How to use the forex margin calculator
- Choose the pair and your account currency.
- Enter the position size in lots. One standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency, the first currency in the pair.
- Choose your leverage. Use the setting your broker applies to this instrument. The list marks 1:30 and 1:50, the retail caps for major pairs in the EU/UK and the US, as examples; limits differ by country, broker and pair.
- Enter the current price of the pair. It values the position. If your account is in the base currency, the position value is simply the number of units and the field disappears.
- Enter a conversion price if asked. For a pair like EUR/GBP in a dollar account, the form asks for the GBP/USD price to turn pounds into dollars.
- Add your equity (optional) to see free margin, margin level, effective leverage and the largest position you could open.
How margin is calculated
Required margin = Position value ÷ Leverage
Margin % = 1 ÷ LeverageUnits per lot is 100,000 for currencies, 100 ounces for gold and 5,000 ounces for silver. The conversion rate turns the quote currency into your account currency; it is 1 when they are the same.
With your equity entered, the calculator adds the figures your platform shows on its account line:
Margin level = Equity ÷ Used margin × 100%
Effective leverage = Position value ÷ EquityEquity is your balance plus or minus the open profit or loss on all positions.
A worked example
You buy 1 lot of EUR/USD at 1.1 in a dollar account with leverage of 1:50.
The position is 100,000 euros, worth $110,000.00. At 2.00% margin, the broker sets aside $2,200.00.
With $10,000 of equity, you have $7,800.00 of free margin and a margin level of 455%. The position is 11.0× the size of your account, and the most you could open at this leverage is 4.54 lots.
Margin at different leverage settings
The table under the results compares every leverage setting. Some examples:
| Trade | Leverage | Position value | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 lot EUR/USD at 1.1000 | 1:50 | $110,000.00 | $2,200.00 |
| 1 lot EUR/USD at 1.1000 | 1:30 | $110,000.00 | $3,666.67 |
| 1 lot USD/JPY | 1:50 | $100,000.00 | $2,000.00 |
| 1 lot EUR/GBP, GBP/USD 1.27 | 1:30 | $107,950.00 | $3,598.33 |
| 0.1 lot gold at $2,500 | 1:20 | $25,000.00 | $1,250.00 |
USD/JPY needs no price at all in a dollar account: one lot is 100,000 dollars whatever the exchange rate, so the margin is fixed at $2,000.00 at 1:50.
Margin level, margin calls and stop-outs
Margin is not a cost: it is equity the broker locks while the trade is open. Losses come out of the free margin.
As a trade loses, equity falls and the margin level falls with it. Brokers set two thresholds: a margin call level, where you get a warning and usually cannot open new trades, and a stop-out level, where the platform closes positions, largest loss first, until the margin level recovers. These levels are broker-specific; 100% and 50% are common examples, so check your account terms.
Open 5 lots of EUR/USD on the same account and the required margin, $11,000.00, exceeds the $10,000 equity: the margin level would be 91% from the start, and most brokers would reject the order.
Effective leverage is the number to watch
The leverage setting only caps how large a position you may open. Effective leverage measures what you actually did. In the example, the position is 11.0× the account, so a move of about 9.1% against you would wipe out the entire balance, and a move of about 7.1% would use up the free margin, before any stop-out. Size positions from the loss you accept with our lot size calculator, then confirm the margin fits here.
What this calculator does not include
- Tiered margin. Many brokers raise the margin rate for very large positions or for weekends and major news events.
- Different rates per instrument. Minor pairs, exotics, metals and cryptocurrencies often carry lower leverage than majors at the same broker.
- Price changes. Some platforms recalculate margin as the price moves.