Options Payoff & Strategy Calculator
See what an options strategy makes or loses at every price at expiry.
P&L at expiry
Point at the chart, or tap it, for the P&L at that price. The table below has the same numbers.
Payoff table
How this was calculated
Results are estimates for general information and planning, not financial advice. Banks and institutions may calculate differently (rounding, fees, rate changes). Confirm figures with your lender or a qualified adviser before deciding.
About the Options Payoff & Strategy Calculator
An options strategy is easiest to judge by its payoff: what it makes or loses at each price the underlying could end at on expiry day. This calculator draws that picture for up to four legs — calls and puts bought or sold, and the underlying itself (shares or futures) — and works out the maximum profit, the maximum loss, the breakeven prices and the P&L at any price, for your strikes, premiums, lots and lot size.
Start from one of 16 common strategies — covered call, protective put, collar, bull and bear spreads, straddles, strangles, iron condor and butterflies — or build your own. The presets fill in example premiums worked out with the Black–Scholes model (25% volatility, 30 days to expiry, no interest): replace them with the prices your broker quotes. Everything is calculated in your browser.
How to use it
- Enter the price of the underlying now and the lot size of the contract: the units of the underlying in one lot (100 for most US equity options; your exchange’s contract specification gives it).
- Pick a strategy to fill in the legs around the price now, or choose Custom and add up to four legs.
- For each leg choose call, put or the underlying, buy or sell, then the strike, the premium per unit (for the underlying, the price you bought or sold at) and the number of lots.
- Optionally enter your brokerage, taxes and fees for the whole strategy as charges.
- Read the maximum profit and loss, the breakevens and the chart — point at or tap the chart for the P&L at any price — and copy the summary or download the payoff table as CSV.
Examples
Price now 100, lot size 100; buy the 100 call at 4.00, sell the 110 call at 1.50
Net premium 250 paid · maximum loss −250 at or below 100 · maximum profit +750 at or above 110 · breakeven 102.50 · risk : reward 1 : 3
Lot size 100: buy the 90 put at 0.50, sell the 95 put at 1.50, sell the 105 call at 1.40, buy the 110 call at 0.40
Net premium 200 received · maximum profit +200 between 95 and 105 · maximum loss −300 at or below 90 or at or above 110 · breakevens 93 and 107
Own one lot of 100 shares bought at 100; sell the 105 call at 1.20
Maximum profit +620 at or above 105 · breakeven 98.80 · the loss keeps growing as the price falls, to −9,880 at a price of 0
Lot size 50: sell the 100 call at 3 and the 100 put at 3
Maximum profit +300 at exactly 100 · breakevens 94 and 106 · the loss is unlimited if the price rises
Common uses
- Check the worst case of a credit spread or an iron condor before selling it.
- Compare a long call with a bull call spread for the same view on the price.
- See how a covered call or a collar changes the risk of shares you hold.
- Find the breakevens of a straddle or a strangle before an expected move.
The payoff formulas
At a price S of the underlying at expiry, one unit of each leg makes (Hull, Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives):
- Long call: max(S − K, 0) − premium; short call: premium − max(S − K, 0)
- Long put: max(K − S, 0) − premium; short put: premium − max(K − S, 0)
- Long underlying: S − entry price; short underlying: entry price − S
where K is the strike. Each leg’s P&L is that amount × lots × lot size, and the strategy’s P&L is the sum of the legs less any charges. Because the payoff is a straight line between strikes, the maximum and minimum are found exactly at a strike, at a price of 0 or — when more calls are bought than sold — without limit above the highest strike, and each breakeven is found exactly where the line crosses zero.
Reading the results
- Maximum profit and maximum loss are the best and worst P&L at expiry, with the prices where they happen (“at or above 110”, “between 95 and 105”).
- Breakevens are the prices at expiry where the strategy neither makes nor loses money, after the premiums and charges.
- Net premium is what the options cost (paid) or bring in (received) when you open the strategy; with the underlying in the strategy, its cost is shown separately.
- Risk : reward compares the maximum loss with the maximum profit: 1 : 3 means up to 3 can be made for each 1 that can be lost. It says nothing about how likely either is.
- If the price at expiry is the price now shows what happens if the underlying does not move.
Lots and premiums
Premiums are quoted per unit of the underlying. One lot (one contract) covers the lot size in units, so a premium of 2.86 on a lot size of 100 costs 286 a lot. Exchanges set the lot size of each contract and change it from time to time, so take it from the exchange’s or your broker’s contract specification. For a strategy on futures, choose Underlying for the futures leg and enter the futures price.
At expiry, not before
Before expiry an option is worth more than its payoff at expiry by its time value, which shrinks as expiry nears. Closing a strategy early therefore gives a different result from the chart. To estimate the value of an option before expiry, use the Black–Scholes calculator.
Limitations
- The P&L is at expiry only, with every leg held to expiry and expiring on the same day: calendar and diagonal spreads (legs with different expiries) are not covered.
- American-style options can be exercised early, and short legs assigned early; the payoff assumes they are not.
- Margin, taxes and slippage are not included; enter brokerage and fees as charges. Physically settled options deliver the underlying instead of cash: the value at expiry is the same, but you need the money or the shares to settle.
- One lot size applies to every leg, and a strategy has at most four legs.
- The presets’ premiums are examples from a model, not market prices; nothing here is advice to trade.
Privacy
Everything happens in your browser. What you enter or open here is not uploaded or stored by MySmartCoPilot.
Frequently asked questions
How is the breakeven of an options strategy calculated?
For a single option it is the strike plus the premium (long call) or the strike minus the premium (long put). For a strategy it is the price at expiry at which the P&L of all the legs together, after charges, is 0. The calculator finds every such price exactly: between two strikes the P&L is a straight line.
What is the maximum loss of an iron condor?
The width of the wider of its two spreads less the net premium received, times the lot size. With strikes 90/95/105/110 and a net premium of 2 a unit, it is (5 − 2) × 100 = 300 a lot, reached at or below 90 or at or above 110.
Why does the calculator say the loss is unlimited?
Because more calls (or more of the underlying) are sold than bought, so every rise in the price adds to the loss — as in a short call, a short straddle or a short strangle. A loss is never unlimited on the way down, because a price cannot fall below 0; a short put loses at most its strike less the premium.
Is the premium per share or per lot?
Enter it per unit of the underlying, as option chains quote it. The calculator multiplies it by the lot size and the number of lots.
Can I use it for index options?
Yes: enter the index level as the price now, the strikes and premiums from the option chain and the lot size (contract multiplier) of the index contract from the exchange.
Does it show the profit before expiry?
No: the chart is the payoff at expiry. An option’s price before expiry also depends on volatility, time and interest rates; the Black–Scholes calculator estimates it.