Forex position size calculator.
Size every trade by the risk, not the gut feel. Enter your balance, the percent you are willing to lose, and your stop in pips. You get the exact lot size in return. Free, no sign-up.
Your trade
Enter your numbers. The size updates as you type.
Position size
0.50
standard lots
Mini lots
5.00
Micro lots
50.0
Units
50,000
What position sizing is
Position sizing is the step that decides how large a trade should be so that if the trade fails, you lose only the amount you decided to risk in advance, and no more. It is the difference between a plan and a guess. Most accounts are not lost to one bad idea. They are lost to one oversized trade, or a short run of them, that was never sized for the loss it could cause.
The idea is simple: decide what you are willing to lose first, then let that number set the size. Your stop-loss tells you where the trade is wrong. Your risk tells you how much being wrong should cost. Position size is what connects the two.
The formula
The calculator above runs two short steps:
- Cash risk= account balance × (risk percent ÷ 100)
- Position size in lots= cash risk ÷ (stop-loss in pips × pip value per standard lot)
From the lot figure, the rest follows directly: mini lots are lots × 10, micro lots are lots × 100, and units are lots × 100,000. Pip value is how much one pip is worth on one standard lot, in your account currency. For USD-quoted majors on a USD account that is about 10 per lot, which is why the calculator pre-fills it. For pairs not quoted in your account currency, the exact pip value depends on live exchange rates, so the field stays editable and you should confirm it with your broker.
A worked example
Say you have a 10,000 USD account and you are willing to risk 1 percent on a EUR/USD trade with a 20 pip stop. Your cash risk is 10,000 × 0.01 = 100 USD. The pip value is about 10 per standard lot. So your size is 100 ÷ (20 × 10) = 0.5 standard lots, which is 5 mini lots, 50 micro lots, or 50,000 units. If EUR/USD moves 20 pips against you and your stop is hit, you lose the 100 USD you planned to lose, no surprises.
Why risk-first sizing matters
Sizing by risk instead of by conviction is the quiet habit behind most accounts that last. When every trade risks the same small slice of the account, a losing streak is survivable and no single trade can end you. That is the whole point of the approach we teach at NorthPip: a method is only as good as the worst week it has to survive, and position sizing is how you make sure a bad week stays a bad week instead of a final one. Decide the loss you can accept, size to it, and let the math hold the line when emotion would not.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I calculate position size?
- Position size is your cash risk divided by your stop-loss distance times the pip value per lot. First find your cash risk: balance times risk percent. Then divide that by the stop-loss in pips multiplied by the pip value of one standard lot. The result is your size in standard lots.
- What is pip value?
- Pip value is how much one pip of movement is worth on a one-lot position, expressed in your account currency. For USD-quoted majors like EUR/USD on a USD account, one pip on a standard lot is about 10 USD. For pairs not quoted in your account currency, the exact pip value moves with live exchange rates, so confirm it with your broker.
- How much should I risk per trade?
- Most disciplined traders risk 1 to 2 percent of their account on any single trade. Risking a small, fixed percent means a losing streak is survivable and no single trade can do serious damage. The calculator defaults to 1 percent for this reason.
- 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 units, or 0.1 standard lots. A micro lot is 1,000 units, or 0.01 standard lots. The calculator shows all three so you can place the size your account and broker support.
- Does this calculator give financial advice?
- No. It is an educational tool that does the position-size arithmetic for you. It does not know your full circumstances and is not a recommendation to take any trade. Always confirm the final size with your broker and trade your own plan.