Margin Level Calculator
A margin level calculator shows your margin level, which is equity divided by used margin, times 100. With $700 of equity and $325.50 of margin in use, the margin level is 215%, well above an example 100% margin call level.
How do you calculate margin level?
Margin level = equity ÷ used margin × 100, the percentage that shows how much room your open positions have before a margin call. Equity is your balance plus or minus the profit or loss running on open positions. Used margin is the deposit your open positions tie up. MetaTrader 5 shows all three in the Trade tab.
Free margin is equity minus used margin. At a margin level of 100%, free margin is zero, so no new position can be opened.
Your broker sets two levels for your account. At the margin call level you can no longer open new positions. At the lower stop-out level the platform starts closing positions, usually the biggest loss first. For each level, the equity at which it is reached is used margin × level ÷ 100.
What is a worked example of margin level?
A $1,000 balance with a $300 floating loss and $325.50 of used margin gives a margin level of 215% and $374.50 of free margin. With a 100% margin call level, equity can fall another $374.50 before the margin call is reached.
- Equity: $1,000 − $300 = $700.
- Margin level: $700 ÷ $325.50 × 100 = 215%.
- Free margin: $700 − $325.50 = $374.50.
With example levels of 100% (margin call) and 50% (stop-out):
| Level | Equity at that level | Further fall in equity before it is reached |
|---|---|---|
| Margin call, 100% | $325.50 | $374.50 |
| Stop-out, 50% | $162.75 | $537.25 |
The 100% and 50% levels are examples only. Your broker sets its own levels, and they can differ by account type. How margin calls and stop-outs work is explained in the lesson Margin Call and Stop-Out.
What does each input mean?
The calculator needs your balance, the floating profit or loss on open positions and the used margin, the three figures MetaTrader 5 shows in the Trade tab. Your margin call and stop-out levels are optional; enter them from your account terms to see how far equity can fall before each.
- Account currency: the currency your account is held in.
- Balance: your account balance before open positions are counted.
- Floating profit or loss: the total running on your open positions. Enter a loss as a negative number.
- Used margin: the Margin figure in MetaTrader 5. The margin calculator works it out for a single position.
- Margin call level and stop-out level (%): from your own account's terms. They start blank, and the distances appear only when you enter them.
What are the assumptions and limits?
The result is the margin level for the figures you enter at one moment, and it changes as prices move and positions open or close. Spread and swap also reduce equity. To work out the margin a new position needs, use the margin calculator.
- The result is a snapshot. Used margin changes as prices move, and spread and swap also reduce equity.
- Prices can jump, for example after news or over a weekend, so equity can fall past the stop-out level before positions are closed.
- When positions are closed at a stop-out, the order and the prices are set by the platform and the market, not by this page.
- The calculator does not suggest any leverage or position size, and nothing you enter is stored.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good margin level?
There is no single good figure. The further your margin level is above your account's margin call level, the larger the loss your account can absorb before you hit it. Position size is what mainly decides how far that is.
What happens at a margin level of 100%?
Equity equals used margin, so free margin is zero. On an account with a 100% margin call level, you can no longer open new positions, but you can still close or reduce existing ones.
What is the difference between a margin call and a stop-out?
The margin call is a warning level: new positions are blocked. The stop-out is lower: the platform starts closing your positions, usually the one with the biggest loss first, until the margin level is back above it.
Why does my margin level change when I do nothing?
Because equity changes with every price move on your open positions. A position moving against you lowers equity and so lowers the margin level, even though you have not traded.
How can I keep my margin level high?
Trade smaller positions relative to your account, and close or reduce positions that are moving against you. The position size calculator works out a size from the amount you choose to risk.
Sources
- MetaQuotes, MetaTrader 5 Help: Executing Trades (accessed 20 October 2026): definitions of balance, equity, margin, free margin (equity − margin) and margin level (equity ÷ margin × 100); the account state line turns red in the Margin Call or Stop Out state, and with FIFO off a stop-out closes the position with the largest loss first. https://www.metatrader5.com/en/terminal/help/trading/performing_deals
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