# Iron Condor Calculator - Max Profit, Loss & Breakevens Source: https://theoptionsbench.com/iron-condor-calculator/ > Plain-text mirror for AI/LLM ingestion. Canonical HTML page: https://theoptionsbench.com/iron-condor-calculator/ --- Iron condor - key facts An iron condor sells an out-of-the-money put spread and call spread at once, profiting if the stock stays between the two short strikes through expiration. Max profit Net credit (put credit + call credit) × 100 - kept if price stays between the short strikes. Max loss (Wider spread width - net credit) × 100 - only one side can be breached at expiration. Lower breakeven Short put strike - net credit (per share). Upper breakeven Short call strike + net credit (per share). Return on risk Net credit ÷ (wider width - net credit); annualized = × 365 ÷ days to expiration. Want the full explanation? Read What is an Iron Condor? . How to set it up Outlook: Neutral and short volatility: you want the stock to chop sideways inside a range while elevated implied volatility deflates. Ideal DTE 30-45 days is the default; long enough that theta is meaningful, short enough that a quiet stock can't drift far. Go shorter only on a liquid index you'll babysit; longer just ties up buying power for slower decay. Strike selection Sell both short strikes outside the expected move - the ~15-20 delta short Put and short Call are the common anchors. Then size the wings so the net credit is about one-third of the spread width (collect ~$3.00-3.50 on a $10 wing); wider wings pay more but raise the max loss you have to survive. Enter when Only when IV Rank is elevated (roughly 50+) - you're selling expensive volatility expecting it to fall. Sell a condor at low IV Rank and you get a thin credit and a narrow zone for the same defined risk: the worst trade on the board. Take profit Close at ~50% of the max credit rather than squeezing the last dollar. The zone is wide and forgiving, so 50% is the right line here - but the final half decays slowest and carries the most gamma and pin risk near the short strikes. Manage / exit At ~21 DTE, close or roll regardless of P&L - that's where gamma turns a quiet stock into an overnight breach. If price tests a short strike before then, defend the tested side (roll it out or close the whole condor); don't add to a loser. Hard skip No earnings or known catalyst inside the expiration. A condor's one un-survivable event is a gap straight through a short strike, and an earnings date is exactly that risk on a calendar. Use it when: A liquid, range-bound stock or index with elevated IV Rank and no catalyst ahead - you're paid twice for the same buying power to bet it stays put. Skip it when: You have a directional lean (sell a single Bull Put Spread or Bear Call Spread instead of opening a second front you don't believe in), or IV Rank is low and the credit is thin. Starting points, not rules - the conventions experienced sellers reach for first. Your account, thesis and risk move every number here. See every strategy's setup -> ## How to use this calculator - Enter the current share price and days to expiration. - Enter the put spread - short put strike, long put strike, and its net credit. - Enter the call spread - short call strike, long call strike, and its net credit. - Set the number of contracts - each multiplies credit and risk by × 100. - Read the result: net credit, max profit, max loss, both breakevens, and return on risk. **What it tells you:** whether an iron condor's combined credit justifies the defined risk, and the price range the stock must stay inside to keep it. ## How this calculator works An iron condor is two credit spreads sold at once: a **bull put spread** below the stock and a **bear call spread** above it, sharing one expiration. You sell the two inner strikes (the short put and short call) and buy the two outer strikes (the long put and long call) as wings. The total premium you collect is the sum of the two spread credits. Enter the four strikes and the credit on each spread and the calculator returns the full picture. **Max profit** is the total net credit times 100 per contract, kept when the stock finishes between the short strikes and all four options expire worthless. **Max loss** is the wider spread's width minus the total credit, times 100 - because at expiration the stock can only be in one tail, only one side can ever be breached. The **two breakevens** mark the edges of the profit zone: the lower one is the short put strike minus the total credit, the upper one is the short call strike plus the total credit. The calculator also shows how wide that profit zone is in dollars and as a percentage of the current price, plus the return on risk and its annualized equivalent. The payoff diagram shows the classic flat-topped tent: a profit plateau in the middle and capped losses on both wings. ## Iron condor vs short strangle Both bet that a stock stays range-bound, but they handle risk very differently. A short strangle sells a put and a call with nothing behind them - you collect more premium, but the loss is theoretically unlimited on the call side and very large on the put side, and the margin is heavy. An iron condor buys a long put and a long call further out, converting those open-ended tails into a fixed, known maximum loss and freeing up most of the capital. For most retail accounts the condor is the more sensible structure: you give up some premium in exchange for a loss you can actually survive, and you can size positions by the defined risk rather than by margin that can balloon when volatility spikes. ## Worked example A fixed, hypothetical illustration - not live market data. A hypothetical stock trades at $100. With 30 days to expiration you sell the 90/85 put spread for a $0.80 credit and the 110/115 call spread for a $0.80 credit - $1.60 total. Both wings are $5 wide. - Net credit / max profit: $1.60 × 100 = $160 per contract. - Max loss: ($5 - $1.60) × 100 = $340 per contract. - Lower breakeven: $90 - $1.60 = $88.40. - Upper breakeven: $110 + $1.60 = $111.60. - Profit zone: $88.40 to $111.60 - about $23.20 wide, or 23.2% of the price. - Return on risk: $160 ÷ $340 ≈ 47% over 30 days. ## Edge cases this calculator handles An iron condor has two spreads and four strikes, and the subtle cases are exactly where a naive max-loss number goes wrong. This calculator gets them right. - Only one side can be breached. At expiration the stock finishes in one tail, so max loss is the wider spread's width minus the total credit - not both spreads added together, which is the most common over-statement of condor risk. - Unequal wings. If your two spreads are different widths, the panel flags it and the max loss is taken from the wider side, since that is the one that can actually be tested. - A position already being tested. If the price sits beyond a short strike, the results flag which side is under pressure rather than silently showing a clean max-profit credit. - A credit that is too large to be real. If the total credit meets or exceeds the wider spread width - an impossible fill - the calculator refuses it and asks you to recheck, instead of printing a negative risk. - Zero days to expiration. Annualized return on risk shows "N/A" rather than dividing by zero. ## Embed this calculator on your site Free to embed on a blog, course page or broker comparison - paste this where you want the calculator to appear. Please keep the "Powered by The Options Bench" link in the widget. Embed code A lightweight, ad-free version of this calculator. Preview the widget. Found this useful? Get the bi-weekly email Strategy breakdowns, the edge cases these calculators surface, and trades worth watching - free, no noise. Join the free email -> ## ⚠ Common mistakes - Selling condors when volatility is low. Thin premium means a narrow profit zone for the same risk. The IV Rank tool helps you check whether premium is rich first. - Setting the short strikes too close. A tight body collects more credit but is breached far more often. Match the width of the profit zone to how much the stock actually moves. - Forgetting the four-leg commission drag. Opening is four contracts, and closing can be four more - a real cost on a modest credit. - Holding through earnings unintentionally. An earnings date inside the expiration can blow through a short strike overnight. Know your event calendar. - Assuming both sides can lose. They cannot at expiration - the max loss is the wider wing minus the credit, not the sum of both spreads. ## Frequently asked questions What is an iron condor? An iron condor is a four-leg, market-neutral options trade: a bull put spread below the current price and a bear call spread above it, in the same expiration. You sell the two inner (short) strikes and buy the two outer (long) strikes for protection, collecting a net credit. It profits when the stock stays between the two short strikes through expiration, and its risk is defined by the wings. How is the max loss on an iron condor calculated? Max loss = (wider spread width - total net credit) × 100 per contract. At expiration the stock can only finish in one tail - either below the put spread or above the call spread - so only one side can be breached. The loss is therefore based on the wider of the two spreads, not the sum of both. What are the two breakevens on an iron condor? Lower breakeven = short put strike - total net credit per share. Upper breakeven = short call strike + total net credit per share. The stock is profitable at expiration anywhere between those two prices; outside them the position loses, up to the capped max loss. Iron condor vs strangle - what is the difference? A short strangle sells a put and a call with no protective wings: more premium, but undefined risk and large margin. An iron condor adds a long put and a long call further out, which caps the loss on both sides and dramatically reduces the capital required. The condor trades some premium for defined risk - usually the better choice for retail accounts. When does an iron condor make its maximum profit? Maximum profit - the full net credit - is reached when the stock closes between the short put and short call strikes at expiration, so all four options expire worthless. You keep the entire credit and the long options you bought simply expire unused. Should the put and call wings be the same width? They often are (a "balanced" condor), which keeps the max loss the same on either side. You can run unequal wings, but then the max loss is set by the wider spread, since that side risks more. This calculator always uses the wider width so the max loss it shows is the true worst case. Do I hold an iron condor to expiration? Many traders close early - often once the position has captured roughly 25-50% of the maximum credit - to bank the gain and avoid the sharp gamma and pin risk near the short strikes in the final days. Holding to expiration is possible but exposes you to a late move through a short strike and to assignment risk. When should I use an iron condor? When you expect a stock or index to stay in a range and implied volatility is high enough to pay you well - you sell an out-of-the-money put spread and call spread and keep the credit if the price holds between them. Best on liquid underlyings with no catalyst ahead. Skip it when you expect a move or a trend, especially through earnings - a gap through a short strike is what it cannot survive.