Forex Lot Size Calculator

Tell the calculator how much you have, how much of it you are prepared to lose on this trade, and where your stop loss is. It returns the largest lot size that keeps the loss within that amount.

The worked example below, in four numbers.

The formula

Lot size = (account balance × risk %) ÷ (stop loss in pips × pip value per lot)

Example: a $2,000 account risking 1% ($20) with a 25-pip stop on EUR/USD, where one pip on one lot is worth $10:

$20 ÷ (25 × $10) = 0.08 lots.

If the stop is hit, the loss is 25 pips × $0.80 = $20, exactly the amount you chose to risk. The calculator rounds down to the nearest 0.01 lot, because most brokers don’t accept smaller increments, and rounding up would push you over your risk limit.

How much is 0.01 lot in dollars?

A lot size describes units of the base currency, so its dollar size depends on the pair. On EUR/USD:

Lot size	Units	Position value at 1.0850	Value of 1 pip	20-pip move
1	100,000	about $108,500	$10	$200
0.1	10,000	about $10,850	$1	$20
0.01	1,000	about $1,085	$0.10	$2

“1 lot is equal to” 100,000 units of the base currency, and 0.01 lot is equal to 1,000 units. The position value is not what you pay. You put up margin, a fraction of it set by your leverage, and your profit or loss follows the pip value. See what a lot is and lot sizes for beginners.

Lot size in dollars: 0.01 to 100 lots

Quick lookup for pairs quoted in USD (EUR/USD, GBP/USD) and for gold with a 100-ounce contract and a 0.1 pip. Dollars per pip is simply lots × $10.

Lots	Units (forex)	Ounces (gold)	Dollars per pip	50 pips
0.01	1,000	1	$0.10	$5
0.03	3,000	3	$0.30	$15
0.05	5,000	5	$0.50	$25
0.1	10,000	10	$1	$50
0.3	30,000	30	$3	$150
0.5	50,000	50	$5	$250
1	100,000	100	$10	$500
10	1,000,000	1,000	$100	$5,000
100	10,000,000	10,000	$1,000	$50,000

A 100-lot position is an institutional size. Figures are arithmetic, not a forecast, and a loss at these sizes scales the same way as a gain.

What 0.01, 0.1 and 1 lot are worth in dollars per pip

One lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, so 1 lot equals 100,000 euros on EUR/USD and 100 ounces on gold. The table shows the dollar value of one pip at each size, using the usual pip definitions (0.0001 on EUR/USD, 0.1 on gold with a 100-ounce contract).

Lot size	EUR/USD per pip	XAU/USD per pip	100 pips EUR/USD	100 pips XAU/USD
1	$10	$10	$1,000	$1,000
0.1	$1	$1	$100	$100
0.01	$0.10	$0.10	$10	$10

Other sizes scale the same way. Per pip, 0.04 lot is $0.40, 0.08 lot is $0.80 and 0.3 lot is $3. A 1,000-pip move on 0.01 lot is $100 on EUR/USD. On gold, 1,000 pips of 0.1 is a $100 price move, which is also $100 on 0.01 lot (one ounce). If your platform counts 0.01 as a gold pip, 1,000 pips is only a $10 price move and $10 on 0.01 lot. Check the symbol specification before you rely on a pip count.

Lot size for gold and indices

The formula does not change. Only the value of one pip or point per lot does.

Gold (XAU/USD). With a 100-ounce contract, 1 lot moves $10 for every 0.1 move ($1.00 in price is $100 per lot). Example: a $1,000 account risking 2% ($20) with a stop $5.00 away (50 pips of 0.1): $20 ÷ (50 × $10) = 0.04 lot. Some platforms quote gold pips as 0.01, which changes the pip count but not the dollar result.

US30 and other index CFDs. Brokers set a different value per point per lot. Find it in the contract specification, then use: lot size = risk in dollars ÷ (stop in points × value per point per lot). If the specification says $1 per point per lot and you risk $30 with a 100-point stop, the size is $30 ÷ (100 × $1) = 0.3 lot. With a $10-per-point contract the same risk allows 0.03 lot.

MT4 and MT5 users. The calculator works with any platform. Use the pip value from your symbol’s specification if your broker’s contract size differs from the standard 100,000 units.

Why size positions by risk?

Most traders who blow up an account don’t do it with a bad strategy. They do it with position sizes that are too large for the stop they’re using. Sizing from risk flips the process:

1. Decide where the trade is wrong, which is where your stop loss goes.
2. Decide how much you can lose if it is wrong.
3. Let the lot size follow from those two numbers.

A wider stop means a smaller position. A tighter stop allows a larger one. The dollar risk stays the same.

How much should you risk per trade?

There is no single right number, but common guidelines are:

Risk per trade	Losing streak to lose 20% of the account
0.5%	about 45 trades
1%	about 22 trades
2%	about 11 trades
5%	about 5 trades

Even a strategy that wins often will hit losing streaks. Beginners usually do best at 0.5–1%.

Small accounts and the 0.01 lot minimum

Most brokers’ smallest trade is 0.01 lot (a micro lot), worth about $0.10 per pip on EUR/USD. With $100 and a 1% risk rule, you can afford a stop of only 10 pips at that size. That’s why cent accounts exist: they let you trade 1/100th of a micro lot, so small balances can still follow sensible risk rules. See how this works on the Exness Standard Cent account.

Using the calculator with an Exness account

The calculator uses standard lots, which is what Exness Standard, Pro, Raw Spread and Zero accounts trade. Exness lists a forex lot as 100,000 units of the base currency and an XAUUSD lot as 100 troy ounces, with a minimum of 0.01 lot. So the result above can be typed straight into the order window on those accounts.

The Standard Cent account is different. Exness defines 1 cent lot = 0.01 standard lot (1,000 USD), its symbols carry a “c” suffix (EURUSDc, XAUUSDc), and the balance is shown in US cents (USC). To convert:

Calculator result (standard lots)	Exness Standard, Pro, Raw, Zero	Exness Standard Cent
0.50	0.50 lot	50 cent lots
0.05	0.05 lot	5 cent lots
0.01	0.01 lot	1 cent lot
0.003	not possible (below 0.01)	0.30 cent lot

Enter your balance in dollars, not cents: 10,000 USC is $100. One cent lot on EURUSDc is worth about $0.10 per pip, which the platform shows as 10 USC. On XAUUSDc, 1 cent lot is 1 ounce, so a $1 move in gold is $1 (100 USC).

Example: a $100 Standard Cent account risking 1% ($1) with a 20-pip stop on EURUSDc. The calculator gives 0.005 lot, which is 0.5 cent lot. On a Standard account that trade is impossible at 1% risk, because 0.01 lot would risk $2. Exness changes its conditions from time to time, so open the symbol specification in your terminal before trading. More detail is in our Exness review and Exness minimum deposit guide. For gold specifically, see the gold pip calculator.

Before you place the trade

• Check the spread. It is paid when the trade opens, so a 2-pip spread makes a 20-pip stop effectively 22 pips.
• Check margin. Make sure you have enough free margin for the position with the margin calculator.
• Remember slippage. In fast markets a stop can fill beyond its level, so the real loss may be larger than planned.

Want the value of a single pip instead? Use the pip calculator.