The stock price at which the option's profit equals zero at expiration — you've recovered the premium paid (or kept all the premium received) but earned nothing more. For Long Calls: Strike + Premium. For Long Puts: Strike − Premium. For Short positions, it's the same point but your profit profile is flipped.

Calls profit when the stock rises ABOVE strike + premium. Puts profit when the stock falls BELOW strike − premium. The break-even point reflects the direction the option needs to move plus how far it needs to travel to recover the premium you paid upfront.

Add the round-trip fees (open + close) to the premium paid. If you bought a $2 call and round-trip commissions are $0.10, your effective break-even rises by $0.10. On small trades (1–2 contracts) commissions can shift break-even materially; on large trades (50+ contracts) they're negligible per share.

Closing early captures BOTH intrinsic value AND remaining time value (extrinsic). Holding to expiration eliminates time value, leaving only intrinsic value. Selling early at, say, 60% of max profit usually beats holding for the last 40% — time decay accelerates against you in the final weeks.

The break-even at EXPIRATION is fixed by the strike + premium you paid. But the price you can sell the option for TODAY depends on time, volatility, and underlying movement. The 'break-even at expiry' is your worst-case sale price assuming you hold all the way; before expiry you can often close at a profit even with the stock below your stated break-even.

This calculator focuses specifically on the break-even point and shows P&L scenarios at expiration. The Options Profit Calculator includes Greeks (Delta, Gamma, Theta, Vega) and pricing scenarios pre-expiration. Use this for entry decisions; use Options Profit for managing positions over their lifespan.