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Risk & Position Size Calculator

Lot size, contracts, actual risk and risk-to-reward from your balance and stop distance. Correct pip and point values for forex, gold, NQ and ES — not a one-size-fits-all guess.

Instant5 instrument typesFree, no sign-up
In your account currency
1% or less is the usual guidance
Sets the pip or point value
In pips
In pips — for the R:R figure

Position size is arithmetic, not a view on the trade. It tells you what the market can take from you if you are wrong. See ICT position sizing for how this fits the models.

Position size is the only part of a trade you control completely. The entry might not fill, the target might not be reached, the setup might fail outright — but the amount at stake is decided before any of that, by arithmetic, and it is the same arithmetic every time.

Why this matters more in ICT than elsewhere

The intraday ICT models are selective by design. They decline on consolidation days, they decline when the daily bias is unclear, and they decline when the window passes without displacement. The edge, if there is one, comes from a long sequence of qualified setups rather than from any individual trade.

A sequence only survives if no single loss is large enough to change how you trade the next one. That is the real argument for fixed fractional risk, and it is a behavioural argument rather than a mathematical one. At 1% risk a four-loss run costs about 4% and you will take the fifth setup normally. At 5% risk the same run costs about 19%, and almost nobody takes the fifth setup normally after that.

The instrument selector is not cosmetic

Generic calculators get gold and index futures wrong because they assume forex conventions apply everywhere. They do not:

InstrumentMeasured inValue per unit
EUR/USD, GBP/USDPips (0.0001)≈ $10 per pip per standard lot
USD/JPYPips (0.01)≈ $9.1 per pip per standard lot, varies with rate
XAU/USD (gold)Pips (0.10)≈ $10 per pip per standard lot
NQ futuresPoints$20 per point per contract
ES futuresPoints$50 per point per contract

The calculator rounds down rather than up, so the figure it gives you always risks slightly less than your stated percentage rather than slightly more. On futures it rounds to whole contracts, which on a small account sometimes returns zero — that is a real answer, not a bug. It means the stop is too wide for the account at that risk level.

Ratio is an output, not an input

The risk-to-reward figure exists to tell you whether a setup is worth taking, and it should be read after the levels are decided rather than used to choose them. Where the stop belongs is a structural question: beyond the swing that invalidates the idea, with a buffer for the wick. Where the target belongs is also structural: the next pool of liquidity in the direction of the trade.

If those two facts produce a poor ratio, the conclusion is that the entry is late or the target is close, and the trade is probably not there. Tightening the stop to improve the number does not make the trade better, it makes it more likely to be stopped out by noise before the idea has a chance to work.

ICT Position SizingHow sizing fits the ICT models, with worked examples ICT Risk ManagementStops, targets and the rules around them ICT LiquidityWhere the structural targets actually come from ICT on a Small AccountWhat each account size can actually trade ICT for Prop Firm ChallengesSizing under drawdown limits OTE CalculatorGet the entry and stop levels first The ICT 2022 ModelThe model these numbers are usually sizing

Frequently asked questions

How much should I risk per ICT trade?
Most ICT material points at 1% or less of the account per trade, and 0.5% is common among traders running the intraday models. The reasoning is that these setups decline on many days, so the edge comes from a long sequence of trades rather than any single one, and a sequence only survives if no individual loss is large enough to matter.
How do I calculate lot size from a stop in pips?
Risk amount divided by (stop distance in pips multiplied by pip value per lot). If you risk 100 dollars with a 20 pip stop on a pair where a standard lot moves 10 dollars per pip, that is 100 divided by 200, which is 0.5 lots. The calculator above does this for you and handles the pip value differences between pairs, gold and indices.
What is a pip on gold and on the Nasdaq?
Conventions differ, which is why generic calculators get these wrong. On XAU/USD a pip is normally treated as 0.10 with a standard lot worth about 10 dollars per pip. On index futures you are working in points and contracts rather than pips and lots: NQ is 20 dollars per point per contract and ES is 50 dollars per point per contract. Select the instrument type above and the calculator uses the right convention.
What risk-to-reward should an ICT setup have?
The models generally aim for a first target at internal range liquidity and a second at external range liquidity, which tends to produce something in the 3:1 to 5:1 region on the first target when the setup is clean. If a setup only offers 1:1 to the nearest logical target, the usual conclusion is that the entry is too late or the target is too close rather than that the trade should be taken anyway.
Does a good risk-to-reward ratio make a trade valid?
No, and reversing that order is a common mistake. Ratio is an output of where the level and the invalidation actually sit, not an input you choose. Moving a stop closer to manufacture a better ratio does not improve the trade, it just makes the stop more likely to be hit by noise.
Should position size change with confidence?
Varying size by conviction is how a good month turns into a bad one, because conviction is highest exactly when a run of wins has made you least objective. Fixed fractional risk on every trade removes the decision. If a setup genuinely does not deserve full size, the more consistent answer is usually not to take it.