The payout percentage is the most visible number on the Quotex trading screen and the most misunderstood. It tells you how much profit a winning trade adds on top of your stake. It does not tell you how often you will win, and because a losing trade costs the whole stake, it quietly sets the win rate you need just to stay level. This guide explains the number, shows the maths with a $10 trade, and covers why the figure keeps changing.
What the payout percentage means
On Quotex every trade has a fixed result. If your prediction is right, you get your stake back plus the payout percentage of that stake as profit. If it is wrong, you lose the stake. There is nothing in between, and the percentage is fixed when the trade opens.
So an 85% payout on a $10 trade means a win returns $18.50: your $10 back plus $8.50 profit. A loss returns nothing. The payout is the size of the win, not the chance of winning.
How the payout is shown on the trading screen
You will see the percentage in two places: next to the asset name in the asset selector, and in the trade panel, where it is usually also shown as a money amount for the stake you have entered. Our Quotex market view guide shows where each panel sits.
The figure can move while you are looking at it. The one that applies is the one shown when you click Up or Down, so glance at it again just before you place the trade.
Break-even win rate by payout
Because a win pays less than 100% and a loss costs 100%, you need to win more than half your trades just to break even. The formula is 100 divided by (100 plus the payout), times 100.
| Payout | Break-even win rate | Wins needed per 100 trades |
|---|---|---|
| 90% | 52.6% | 53 |
| 85% | 54.1% | 55 |
| 80% | 55.6% | 56 |
| 70% | 58.8% | 59 |
A few percentage points of payout look small, but they move the line you have to beat. Trading the same assets at 70% instead of 90% means winning about six more trades in every hundred just to stand still. The full trade walkthrough is in our guide on how to trade on Quotex.
Why payouts differ by asset and time
The payout is not one fixed number for the whole platform. It is set per asset and changes during the day. In practice it tends to vary with:
- The asset. Popular currency pairs, cryptocurrencies and OTC assets can all show different figures at the same moment.
- The time of day and market conditions. Figures often shift around market opens, closes and busy news periods.
- The expiry you choose. Our guide to Quotex expiry times explains how the trade length and the payout interact.
- Whether the asset is a regular market or an OTC quote. See Quotex OTC markets explained.
You will often see figures somewhere between about 70% and 90%. Higher headline numbers do appear, but usually on a few assets at particular times, so judge by what your screen shows rather than by an advertised maximum.
Worked example with a $10 trade
Say you trade $10 at an 85% payout, ten times in a row:
| Result over 10 trades | Calculation | Net result |
|---|---|---|
| 6 wins, 4 losses | 6 × $8.50 − 4 × $10 | +$11.00 |
| 5 wins, 5 losses | 5 × $8.50 − 5 × $10 | −$7.50 |
| 4 wins, 6 losses | 4 × $8.50 − 6 × $10 | −$26.00 |
Winning half your trades loses money. That is the gap between the payout and the full-stake loss in action, and it is why a strategy that "wins most of the time" can still drain an account.
What the payout does not tell you
- It says nothing about your chance of winning. A high payout on a hard-to-predict asset is not a better deal.
- It does not reduce risk. Every losing trade still costs the full stake.
- It is not a promise about the next trade. The figure can be different the next time you open the same asset.
Trading these products carries a high risk of loss, and Quotex is not regulated by a major financial authority. Our article asking is Quotex legit explains what that means for you.
Practise this on the demo
The demo shows the same payout figures as the real balance, so it is the right place to learn the maths without paying for the lesson. Record each trade's payout as well as its result, then compare your win rate with the break-even rate for the payouts you actually traded. If you need a clean start for the test, use the demo balance reset, and read demo vs real account before you think about depositing.