Risk/Reward Calculator
Three prices — entry, stop, target — turn into the ratio the trade offers and the win rate it silently demands. Works for longs and shorts.
Settings
Keyboard shortcuts
| Tab / Shift+Tab | Next / previous field |
| ↑ / ↓ | Step a value by 1 (Shift: 10, Alt: 0.1) |
| Enter | Copy the primary result |
| [ / ] | Fewer / more decimal places (percent) |
| Esc | Clear the field |
The risk/reward formulas
Two subtractions and a division:
risk = |entry − stop| · reward = |target − entry| · ratio = reward ÷ risk
The worked example risks $2 (50 → 48) for a $6 move (50 → 56): 3:1. The companion number
is the one traders skip — the break-even win rate,
risk ÷ (risk + reward). It converts the ratio into the claim you're making
about the future: a 3:1 trade breaks even at a 25% hit rate, so taking it says "I believe
this target is reached at least one time in four." Said out loud, some trades stop
looking clever.
The two tools pair deliberately: this page decides whether the trade is worth taking; the position size calculator decides how big it may be. Same three prices, two different questions. And both quietly assume the stop actually limits the loss — gaps and fees blur that edge, which is why the break-even page exists.
Longs, shorts, and the sanity check
For a short, entry sits below the stop and above the target — the calculator only requires that stop and target bracket the entry from opposite sides. If both land on the same side it declines to answer rather than serving a nonsense ratio; the usual cause is swapped fields, caught in one glance at the muted note.
Risk/reward FAQ
How is the risk/reward ratio calculated?
Risk is the distance from entry to stop; reward is the distance from entry to target. The ratio is reward ÷ risk. Entering at $50 with a stop at $48 and a target at $56 risks $2 to make $6 — a 3:1 ratio, often written "3R". Prices, not percentages: the ratio is the same for 10 shares or 10,000.
What is the break-even win rate?
The fraction of trades that must win for the strategy to net zero: risk ÷ (risk + reward). At 3:1 that's 2 ÷ 8 = 25% — you can be wrong three times out of four and still break even, before costs. At 1:1 you need 50%, and at 1:3 (risking three to make one) you must win 75% of the time just to tread water.
What is a good risk/reward ratio?
Mathematically, none is "good" alone — a ratio only means something next to how often the target is actually reached. 3:1 with targets hit 20% of the time loses money; 1:1 hit 60% of the time makes it. What the ratio does honestly is set the win rate you're implicitly claiming; this calculator states it so you can judge the claim. Nothing here is a recommendation.
Why does it complain when my stop and target are on the same side?
A long trade needs the stop below entry and the target above (a short mirrors it). Both on one side means one of the orders can never do its job — hit the "target" and your stop is still live below, or the trade can only lose. The sanity check catches swapped fields before they produce a confident-looking nonsense ratio.