Change ACCOUNT CURRENCY and CURRENCY PAIR
A Margin Calculator tells you exactly how much of your account balance will be locked up as collateral when you open a trade — before you commit to it.
What inputs does it need?
- Currency pair — e.g. EUR/USD, GBP/JPY
- Lot size — how many lots you’re trading
- Leverage — your broker’s leverage ratio (e.g. 1:100, 1:500)
- Account currency — to show the result in your currency
- Opening price — current market price of the pair
What does it calculate?
Required Margin = (Lot size × Contract size × Opening price) ÷ Leverage
Example with 1 standard lot on EUR/USD at 1.0850, leverage 1:100:
- (1 × 100,000 × 1.0850) ÷ 100 = $1,085 required margin
Why is it useful?
- You know exactly how much capital gets locked up per trade
- Prevents you from accidentally over-committing and triggering a margin call
- Helps you plan how many positions you can hold simultaneously
- Shows the real cost of high leverage — more trades, more margin consumed
Key concepts it helps you understand:
- Used margin — what’s currently locked across all open trades
- Free margin — what’s left available to open new trades
- Margin level — the ratio of equity to used margin; brokers typically issue margin calls below 100%
- Margin call — when your free margin runs out and the broker starts closing your positions
How it connects to other calculators: Margin and Leverage go hand in hand — the Leverage Calculator shows you the other side of the same coin. Together they help you understand how much firepower you have and how much of your account is at risk of a forced close-out.