Pips Project does, or start free with up to 100 trades.
This tool performs arithmetic on numbers you provide. It is not financial advice and does not account for slippage, spread, commission or gaps. See our disclaimer.