How do you calculate position size from risk?

Position size is the amount you risk per trade divided by your stop distance per unit. Set the dollars you are willing to lose (account balance times risk percent), then divide by the difference between your entry and stop-loss price. The result is how many units you can hold so that hitting your stop loses exactly your planned risk.

How much should I risk per trade?

The common guideline is 0.5% to 2% of your account per trade, with 1% treated as the standard. Risking 1% means a string of losing trades barely dents your account while winners still compound. On a funded account, most traders keep per-trade risk conservative to protect the drawdown buffer.

How do I convert position size to lots in forex?

One standard forex lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, a mini lot is 10,000, and a micro lot is 1,000. Divide your position size in units by those figures to get lots. Selecting the Forex asset class shows standard, mini, and micro lots automatically.

What leverage do I need for a position?

The leverage required to hold a position is its notional value divided by your account balance. A position with a notional value of $20,000 on a $10,000 account needs 2x leverage. The calculator shows this so you can check it against your broker or prop firm limits.

Does position sizing work differently on a funded account?

The math is the same, but the constraint changes. Many prop firms cap your risk per trade or maximum lot size, which stops you deploying the recommended size. Velotrade has no maximum risk per trade and no lot-size cap, so your sizing limits are the leverage available on each instrument, the daily loss limit and the static drawdown.

Is this position size calculator free?

Yes. It is a free tool for crypto, forex, and stock traders with no sign-up required. Enter your account balance, risk percentage, entry, and stop-loss to get your position size, notional value, lot breakdown, and the leverage needed to hold it.

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Free ToolUpdated September 29, 2026

Position Size Calculator

Work out exactly how big a position to take on any crypto, forex, or stock trade, sized to the risk you set. Get units, notional value, lot breakdown, and the leverage needed to hold it.

Asset Class

Account Balance

Risk Per Trade

Risking $100 on this trade

Entry Price

Stop-Loss Price

Stop distance1,200 · 2%

Position size

0.0833 units

Notional value $5,000

Risk amount

$100

1% of balance

Leverage to hold

0.5x

notional ÷ balance

On a Velotrade funded account there is no maximum risk per trade and no lot-size cap, so you can deploy the full size above, within the instrument's leverage limit, your daily loss limit and the static drawdown. See how funded-account leverage works.

Trade this size on a $10K evaluation· $100

One-time fee · Static drawdown · No time limit

Next: Drawdown calculatorSee your floor, daily budget and how many losing trades you can take.Next: Pass calculatorYour odds of passing from win rate, reward to risk and risk per trade.

How to use this calculator

Set your account and risk

Enter your account balance and choose how much of it to risk on the trade. One percent is the standard starting point for most traders.

Enter your prices

Add your planned entry price and your stop-loss. The distance between them decides how many units your risk budget can support.

Read your size

The calculator returns your position size in units, its notional value, the forex lot breakdown, and the leverage you need to hold it.

What these numbers mean

Position size: The number of units to trade so that hitting your stop-loss costs exactly your planned risk. It is risk amount divided by the distance from entry to stop.

Notional value: The full market value of the position (units times entry price). This is your real exposure, and it is what leverage is applied to, not your account balance.

Risk amount: The dollars you lose if the trade hits your stop. It equals your account balance times your risk percentage, and it stays fixed no matter how far away the stop is.

Forex lots: A standard lot is 100,000 units, a mini lot 10,000, and a micro lot 1,000. The calculator converts your position size into all three so you can place the order in the units your platform expects.

Leverage to hold: Notional value divided by account balance. It tells you how much leverage a position requires, which you can check against your broker or prop firm limits before placing it.

Risk per trade: The percentage of your account you are willing to lose on a single trade. Keeping it small (0.5% to 2%) is what lets a strategy survive losing streaks and protects a funded account drawdown.

The position size formula, with examples

Every position size calculation comes down to one line:

Position size = (Account balance × Risk %) ÷ (Entry price − Stop-loss price)

The top half is your risk amount in dollars. The bottom half is how much you lose per unit if the stop is hit. Divide one by the other and you get the number of units that makes a stopped-out trade cost exactly what you planned. The three examples below all use a $10,000 account risking 1%, so the risk amount is $100 each time.

Forex: EURUSD

Long EURUSD at 1.0850 with a stop at 1.0820, a 30 pip stop (0.0030).
Position size = $100 ÷ 0.0030 = 33,333 units, which is 0.33 standard lots (3.3 mini lots, 33 micro lots).
Check: one standard lot of EURUSD moves $10 per pip, so 0.33 lots moves about $3.33 per pip. Thirty pips × $3.33 = $100.
Notional value is 33,333 × 1.0850 = about $36,170, so the trade needs roughly 3.6x leverage.

Crypto: BTC

Long BTC at $60,000 with a stop at $58,800, a $1,200 stop distance.
Position size = $100 ÷ $1,200 = 0.0833 BTC.
Notional value is 0.0833 × $60,000 = $5,000, so the trade needs only 0.5x leverage. Wide crypto stops usually mean small positions.

Stocks: TSLA

Long TSLA at $250 with a stop at $240, a $10 stop distance.
Position size = $100 ÷ $10 = 10 shares.
Notional value is 10 × $250 = $2,500, which needs 0.25x leverage.

Notice that the risk is $100 in every case, but the position sizes are completely different. That is the point of sizing from your stop: the market and the stop distance decide the size, and your risk stays constant. On a funded account, also check that the leverage needed stays within the limit for that instrument. At Velotrade that is up to 50x on forex majors, 10x on BTC and 5x on single stocks during the challenge; the full list is on the instruments page.

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Frequently asked questions

Common questions about position sizing, risk per trade, lots, and leverage.

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