Risk Reward Ratio After Costs: Net R:R and Breakeven Win Rate

Short answer: a risk reward ratio compares how much you risk on a trade with how much you aim to gain. A 20-pip stop loss with a 40-pip take profit is 1:2. Spread and commission are added to every loss and taken from every win, so the ratio you actually trade is lower than the one on your chart, and the win rate you need to break even is higher. Cashback returns part of that cost on every trade, win or lose. In our EURUSD example it moves the breakeven win rate from 35.5% to 34.7% at our maximum rate: a small change per trade, not a new strategy.

Last updated: 2 October 2026 · Reviewed by the OG Cashback Support team

What is a risk reward ratio?

The risk reward ratio (R:R) puts your planned loss next to your planned gain on one trade. You set both before you enter: the stop loss is the risk, the take profit is the reward.

Example: you buy EURUSD at 1.1000, with a stop loss at 1.0980 and a take profit at 1.1040. The stop is 20 pips away and the target is 40 pips away, so the ratio is 20:40, written 1:2. On 1 standard lot of EURUSD, 1 pip is worth about $10, so you risk $200 to aim for $400.

1:2 or 2:1?

Both forms are in use. On this page the first number is always the risk and the second is the reward, so 1:2 means you aim to gain twice what you risk. Some tools and guides put the reward first (2:1). Check which way round a tool shows it before you compare numbers.

Risk reward ratio and breakeven win rate

A ratio on its own does not tell you whether a strategy works. You also need the win rate: the share of your trades that reach the target. The breakeven win rate is the win rate at which your wins and losses cancel out.

A higher ratio needs fewer winning trades, but a more distant target may also be reached less often. Neither number is good or bad on its own. What matters is the win rate you actually achieve at that ratio — after costs.

Why trading costs change your real ratio

The ratio on your chart assumes trading is free. It is not. Every trade has a cost, and you pay it whether the trade wins or loses:

• a losing trade loses the stop distance plus the cost;
• a winning trade gains the target distance minus the cost.

Spread (Standard, Standard Cent and Pro)

On spread-based accounts, the cost is the spread: the gap between the buy and the sell price. It is built into the price, and one round trip — open and close — costs you the spread once. Exness spreads float, so the same trade can cost more or less depending on market conditions. See Exness account types for how each account is priced.

Commission (Raw Spread and Zero)

On Raw Spread and Zero the spread is very tight, and Exness charges a trading commission per lot, per side. To find the cost of one trade, add the spread to the commission on both the opening and the closing side. Cashback on these accounts is generated differently — a fixed amount per lot that Exness sets for each instrument — as explained in Exness Pro vs Raw Spread vs Zero cashback. The worked examples below use a Standard account, because its numbers are the simplest to check.

Why tight stops feel costs more

The cost is a fixed amount per lot. The stop distance is your choice. The tighter the stop, the larger the cost is compared with it: a 1.325-pip cost is about 6.6% of a 20-pip stop, but about 13% of a 10-pip stop.

Worked example: gross vs net risk reward ratio

Example 1 — 20-pip stop, 40-pip target

The spread lifts the breakeven win rate by about 2.2 percentage points (33.3% → 35.5%). Cashback at the maximum brings it back by about 0.8 points (to 34.7%); at half of the maximum, by about 0.4 points (to 35.1%).

Example 2 — same trade, tighter stop: 10-pip stop, 20-pip target

With half the stop, the same cost lifts the breakeven win rate by about 4.4 points (33.3% → 37.8%). Cashback brings it back by about 1.6 points at the maximum, or about 0.8 points at half.

Examples are illustrative and rounded: dollar amounts to the cent (three decimals where the half-maximum cashback gives them), ratios to two decimals, win rates to one decimal. Calculations use unrounded values. The $4.77 figure is a maximum: on Standard the real amount moves with the spread at execution, and Exness sets the partner commission and may change it.

How cashback changes the numbers

Cashback is a share of the partner commission Exness pays on your trades. We return 90% of it to your own Exness account. It is paid on every qualifying trade, whether the trade closed in profit or at a loss. That makes it a reduction of your cost per trade — not a change to your stop, your target or your strategy.

It lowers the net cost per trade

In Example 1, the cost per trade falls from $13.25 to $8.48 at the maximum (36% lower), or to $10.865 at half of it (18% lower). Every loss is smaller by the cashback amount, and every win is larger by the same amount.

It lowers the breakeven win rate — a little

Breakeven win rate by ratio — 20-pip stop, EURUSD Standard, 1 lot, $13.25 spread:

Per trade, the change is modest: under one percentage point with a 20-pip stop. It counts for more with tight stops, where the cost is a bigger part of the risk, and it adds up across the volume you already trade (see the next section).

What cashback does not do

• It does not change your stop loss, take profit or position size.
• It does not reduce market risk, leverage risk, slippage or price gaps.
• It does not make a losing strategy profitable. In these examples it moves the breakeven win rate by 0.4 to 1.6 percentage points. A strategy that only works inside that margin has no real edge.
• It is not fixed at the maximum. On Standard, Standard Cent and Pro the amount moves with the spread at execution, and Exness sets partner rates and may change them.

Same cost allowance, lower net cost per trade

Another way to read the same numbers: keep your trading costs fixed and see how much trading they pay for. Using the trade from Example 1:

The same cost allowance covers the spread on more lots — or, put the other way, the same volume costs less. If your plan already includes 100 one-lot trades like this, the spread on them totals $1,325. Cashback returns up to $477 of it (or $238.50 at half of the maximum), which leaves a net cost of $848 (or $1,086.50).

This is about cost per lot, not a reason to trade more lots. Each extra trade still costs more than its cashback returns, carries its own market risk, and is not covered by cashback if price moves against you.

How to use this without overtrading

• Size each position from your risk plan, such as a fixed share of your account per trade — never from the cashback.
• Set your stop and target from the chart and your strategy first. Then check the net ratio after costs.
• Use your own numbers: the spread or commission you actually paid, from your Exness trade history, and the cashback credited to your Exness account.
• Judge your strategy on results after costs and before cashback as well. If it only breaks even because of cashback, review the strategy.
• Keep to the volume you planned. Trading more to collect cashback raises your total cost and your risk.

Work out your own numbers

1. Convert your stop and target into dollars for your lot size (on EURUSD, 1 pip ≈ $10 per standard lot).
2. Add your full cost per trade: spread, plus commission on Raw Spread or Zero.
3. Find the cashback per lot for your instrument and account type in the Exness cashback calculator. The figures there are maximums.
4. Net cost = cost − cashback. Breakeven win rate = (stop + net cost) ÷ (stop + target).

How the cashback itself is calculated, step by step: How Exness cashback works. Instrument guides: Forex cashback · Gold cashback. New to rebates: Exness rebate guide · Is Exness cashback legit?

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