Free Calculator
Iron Condor Calculator
Enter four strikes, premiums, and contracts to get net credit, max profit, max loss, both breakevens, and return on risk — with a payoff chart you can read at a glance.
Buy to open (long put)
Sell to open (short put)
Sell to open (short call)
Buy to open (long call)
Net Credit
$140
Max Profit
$140
If price stays between the short strikes at expiration
Max Loss
-$360
If price moves past either long strike at expiration
Lower Breakeven
$93.60
Upper Breakeven
$106.40
Decision metrics — from $100.00
- Return on Risk
- 38.9%
- Risk : Reward
- 2.57:1
- Premium / Width
- 28.0%
- Distance to Lower BE
- +6.8% (above $93.60)
- Distance to Upper BE
- -6.0% (below $106.40)
Actually placing this Iron Condor?
Track it in your journal — free, no credit card required — and see if it pays off once you close it.
What is an iron condor?
An iron condor is a four-leg options strategy that combines two vertical credit spreads: a bull put spread below the current stock price and a bear call spread above it. Both spreads share the same expiration date but use different strikes, creating a profit zone between the two short strikes where the stock can move freely without hurting the position.
Traders use iron condors when they expect a stock to stay range-bound with declining or stable implied volatility. The strategy profits from time decay — all four options lose value as expiration approaches, and if the stock stays inside the profit zone, the entire net credit is kept.
How the calculator works
Enter the current stock price, the strike and premium for each of the four legs (long put, short put, short call, long call), and the number of contracts. The calculator evaluates the combined payoff function at expiration across a range of stock prices and reads off the net credit, max profit, max loss, and both breakevens directly from that payoff curve — the same math a broker's risk graph uses.
Iron condor formulas
- Net credit = (short put premium − long put premium + short call premium − long call premium) × 100 × contracts
- Max profit = net credit (kept in full when price stays between short strikes)
- Max loss= (wider wing's width − net credit per share) × 100 × contracts. Only one wing can be breached at a time — do not add both wings' losses.
- Lower breakeven = short put strike − net credit per share
- Upper breakeven = short call strike + net credit per share
Worked example
Stock trading at $100. Set up a symmetric iron condor with 5-wide wings on each side, one contract:
- Buy the $90 put for $0.60 (long put)
- Sell the $95 put for $1.20 (short put)
- Sell the $105 call for $1.50 (short call)
- Buy the $110 call for $0.70 (long call)
Results:
- Net credit: ($1.20 − $0.60 + $1.50 − $0.70) × 100 = $140
- Max profit: $140, if the stock closes between $95 and $105
- Max loss: ($5 width − $1.40 credit) × 100 = $360, if price breaches either wing
- Lower breakeven: $95 − $1.40 = $93.60
- Upper breakeven: $105 + $1.40 = $106.40
- Return on risk: $140 / $360 ≈ 38.9%
These are the exact defaults loaded in the calculator above — change any field to model your own trade.
Common mistakes
- Assuming max loss is both wings added together. Only one side of the condor can be breached at expiration — your max loss is the worse wing's width minus the total credit, not both wings' losses combined.
- Setting strikes too close together for the credit received. A narrow condor collects less premium relative to the risk, meaning a small move can wipe out the credit and push you into a loss quickly.
- Ignoring that this is a 4-leg trade with 4× the commission and slippage exposure of a single spread. Those costs eat directly into a credit strategy's profit and can turn a marginal trade into a loser.
- Not managing the position when price approaches one side. Waiting passively until expiration when the stock is near a short strike often turns a recoverable situation into a full max-loss event.
FAQ
Iron condor questions, answered.
What is an iron condor?
An iron condor is a four-leg, defined-risk options strategy that combines a bull put spread below the current price with a bear call spread above it. You collect a net credit when you open the trade and profit when the stock stays inside a range between the two short strikes until expiration.
How do you calculate max profit on an iron condor?
Max profit equals the total net credit received from all four legs, multiplied by 100 and by the number of contracts. You keep the full credit if the stock closes between the short put and short call strikes at expiration — both spreads expire worthless.
How do you calculate max loss on an iron condor?
Max loss is determined by the worse side of the condor. Since only one wing can be breached at expiration, max loss equals the wider wing's width minus the total net credit per share, multiplied by 100 and contracts. It is NOT both wings' losses added together — only one side can lose at a time.
What are the two breakeven prices for an iron condor?
The lower breakeven is the short put strike minus the net credit per share. The upper breakeven is the short call strike plus the net credit per share. Between these two prices, the position is profitable at expiration.
Is an iron condor a neutral strategy?
Yes — an iron condor is a market-neutral, low-volatility strategy. It profits most when the stock price stays range-bound and implied volatility decreases. You are betting on the stock NOT making a large move in either direction before expiration.
Does this calculator use real-time option prices?
No — this is a manual-input calculator. Enter the strikes and premiums from your own broker's option chain to model the trade before or after you place it.
Related calculators
Iron condor is one of many ways to structure a trade. Compare it against a spread or a single option on the same page.
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