Swap Calculator: What Holding a Trade Overnight Really Costs
Enter the swap numbers from your broker and see what a position pays or earns per night, across the triple-swap day, and over the whole time you hold it. Works with swap in points, in dollars or as a yearly rate.
| Held | Charged nights | Long total | Short total |
|---|
Every row starts on the day you picked. A minus sign means you pay, a plus sign means you are credited.
The week has seven nights, not five
Swap is charged for every calendar night a position is held, but markets are shut at the weekend. So brokers charge Saturday and Sunday in advance, on one weekday night. For most forex pairs that is Wednesday. Your triple day may be different, so read it from the symbol specification.
Add it up: 1 + 1 + 3 + 1 + 1 = 7. A week of holding costs exactly seven nights of swap, whatever day you opened. What changes is the timing, and that matters when you close the trade.
How many nights does your trade pay for?
Charged nights for a trade opened before the rollover on the day shown and closed after the stated number of calendar days, with a Wednesday triple day.
Look at the Wednesday row: a trade opened on Wednesday and closed on Thursday pays 3 nights of swap for one day of holding. A trade opened on Friday and closed on Monday pays only 1.
So the day you hold through matters more than the number of days.
| Opened on | 1 day | 2 days | 3 days | 4 days | 5 days | 7 days | 14 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 14 |
| Tue | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 14 |
| Wed | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| Thu | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
| Fri | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 14 |
Same idea, three ways to read it
Brokers publish swap in different units. The page converts each to dollars per lot per night, then multiplies by your lots and your charged nights.
Points
A swap of −6.5 points with 1 point worth $1 per lot is −$6.50 a night for 1 lot. For a 5-digit pair quoted in dollars, such as EURUSD, one point is worth $1 per lot, and gold with a 100 oz contract is often the same. Check your own symbol.
Dollars per lot
The simplest case. If the specification says −$6.50 per lot, then 0.5 lot pays −$3.25 a night. The calculator shows it exactly as entered.
Yearly rate
Take a position worth $100,000 per lot with a rate of −2.5% a year. Over a 360-day year that is −$6.94 a night. Over 365 days it is −$6.85. Your broker states which one it uses.
Swap per night, per year
A swap of a few dollars a night looks harmless. Because every week holds seven nights, the yearly bill is simply 365 times the nightly number.
| Swap per night | 7 days | 30 days | 365 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| −$2 | −$14 | −$60 | −$730 |
| −$5 | −$35 | −$150 | −$1,825 |
| −$10 | −$70 | −$300 | −$3,650 |
| −$20 | −$140 | −$600 | −$7,300 |
A trade held for a week is a rounding error. A trade held for a year is not, which is why swap matters for swing and position traders and barely for day traders. A positive swap works the same way in your favor.
Size the trade, then count the carry
Swap is one part of what a held trade costs. The other is the risk you set with your stop. Lot Architect for MT5 and MT4 sizes the trade on the chart from Risk %, Risk USD or Lots, and shows margin, risk, reward and R:R as you drag Entry, Stop Loss and Take Profit.
It does not calculate swap, so use this page for that. It does not read prop firm rules and it does not promise profit.
This is our own product, and we earn money if you buy it.
Read swap from the symbol specification
In MetaTrader
Open Market Watch, right-click the symbol and choose Specification. Look for the swap type, swap long, swap short and the day marked as the triple swap day.
Swap long applies to buy positions and swap short to sell positions.
Check three things
The swap type decides which tab to use here: points, money per lot or a yearly percentage. The sign tells you whether you pay or earn. The triple day tells you when the weekend is charged.
Symbols differ, so read each one separately.
The numbers on the page start as examples, not any broker’s real rates. Replace them before you trust the result.
Quick answers
What is swap in forex?
Swap, also called rollover, is the fee or credit applied to a position that stays open past the daily rollover time. It reflects the interest rate difference between the two currencies in the pair, plus whatever the broker adds.
Why is my swap sometimes positive?
If you hold the currency with the higher interest rate against the one with the lower rate, the difference can be in your favor. Broker markups usually reduce it, so many positive swaps are small and the other side of the same pair is more expensive.
What is triple swap and why is it on Wednesday?
Markets are shut on Saturday and Sunday, so brokers charge those two nights on one weekday along with that day’s own night. For most forex pairs that day is Wednesday. Some symbols use another day, and the specification shows which.
Do I pay swap if I close before the rollover?
No. Swap applies only to positions still open at the rollover time, which most brokers set around the end of the New York trading day. Check your platform’s server time to know when that falls for you.
Why does another broker have different swap?
Each broker sets its own rates, markups and rules, and may change them at any time. The same pair can have a different swap, a different triple day and even a different swap type on two platforms.
Is there swap on gold and indices?
Most CFD symbols, including gold and indices, carry swap, with their own rates and triple day. Use the specification for each symbol and pick the matching swap type on this page.
What are swap-free accounts?
Some brokers offer accounts without swap, often for religious reasons. They may charge a fee or a wider spread instead, so read the account terms before assuming holding is free.
How accurate is this calculator?
It multiplies the numbers you enter by the nights counted from your open day and triple day. It cannot know holiday rollovers, rate changes during your trade or broker fees, so use your account statement for the exact figure. For margin on the same trade, see the margin calculator.
Related tools
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Position Size Calculator
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Pip Value Calculator
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Risk Reward Calculator
R:R and profit and loss in dollars.
Our own indicators and EAs are on MQL5: tachiteam on MQL5. They are our own products, and we earn money if you buy. How our tools are built.
This is an educational tool, not financial advice. Trading leveraged products such as forex and CFDs carries a high risk of loss. Read the risk disclaimer. TachiTrade is independent and is not affiliated with any broker mentioned here. Swap rates change, so the results are estimates and your broker’s statement is the only exact figure.