What is an options payoff diagram?

A payoff diagram plots the profit or loss of an options position on the vertical axis against the stock price on the horizontal axis, almost always as of expiry. It is the fastest way to see the three numbers that define any options position: the maximum loss, the maximum gain, and the breakeven price or prices where the position crosses from losing money to making it.

How do you read an options payoff diagram?

Find where the line crosses zero: those are the breakevens. Everything above the zero line is profit, everything below is loss. A flat segment means the outcome stops changing with the stock price, which is where a position is capped: the flat floor of a long call is its maximum loss, and the flat top of an iron condor is its maximum profit.

What is the breakeven price on a long call?

The strike price plus the premium paid. A call is in the money as soon as the stock passes the strike, but the position is not profitable until the intrinsic value has also earned back what the option cost. That gap between "in the money" and "in profit" is one of the most common surprises for new options traders, and the slider above makes it visible.

Why does a straddle lose money if the stock barely moves?

Because a straddle pays two premiums, one for the call and one for the put, and one of the two always expires worthless. If the stock finishes near the strike, both do, and the position loses everything it paid. The stock has to move past either breakeven, strike plus total premium on the upside or strike minus total premium on the downside, before the winning leg has earned back the cost of both.

Do these diagrams show profit at expiry or before expiry?

At expiry. Before expiry an option also carries time value, so the position’s mark-to-market profit traces a curve that sits above the expiry hockey-stick and decays toward it as expiration approaches. The expiry diagram is still the right mental model, because it is the boundary every position converges to.

Is this options payoff visualizer free?

Yes. Every diagram on this page is interactive and free to use, with no signup and no account. Each strategy also links to a plain-English walkthrough covering when the strategy is typically used and what tends to go wrong with it.

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Options Payoff Visualizer

Every payoff diagram below is interactive: drag the slider to move the stock price and watch the position's profit or loss update. Each diagram shows profit and loss at expiry, and each one links to a plain-English walkthrough of the strategy behind it.

Max Loss, Max Gain and Breakeven for Every Strategy

All six, in one table. Every options position comes down to three numbers, and the diagrams further down are those three numbers drawn as a line. Premium here means the net premium for the whole position, so both legs of a straddle or a strangle. Figures are per share, so multiply by 100 for one contract.

Maximum loss, maximum gain and breakeven price for six options strategies at expiry
Strategy	Max loss	Max gain	Breakeven at expiry
Long call	Premium paid	Unlimited	Strike + premium
Long put	Premium paid	Strike - premium (stock at zero)	Strike - premium
Straddle	Both premiums, if the stock pins the strike	Unlimited on the upside	Strike +/- total premium (two of them)
Strangle	Both premiums, anywhere between the strikes	Unlimited on the upside	Call strike + premium, or put strike - premium
Covered call	Stock price - premium (stock at zero)	Call strike - stock cost + premium	Stock cost - premium
Iron condor	Spread width - net credit	Net credit received	Short put strike - credit, or short call strike + credit

Every figure here is the position at expiry. Before expiry an option still carries time value, so a live position sits above this line and decays toward it.

Long Call Payoff Diagram

Calls & puts explained →

Buying a call is the simplest bullish options position: the most it can lose is the premium paid, whatever the stock does. The diagram shows why the position only starts making money above the strike plus the premium, not at the strike itself, and why the line keeps rising with no cap above that breakeven.

Try it yourself

Apple price in 1 month

$112

Your profit / loss

$100

At $112 you're up $100.

Max profit

Uncapped

Max loss

−$100

Break-even

$111

One call: pay $100 today for the right to buy 100 shares at $110. Slide the price and watch the profit move dollar-for-dollar above $111.

Long Put Payoff Diagram

Calls & puts explained →

A long put is the mirror image: a bearish position whose loss is capped at the premium and whose profit grows as the stock falls. Breakeven sits at the strike minus the premium, and the maximum profit arrives only if the stock goes all the way to zero.

Try it yourself

Apple price in 1 month

$85

Your profit / loss

$400

At $85 you're up $400.

Max profit

$8,900

Max loss

−$100

Break-even

$89

The mirror image: pay $100 for the right to SELL 100 shares at $90. This one pays when the stock falls.

Straddle Payoff Diagram

The straddle, explained →

A straddle buys a call and a put at the same strike, so it profits from a large move in either direction and does not care which. The cost of that indifference is two premiums, which is why the V-shaped diagram has two breakevens, one above and one below the strike, and its worst case, losing both premiums, lands exactly when the stock pins the strike at expiry.

Try it yourself

Stock price at expiration

$100

Your profit / loss

−$800

At $100 you lose $800: about the worst this trade can do.

Max profit

Uncapped

Max loss

−$800

Break-evens

$92 / $108

A $100 call ($400) plus a $100 put ($400): $800 total. You win on a big move either way, and lose the most if the stock pins $100.

Strangle Payoff Diagram

The strangle, explained →

A strangle is a cheaper straddle: the call and put sit out of the money at different strikes, so the premium outlay is smaller but the stock has to travel further before either side pays. The diagram shows the flat maximum-loss zone between the two strikes that a straddle does not have.

Try it yourself

Stock price at expiration

$100

Your profit / loss

−$300

At $100 you lose $300: about the worst this trade can do.

Max profit

Uncapped

Max loss

−$300

Break-evens

$92 / $108

A $95 put ($150) and a $105 call ($150): $300 total. Cheaper than a straddle, but note the flat bottom: a total loss anywhere from $95 to $105.

Covered Call Payoff Diagram

Covered calls, explained →

A covered call is stock ownership plus a sold call: the premium collected cushions small declines and is kept in flat markets, in exchange for giving up every dollar of upside above the strike. The diagram makes the trade-off visible, since the downside slope is still the stock, only shifted up by the premium, while the upside goes flat.

Try it yourself

Your stock in 1 month

$210

Your profit / loss

$1,250

At $210 you're up $1,250.

Max profit

$2,250

Max loss

−$19,750

Break-even

$197.50

You own 100 shares at $200 and sold the $220 call for $250. Above $220 your gains flat-line: that upside now belongs to the buyer. The whole downside of the stock is still yours.

Iron Condor Payoff Diagram

The iron condor, explained →

An iron condor sells a put spread below the market and a call spread above it, collecting premium in exchange for a bet that the stock stays inside a range. The flat top of the diagram is the maximum profit, the full premium, and the wings show the defined maximum loss when the stock escapes the range in either direction.

Try it yourself

Stock price at expiration

$100

Your profit / loss

$150

At $100 you're up $150.

Max profit

$150

Max loss

−$350

Break-evens

$88.50 / $111.50

Sell the $90 put and $110 call, buy the $85 put and $115 call as bodyguards. Collect $150 and keep it all if the stock naps between $90 and $110. Max loss is capped at $350.

Payoff Diagram FAQ

What is an options payoff diagram?: A payoff diagram plots the profit or loss of an options position on the vertical axis against the stock price on the horizontal axis, almost always as of expiry. It is the fastest way to see the three numbers that define any options position: the maximum loss, the maximum gain, and the breakeven price or prices where the position crosses from losing money to making it.
How do you read an options payoff diagram?: Find where the line crosses zero: those are the breakevens. Everything above the zero line is profit, everything below is loss. A flat segment means the outcome stops changing with the stock price, which is where a position is capped: the flat floor of a long call is its maximum loss, and the flat top of an iron condor is its maximum profit.
What is the breakeven price on a long call?: The strike price plus the premium paid. A call is in the money as soon as the stock passes the strike, but the position is not profitable until the intrinsic value has also earned back what the option cost. That gap between "in the money" and "in profit" is one of the most common surprises for new options traders, and the slider above makes it visible.
Why does a straddle lose money if the stock barely moves?: Because a straddle pays two premiums, one for the call and one for the put, and one of the two always expires worthless. If the stock finishes near the strike, both do, and the position loses everything it paid. The stock has to move past either breakeven, strike plus total premium on the upside or strike minus total premium on the downside, before the winning leg has earned back the cost of both.
Do these diagrams show profit at expiry or before expiry?: At expiry. Before expiry an option also carries time value, so the position’s mark-to-market profit traces a curve that sits above the expiry hockey-stick and decays toward it as expiration approaches. The expiry diagram is still the right mental model, because it is the boundary every position converges to.
Is this options payoff visualizer free?: Yes. Every diagram on this page is interactive and free to use, with no signup and no account. Each strategy also links to a plain-English walkthrough covering when the strategy is typically used and what tends to go wrong with it.

Options Strategies, Explained

Plain-English walkthroughs of every strategy visualized above, with worked examples.

Implied vs Realised Moves

What the straddle priced before each earnings print, and what actually happened. Per ticker, per quarter.

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