Pip value calculator
This pip calculator tells you how much money a one-pip move is worth on your position, in US dollars. Knowing that number before a trade is the difference between choosing your risk and discovering it afterwards.
The pip calculator formula
Units per lot are 100,000 for currency pairs and 100 ounces for gold. The pip size is 0.0001 for most pairs, 0.01 for yen pairs, and the calculator treats $0.01 as the pip on gold. The last term converts the result into dollars: it is 1 when the dollar is the quote currency, 1 ÷ price when the dollar is the base currency, and a separate conversion rate for cross pairs, which is why an extra box appears when you choose one.
Worked examples
All prices below are illustrative.
- GBP/USD, 0.3 lots: 0.3 × 100,000 × 0.0001 × 1 = $3.00 per pip.
- USD/JPY at 150.00, 1 lot: 100,000 × 0.01 ÷ 150 = $6.67 per pip.
- EUR/GBP, 1 lot, with GBP/USD at 1.27: 100,000 × 0.0001 × 1.27 = $12.70 per pip.
- Gold (XAU/USD), 1 lot: 100 oz × $0.01 = $1.00 per pip, so a $10 move in the gold price, 1,000 pips at this definition, changes the position by $1,000.
Reading the result
Multiply the pip value by the number of pips between your entry and your stop-loss to see what the trade risks. On 0.3 lots of GBP/USD with a 40-pip stop, that is 40 × $3 = $120. If that figure is uncomfortable, the position is too large; the lot size calculator works backwards from the amount you are willing to lose.
Be aware that gold conventions differ: some platforms call a $0.10 move a pip, which makes each "pip" ten times larger than here. Always check the contract specification for the instrument you use. The calculator uses the price you type, not a live feed, and ignores spreads, commissions and swaps; see trading fees explained for those. For the concepts behind pips and lots, read how forex trading works.