What this calculator answers
This is a forex pip value calculator. It tells you how much money one pip of price movement is worth on your position. The word pip here is the forex unit of price movement, not the UK benefit that shares the abbreviation.
You choose the lot type and the number of lots, the pip size, and how your account currency relates to the pair. The calculator returns the pip value in your account currency, the pip value for one standard lot, the position size in units, and the pip value in the quote currency. If you enter a number of pips under Advanced options, it also returns the value of that many pips.
What a pip is and how lots are counted
A pip is the usual smallest step in a forex price. For most pairs it is 0.0001, the fourth decimal place. For pairs where the Japanese yen is the second currency, such as USD/JPY, it is 0.01.
Positions are counted in lots. A standard lot is 100,000 units of the first currency in the pair, a mini lot is 10,000 units and a micro lot is 1,000 units. For another size, choose the custom option and type the units.
The formula
The units U are the number of lots L times the units in one lot S. The pip value in the quote currency Q is the units times the pip size s. To get the pip value in your account currency V, the calculator then looks at how your account relates to the pair. If your account is in the quote currency, the second one in the pair, V equals Q. If your account is in the base currency, the first one, V is Q divided by the pair price E. If your account is in another currency, V is Q times the rate K, which is how much of your account currency one unit of the quote currency is worth. The pip value per standard lot W is the same calculation for 100,000 units, and the value of n pips, T, is n times V.
U = L × S, Q = U × s, V = Q (quote) or Q / E (base) or Q × K (another), W = 100,000 × s converted the same way, T = n × V
Worked examples
EUR/USD, one standard lot, a US dollar account. The account is in the quote currency, so no conversion is needed. The position is 100,000 units. One pip of 0.0001 on 100,000 units is worth 10 US dollars, shown as $10.00. The pip value per standard lot is also $10.00.
USD/JPY at 150, one standard lot, a US dollar account. The pip is 0.01, so one pip on 100,000 units is 1,000 in the quote currency, which here is yen. The account is in the base currency, so that amount is divided by the pair price of 150. The pip is worth $6.67, and so is a pip on one standard lot.
A euro account trading GBP/USD, one standard lot, 25 pips. The quote currency is the US dollar and the account is in another currency, so you need a rate. Say one dollar buys 0.92 euros. The pip is worth 10 US dollars, and times 0.92 that is $9.20 with the site’s currency set to dollars. Twenty-five pips are worth $230.00. The position is 100,000 units.
The figures are shown in the site’s currency setting, which the calculator takes to be your account currency. A euro account would set the site to euro to see the euro sign instead of the dollar sign. The setting changes only the symbol. The rate you type does the conversion.
Using the result with position size
The position size calculator asks for a pip value per standard lot. This page works out that number for your pair and account, and you can type it into the pip value field there.
What the result does not include
The pair price and the rate are numbers you type. They are not live quotes, and a price that has moved since you typed it changes the answer. Brokers round pip values in their own way, and some quote fractional pips, so your platform can differ in the last decimals.
Spreads, commission and swap charges are not included, so the pip value is not the cost or the profit of a trade. It is only the money value of one pip of movement on the position you describe. The result is arithmetic on the numbers you enter. It is not a forecast and not a suggestion to buy or sell anything.
FAQ
Why is the pip value different for USD/JPY?
The pip for a yen pair is 0.01 and the profit is counted in yen. To get the value in your account currency, the yen amount is converted back using the pair price, so the result depends on where the pair is trading.
What rate do I enter for another currency?
Enter how much of your account currency one unit of the quote currency buys. If the quote currency is the US dollar, your account is in euros and one dollar buys 0.92 euros, enter 0.92.
Is a pip the same as a pipette or a point?
No. A fractional pip, sometimes called a pipette, is a tenth of a pip. This calculator counts whole pips, and its pip size field holds the full pip, 0.0001 or 0.01.
Does the calculator use live exchange rates?
No. The pair price and the rate are numbers you type, so they are as current as you make them.