Forex Margin Calculator
Find the exact margin any trade locks up. Pick a pair, enter lot size and leverage. See what percent of your account is tied up and how many more lots you can still open.
Input
For limit orders, override with your target entry price.
Result
Required Margin
2.2% of account$1,085.00
Notional Value
$108,500
Free Margin
$48,915
Margin Level
4,608%
Max Lots Possible
46.08
Margin at 1:100 Leverage (EUR/USD)
Prop Firm Tip
Low margin usage gives you flexibility to add positions or scale in. At 1:100 leverage on a $50K Two-Phase account, each standard lot of EUR/USD requires only ~$1,085 in margin (double that on 1:50 One-Phase).
What Is Margin in Forex?
Margin is the deposit an account sets aside to hold a position open. It is not a cost or a fee, and it is not the amount you can lose. It is capital that becomes unavailable for other trades while the position runs, and is released when it closes. Leverage decides how much is required: the higher the leverage, the smaller the share of the position's full value that has to be committed.
How Required Margin Is Calculated
Margin follows directly from the position's notional value and the leverage applied to it.
Required margin = (Lot size x Contract size x Price) / Leverage
One standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.1000 has a notional value of 110,000. At 1:100 leverage the required margin is 1,100; at 1:30 it is 3,667. Nothing about the trade's risk changed between those two figures. Only the amount of capital locked up while it runs did.
Margin Is Not Risk
This is the distinction that costs accounts. Margin is what you must post to open a position; risk is what you lose if price reaches your stop. A trade can require 1,100 of margin and risk 300, or require 1,100 and risk 5,000. Higher leverage reduces the first number and leaves the second untouched, which is why treating available margin as a sizing guide leads to positions far larger than the account can absorb.
Margin Level and Free Margin
Free margin is equity minus the margin currently committed, so it is what remains available to open further positions or absorb an adverse move. Margin level is equity divided by used margin, expressed as a percentage, and it falls as open positions move against you. Platforms act on that percentage, but on an evaluation account a loss limit is normally reached well before any margin threshold is.
Margin on a Challenge Account
On a FundedFast challenge or funded account, both of which are simulated trading accounts, the maximum daily loss is 5% of your starting balance and the maximum total loss is 10% of your starting balance, raised to 20% where the drawdown add-on was purchased on an eligible account. Those limits bind long before margin does. A position sized to consume most of the available margin would breach the daily loss limit on a routine adverse move, so margin availability is not a useful guide to how large a position should be.
This section is educational information about how margin and leverage work on a simulated evaluation account. It is not financial advice and not a recommendation to trade at any leverage or size.
Forex Margin FAQ
What is required margin?
The deposit set aside to open and hold a position. It equals the position's notional value divided by the leverage applied. It is returned when the position closes and is not a fee.
How does leverage affect margin?
Inversely. Doubling leverage halves the margin required for the same position. At 1:100 a standard lot of EUR/USD near 1.1000 needs about 1,100; at 1:30 the same position needs about 3,667. The position, and its risk, are identical in both cases.
Is margin the same as risk?
No, and conflating them is a common way to oversize. Margin is what is posted to open the trade; risk is what is lost if the stop is hit. Leverage changes the first and leaves the second unchanged.
What is free margin?
Equity minus the margin currently committed to open positions. It is what remains available to open further positions or to absorb an adverse move before margin becomes constrained.
What is a margin call?
The point at which a platform requires more equity or begins closing positions because margin level has fallen too far. On an evaluation account this is largely academic: a 5% daily loss limit is normally breached well before margin level approaches a call.
How much margin do I need for one lot?
Notional value divided by leverage. For one standard lot of EUR/USD at 1.1000 that is 110,000 divided by your leverage, so 1,100 at 1:100 or 3,667 at 1:30. The calculator above does this for any pair and lot size.
Does higher leverage mean higher risk?
Not directly. Leverage sets how much capital a position ties up, not how much it loses. It raises risk indirectly, by making larger positions possible on the same balance. The position size you choose is what determines risk, not the leverage available to you.
Is this margin calculator free?
Yes. It is free and does not require an account. Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere; the calculation runs entirely in your browser.