How to use the calculator
- Pick a strategy, or choose Custom to enter your own legs.
- Enter the Nifty price now. The strikes move to sit around it, in steps of 50 points.
- Replace the premiums with live prices from your broker's option chain. The ones filled in are estimates from the Black–Scholes model at the volatility and days to expiry you enter: good enough to see the shape, not for a real order.
- Read the result. The chart shows profit (green) and loss (red) at expiry across Nifty prices, with the breakevens marked. The table lists the maximum profit and loss and the result if the Nifty finishes 2% or 4% higher or lower.
The calculator shows the payoff at expiry only. Before expiry an option still has time value, so the profit or loss you see on screen during the week is different. For spreads and iron condors it's usually smaller in both directions; for options you've sold, a loss after a sharp move is usually bigger than the expiry figure at the same Nifty price, and for options you've bought, the profit is.
The strategies in the calculator
| Strategy | Example legs | Net premium | Max profit | Max loss | Breakevens |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short put | sell 24,600 PE at 25.55 | ₹1,661 received | ₹1,661 | ₹15,97,339 (if the Nifty fell to zero) | 24,574 |
| Short straddle | sell 25,000 CE at 166.00, sell 25,000 PE at 141.35 | ₹19,978 received | ₹19,978 | Unlimited | 24,693 and 25,307 |
| Long straddle | buy 25,000 CE at 166.00, buy 25,000 PE at 141.35 | ₹19,978 paid | Unlimited | ₹19,978 | 24,693 and 25,307 |
| Short strangle | sell 25,400 CE at 34.35, sell 24,600 PE at 25.55 | ₹3,894 received | ₹3,894 | Unlimited | 24,540 and 25,460 |
| Long strangle | buy 25,400 CE at 34.35, buy 24,600 PE at 25.55 | ₹3,894 paid | Unlimited | ₹3,894 | 24,540 and 25,460 |
| Iron condor | sell 25,300 CE at 54.20, buy 25,600 CE at 12.00, sell 24,700 PE at 42.10, buy 24,400 PE at 7.95 | ₹4,963 received | ₹4,963 | ₹14,537 | 24,624 and 25,376 |
| Bull put spread | sell 24,800 PE at 66.05, buy 24,600 PE at 25.55 | ₹2,633 received | ₹2,633 | ₹10,368 | 24,760 |
| Bear call spread | sell 25,200 CE at 82.00, buy 25,400 CE at 34.35 | ₹3,097 received | ₹3,097 | ₹9,903 | 25,248 |
| Bull call spread | buy 25,000 CE at 166.00, sell 25,200 CE at 82.00 | ₹5,460 paid | ₹7,540 | ₹5,460 | 25,084 |
| Bear put spread | buy 25,000 PE at 141.35, sell 24,800 PE at 66.05 | ₹4,895 paid | ₹8,106 | ₹4,895 | 24,925 |
Strategies that sell options collect a premium and win if the Nifty stays in a range, but some of them, the short straddle and short strangle, have no limit on the loss. Strategies that buy options pay a premium and need a big enough move. Spreads cap both sides. The guides go through each one: option selling, the short strangle, the straddle, the iron condor, and bull put and bear call spreads.
How to read a payoff diagram
- The flat parts are where the result no longer changes with the price: the maximum profit or loss of that part of the strategy.
- The sloped parts are where an option is in the money and the result moves point for point with the Nifty.
- The breakevens are where the line crosses zero. For a short straddle, strangle or iron condor, the Nifty has to finish between them for a profit.
- A line that keeps falling off the edge means the loss has no fixed limit in that direction. Above the market that's truly unlimited; below it, a short put's loss only stops if the Nifty falls to zero, so the table shows that figure.
Costs and margin
Since 1 April 2026, STT on the sale of an option is 0.15% of the premium, and 0.15% of the intrinsic value if an option is exercised at expiry. The calculator shows the STT on options you sell; brokerage, exchange charges, GST and stamp duty come on top and depend on your broker.
Margin isn't shown, because it's set every day by the exchange (SPAN plus exposure margin) and depends on the whole position. Hedged strategies such as spreads and iron condors usually need far less margin than naked short options. Check the figure in your broker's margin calculator before you place the trade.
Nifty options in brief
- Lot size: 65 units since January 2026. NSE reviews it twice a year.
- Expiry: Nifty weekly options expire on Tuesday, a change NSE made from 1 September 2025. Monthly options expire on the last Tuesday of the month. If that day is a holiday, the expiry moves to the trading day before.
- Settlement: Nifty options are European style and cash-settled: they can only be exercised at expiry, and you receive or pay the difference in cash.
- Strikes: near the money, strikes are 50 points apart.
SEBI's own figures are worth knowing: 93% of individual traders in equity futures and options lost money over FY22 to FY24, and about 91% did in FY25. A payoff diagram doesn't change the odds; it shows what you're risking at expiry before you start.