Forex & Gold Position Size Calculator
The right lot size for your stop-loss and risk limit, in any account currency.
Account and risk
The trade
Stop-loss as
Position size
0.20 lots
20 oz
Money at risk
100 USD
1.00% of the balance
Stop distance
500 pips
One pip, this size
0.2 USD
1 USD per standard lot
Lots are rounded down to the nearest 0.01, so the money at risk can only come out at or under your limit. Margin needed at 100:1 is 400 USD. Leverage here is a ceiling you set — it caps how big a position can be, and never changes what the stop costs. For a full strategy backtest, see TradeLens.
Private by design. This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your input is processed on your own device and is not uploaded by DO101.
About the Forex & Gold Position Size Calculator
Enter your account balance, how much of it you are willing to lose on one trade, and where your stop-loss goes, and get the position size in lots that keeps the loss at exactly that limit. Works for gold (XAU/USD), silver and the major forex pairs, converts pip values into any account currency — including the cross pairs most calculators get wrong — and rounds down to whole 0.01 lots so the real risk can only come in under your limit. Leverage is treated as a ceiling you set, never a recommendation.
How to use it
- 1Choose your account currency and enter your balance and the percentage you will risk.
- 2Pick the instrument and enter your entry price.
- 3Enter the stop-loss as a distance in pips or as a price.
- 4Read the lot size, the money at risk and what one pip is worth at that size.
- 5For cross pairs, check the conversion rate — the ECB rate is filled in and you can type your broker's.
What you get
- Lot size from stop distance and risk percentage
- Gold, silver and 12 major and cross forex pairs
- Pip values converted into 31 account currencies, cross pairs included
- Stop-loss by pips or by price
- Rounds down to 0.01 lots so risk never exceeds your limit
- Warns when leverage, not your risk limit, caps the size
- Calculated in your browser — nothing is sent anywhere
Step-by-step guides
Frequently asked questions
How is position size calculated?
Money at risk ÷ (stop distance × value of one pip per lot). With a $10,000 account risking 1%, you can lose $100; on gold, a 500-pip ($5) stop costs $500 per standard lot, so the size is 100 ÷ 500 = 0.20 lots.
What does one pip mean on gold?
On XAU/USD a pip is usually $0.01 and a standard lot is 100 ounces, so one pip is worth $1 per lot and a $1 move in price is $100 per lot. Brokers differ, so check your platform's contract size — the calculator uses the common retail values.
Why do I need a conversion rate for some pairs?
A pip is worth a fixed amount of the pair's quote currency. If that is not your account currency — EUR/GBP for a dollar account, say — it has to be converted. The calculator fills in the ECB reference rate automatically, and you can type your broker's rate instead.
What leverage should I use?
This calculator will not suggest one, because the right answer depends on your circumstances. Leverage never changes what your stop costs — the position size does — but it caps how big a position you are allowed to hold, and higher leverage means a smaller adverse move can wipe out the account.
Why is the lot size rounded down?
Brokers trade in steps, usually 0.01 lots. Rounding down means the actual risk can only come out slightly under your limit, never over it. If the correct size is below 0.01, the calculator says so rather than rounding up past your limit.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you enter. It does not know your circumstances and does not suggest trades.
Keep going
People who use this tool usually reach for these next.
What one pip is worth on any forex pair or gold, in your own currency.
Test a gold or forex strategy against real history before you risk a penny on it.
Convert between 31 currencies at today's ECB reference rate, with history.
See what savings grow to with monthly deposits, year by year.