Stop Loss Calculator

Choose how far you are willing to let it go and get the stop price. Add your position size to see what that costs, and a target to see whether the trade is worth taking at all. Runs in your browser.

Distance first, then size

A stop belongs where the idea is wrong — below the structure you are trading, not at a round number that happens to equal the loss you fancy. Decide that distance from the chart, then let the position size shrink or grow to keep the money at risk constant. Doing it the other way round produces stops placed at whatever depth makes the position you already wanted feel affordable, which is how stops end up inside the noise.

Percentage stops and volatility

A 4% stop on Bitcoin and a 4% stop on a small-cap altcoin are not the same decision. The altcoin can travel 4% while nothing is happening, so the stop is inside its ordinary range and will be taken out by noise rather than by being wrong. If you use percentage stops, scale the percentage to the pair's daily range instead of using one number everywhere.

Questions people ask

Because a stop and a target together define whether the trade can pay. At 3:1 you need to be right a quarter of the time; at 1:2 you need two thirds. Seeing that number next to the stop is the quickest way to notice that a tight target and a wide stop is a bet you will struggle to win often enough. The full version is on the risk/reward calculator.

Not necessarily. A stop-market order becomes a market order when triggered, so in a fast move it fills below your level — sometimes well below. A stop-limit will not fill at all if price gaps past the limit, which leaves the position open in exactly the conditions you wanted out of. Treat the number here as the trigger, not a guarantee of the exit.

The stop price does not change with leverage — only what it costs you does. What leverage changes is how much room you have before the exchange closes the position for you, so check that the stop sits comfortably before the liquidation price. If it does not, the position is too large for the account.

Other calculators

Position size calculator How much to buy for a fixed risk Risk/reward calculator The ratio, and the win rate it needs Crypto profit calculator Profit, ROI and fees on a closed trade

All nine calculators, or — working the numbers out afterwards is one thing, watching them move is another. TabChart is a free native Windows app that streams live charts straight from 7 exchanges, with no account and no API keys.