Use this free position size calculator (also called a forex position size calculator or risk calculator) to work out exactly how large your next trade should be — based on your account balance, the percentage you're willing to risk, your entry price, and your stop-loss price. Works for any forex pair including XAUUSD gold, EURUSD, and GBPUSD. Correct forex position sizing is the single biggest factor separating consistent traders from blown accounts.
Position Size Calculator is part of the free Aurex Trader calculator suite — 23 browser-based tools for gold (XAUUSD) and forex traders. Nothing is installed, no account is required, and every calculation runs locally in your browser.
Formula: Position Size = (Account Balance × Risk %) ÷ |Entry Price − Stop Loss Price| Example: $10,000 balance × 1% risk = $100 risk. Entry 2,000 − Stop 1,990 = 10 point distance. $100 ÷ 10 = 10 units per point.
A position size calculator tells you exactly how many units, lots, or contracts to trade so that if your stop loss is hit, you only lose a pre-defined percentage of your account. It removes the guesswork from risk management.
Most professional traders risk between 0.5% and 2% of their account per trade. New traders should stay closer to 0.5%–1% while building consistency. Risking more than 2% per trade dramatically increases drawdown risk during a normal losing streak.
Yes — enter your gold entry and stop-loss prices normally. For a gold-specific lot-size output (in MT5 lots), use our XAUUSD Lot Size Calculator instead.
Position size is expressed in units of the instrument; lot size is a broker-specific standardised unit (1 standard lot = 100,000 units of the base currency for FX pairs). Both control your exposure — this calculator gives units; our Lot Size Calculator converts to lots.
Position sizing is what turns a good strategy into a survivable one. Even a 60%-win-rate system can blow an account if position sizes are too big during an inevitable losing streak. Fixed-percent risk sizing keeps losses recoverable.