Futures margin and leverage calculator
“What does this futures position tie up, what is it actually controlling, and how many contracts could this account post margin for?”
Margin is a deposit, not a risk figure, and the gap between the two is where futures surprise people. This calculator separates them: what the broker holds, what the contract controls, and the leverage that ratio implies.
Free to use, nothing to sign up for, and nothing you type here is sent anywhere — the arithmetic runs in your browser.
What it computes
total margin = margin per contract x contracts margin % of account = total margin / account x 100 notional = price x contracts x multiplier leverage = notional / total margin max contracts = FLOOR(account / margin per contract) free capital = account - total margin
What you type in
| Field | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Contract | A preset carrying the multiplier and an indicative margin. | ES |
| Margin per contract | Your broker's initial or day-trade margin. Supplied by you — the app does not quote margins. | $13,200 |
| Contracts | How many contracts the position holds. | 1 |
| Account | The account the margin is measured against. | $25,000 |
| Price | Current contract price, which sets the notional. | 5000 |
Reading the result
- Total margin and the share of the account it ties up.
- Notional — what the position controls, which is the number that decides how it moves.
- Effective leverage — notional divided by the margin posted.
- Max contracts the account could post margin for, and the free capital left over.
Worked example
One ES contract, $13,200 indicative margin, $25,000 account, price 5000, multiplier 50.
- Total margin $13,200 — 52.8% of the account tied up
- Notional = 5000 x 1 x 50 = $250,000
- Effective leverage about 18.9x
- Max contracts the account could margin: 1
- Free capital: $11,800
What trips people up
- Margin is not risk. It is the deposit; the position controls $250,000 of index either way. Risk is measured by the position sizer and portfolio heat.
- Margin figures are broker- and exchange-set and they change. The presets are indicative starting points, and the field is editable because your broker's number is the real one.
- Day-trade margins are often a fraction of overnight margins. Using one where the other applies changes every figure on the card.
Questions
- Are these the real margin requirements?
- No. The presets are indicative figures to start from; margins are set by the exchange and your broker and change over time. Typing your broker's own number into the field is what makes the result apply to your account.
- Why is the leverage figure so high?
- Because notional is divided by the deposit, not by the account. One ES contract controls $250,000 of index on a margin of about $13,200. That ratio is what the contract is, not a setting.
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Keep the record these numbers come from
A free account logs the trades you size here, so the win rate and averages you type into these calculators come from your own history rather than a guess.