Prop firm risk calculator
On a prop firm account, the right risk per trade is the most you can lose on each trade without a bad day or a bad week breaking the rules. Enter the account size, daily loss limit, maximum drawdown, how much of it you have already used, how many trades you take a day and the losing streak you want to survive, and this calculator gives you a safe risk per trade. Add your stop and the value of a point or pip, and it turns that into a number of contracts or lots.
What each limit allows per trade
The most you could risk per trade under each rule. The smaller one sets your safe risk.
Risk for different losing streaks
Planning for a longer streak means smaller trades. Size per trade uses your stop and point value.
| Losing streak | Risk per trade | % of account | Contracts or lots | Losses to hit daily limit |
|---|
How the safe risk is worked out
Two rules can end a prop firm account: the daily loss limit and the maximum drawdown. The calculator sizes trades so that neither can be broken by losses you should expect, then uses the smaller of the two.
Daily limit
All your trades for the day could lose.
by day = daily limit ÷ trades per day
Drawdown room
What is left of the maximum drawdown.
room = max drawdown − already used
Streak
The streak you choose must fit in the room.
by drawdown = room ÷ losing streak
Safe risk
The stricter of the two.
safe risk = min(by day, by drawdown)
Contracts or lots
What one contract loses at the stop, then rounded down.
size = safe risk ÷ (stop × point value)
Prop firm risk questions
How much should I risk per trade on a prop firm account?
Enough that your worst normal day and your worst normal losing streak both stay inside the rules. If the daily limit is $2,500 and you might take four trades in a day, risking more than about $600 a trade can end the account in one bad session. The calculator checks both limits and uses the stricter one.
What losing streak should I plan for?
Longer than you expect. With a 45 percent win rate, eight or more losses in a row is likely to happen at some point over a few hundred trades. Planning for at least 6 to 10 losses in a row is common practice.
Why should I use the room left rather than the full drawdown?
Because losses you have already taken have used part of it. If you are $1,800 into a $5,000 drawdown, a streak only needs to cost $3,200 to finish the account. The calculator sizes trades on what is actually left.
How do I turn risk into contracts or lots?
Divide the dollars you can risk by what one contract or lot loses if your stop is hit: stop distance times the value of one point or pip. A 10-point stop on a contract worth $50 a point risks $500 per contract.
Should risk change as the account grows?
With trailing drawdowns the room left can shrink as you make new highs, so risk may need to come down, not up. With static drawdowns, profits add to your room. Recalculate whenever your balance or breach level changes.
What about the profit target?
Smaller risk per trade means more trades to reach the target, so if there is a time limit you need a balance. Our prop firm challenge calculator simulates pass rates at different risk levels.