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When you open a forex trade, you choose a size in lots. The lot size decides how much money each pip is worth. It also decides your margin and many of your costs.
What is a lot in forex?
A lot is the unit for the size of a trade. The Exness Help Center says: "Lot refers to the quantity at which orders are counted" (checked 3 Nov 2026).
One standard lot "typically equals 100,000 units of the base currency", per the same page. The base currency is the first currency in a pair. In EUR/USD, it is EUR.
So 1 lot of EUR/USD means 100,000 EUR. You do not need 100,000 EUR in your account to open it, because of margin. Our margin and leverage guide explains why.
What are standard, mini, micro and nano lots?
They are names for common fractions of a standard lot. The Exness Help Center lists them like this:
| Name | Lots | Units of base currency | One pip on EUR/USD |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard lot | 1 | 100,000 | 10 USD |
| Mini lot | 0.1 | 10,000 | 1 USD |
| Micro lot | 0.01 | 1,000 | 0.10 USD |
| Nano lot | 0.001 | 100 | 0.01 USD |
The pip values in the last column use the formula pip value = lots × contract size × pip size. We explain it in What is a pip?.
On most platforms you do not pick "mini" or "micro". You type a number, such as 0.05. That trade is 5,000 units, and one pip on EUR/USD is worth 0.50 USD.
What is contract size?
Contract size is the amount of the base currency in one lot. Exness defines it as "a fixed amount of base currency symbol in 1 lot".
For forex pairs it is usually 100,000. Gold, indices and crypto CFDs use other contract sizes. Always check the contract specification for the symbol you trade.
Our glossary has short entries for lot and contract size.
What is a cent account, and what is a cent lot?
A cent account shows your balance and results in cents instead of dollars. In US cents (USC), 1 USD = 100 USC.
So a balance of 1,000 USC is 10 USD. Seeing larger numbers does not mean you have more money.
Exness offers a Standard Cent account type. Its lot size and limits are set out in the Exness Help Center. We could not load that page on 3 Nov 2026, so we do not quote its numbers here.
What one cent lot equals depends on the broker's contract specification. Check it before you trade.
Hypothetical example, with a made-up cent lot of 1,000 units of base currency:
- One pip on 1 cent lot of EUR/USD is 1,000 × 0.0001 = 0.10 USD, shown as 10 USC.
- One pip on 0.1 cent lot is 0.01 USD, shown as 1 USC.
Our calculators handle cent accounts in US cents. When an account is a cent account, the pip value calculator shows amounts in USC.
How does lot size change my risk?
A bigger lot makes every pip worth more, in both directions. If you double the lot size, you double the gain or loss for the same price move.
Hypothetical example on EUR/USD, with the price falling 30 pips:
- 0.01 lot: you lose 3 USD.
- 0.1 lot: you lose 30 USD.
- 1 lot: you lose 300 USD.
Many traders choose the lot size from the amount they are willing to lose on one trade. Our lot size calculator does this from your balance, risk and stop distance.
How does lot size change my trading costs?
Most forex costs grow with lot size. The spread costs more on a bigger trade, because each pip is worth more.
If your account charges a commission per lot, 2 lots pay twice the commission of 1 lot. Our guide Spread vs commission shows the maths.
A rebate can also be counted per lot, or as a share of the spread or fee. Once rates are checked, each broker page shows how its rebate is measured, for example the Exness page, and the rebate calculator turns your monthly lots into an estimate. Until then, they say the rates are being verified.
Trading more lots to earn a bigger rebate still costs you more in spread and commission.
What else do beginners ask about lots?
What is the smallest lot I can trade? It depends on the broker, the account type and the symbol. Check the minimum volume in the contract specification.
Is a cent account cheaper? Not by itself. It shows the same money in cents, so the numbers look bigger. Check the spread and commission for that account type.
Does the lot size change my margin? Yes. Margin grows with the trade size. Use the margin calculator to see it.
What is the short version?
A lot is the unit for trade size. A standard lot is 100,000 units of base currency, a mini lot 0.1, a micro lot 0.01 and a nano lot 0.001.
Lot size sets your pip value, your margin and most of your costs. A cent account shows the same maths in cents. Before your next trade, check the size with the lot size calculator.
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