Max pain calculator
Find the max-pain strike from a chain of call and put open interest.
Runs 100% in your browser| Strike | Call OI | Put OI |
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- Max pain strike
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| Strike | Total payout |
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How to calculate max pain
- Enter the chain. Add each strike with its call and put open interest.
- Add or remove strikes. Use “Add strike” to extend the chain to cover the range.
- Read the max-pain strike. The strike with the lowest total payout is highlighted.
How the max-pain strike is found
Max pain is the expiration price at which the total intrinsic value owed to all option holders is the smallest — the price where the most option contracts expire worthless. The calculator walks every strike you enter and, for each candidate settlement price, adds up what every in-the-money call and put would pay out: calls pay when the price is above their strike, puts when it is below, each weighted by its open interest. The strike with the lowest total payout is the max-pain point. The theory, loosely, is that the parties who are net-short those options — often market makers — have an incentive to hedge toward that price, so the stock can gravitate there into expiry.
Why it is open-interest weighted
Open interest is the count of contracts still outstanding at each strike, so it measures how much money is genuinely on the line there — a strike with huge OI dominates the calculation, while a thinly-traded one barely moves it. That is why max pain usually lands near the strikes with the heaviest call and put stacking, and why it shifts as positions are opened and closed through the week. Enter the OI from any options chain (it is published free on most broker and quote sites) and the highlighted row shows the minimum-payout strike alongside the full payout table.
Treat it as a lens, not a forecast
Max pain is a descriptive statistic about current positioning, not a prediction — the "pin" effect is real near expiry for heavily-traded names but weak or absent otherwise, and a genuine news catalyst overwhelms it entirely. Many traders read it alongside the expected move to frame where a stock might settle, rather than as a standalone signal. It is most useful in the final days before monthly expiration, when open interest is largest and dealer hedging is most concentrated.
Educational tool only — not financial advice. Max pain is a descriptive statistic, not a prediction. Options trading carries a high level of risk.
Frequently asked questions
- Max pain is the strike price at which the most options — by open interest — expire worthless, causing the greatest total loss ("pain") to option buyers. It is the expiry price that minimises the total intrinsic payout option sellers would owe.
- For every listed strike, you sum what in-the-money calls and puts would pay out if the stock expired there (using each strike’s open interest), then pick the strike with the smallest total. This tool does that across the chain you enter.
- From your broker or any options chain for the expiration you care about. Enter each strike with its call and put open interest; add or remove rows as needed.
- It is a widely-watched data point, not a forecast. The theory is that prices may gravitate toward max pain near expiration, but it is debated and should never be the sole basis for a trade.
- No — the chain you type stays in your browser.