Enter your entry, stop loss, and target prices. The calculator returns your R:R ratio and the minimum win rate you need to break even at that ratio. Use this for every trade — it filters out the unprofitable setups before you click.
Risk/reward ratio is the single most important number on any trade idea. It's the comparison between how much you can lose if the trade fails versus how much you can gain if it works. A 1:2 R:R means risking $1 to make $2. A 1:3 means risking $1 to make $3. The higher your R:R, the lower your required win rate to be profitable — which is why pro traders obsess over it: a system with bad R:R needs to be right almost all the time, and nothing is right almost all the time.
| R:R | Break-even win rate | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| 1 : 0.5 | 66.7% | Very hard |
| 1 : 1 | 50.0% | Coin flip — fragile |
| 1 : 1.5 | 40.0% | Marginal |
| 1 : 2 | 33.3% | Standard pro target |
| 1 : 3 | 25.0% | Strong |
| 1 : 4 | 20.0% | Trend-following territory |
| 1 : 5+ | ≤16.7% | Asymmetric / runners |
Compare this with your actual historical win rate (from your trade journal). If your win rate is 45% and you take 1:1 trades, you're a losing trader. If your win rate is 45% and you take 1:2 trades, you're profitable.
The relationship between potential loss and potential gain. 1:2 R:R = risk $1 to make $2. Higher R:R lets you win fewer trades and still be profitable.
1:2 or higher. 1:2 needs only 34% win rate to break even. 1:3 needs only 25%. Below 1:1 requires 67%+ win rate, unsustainable for most.
|target − entry| / |entry − stop|. The calculator above does this for you.
1 / (1 + R:R). Minimum win % to not lose money at a given R:R. At 1:2, break-even = 33.3%.
Almost never. Trades with R:R below 1:1 need extraordinary win rate. The discipline of waiting for 1:2+ setups is one of the strongest profitability filters.