RAW Accounts (aka ECN accounts) have the tightest spreads even with added commissions (typically $6.00 per lot). Here are the Forex brokers we think have the best RAW Spread Forex trading accounts.
Our forex comparisons and broker reviews are reader supported and we may receive payment when you click on a link to a partner site.
Our list of the best Raw Spread Trading Accounts is:
| Broker | Our Rating | Regulation | Standard EUR/USD Spread |
Standard GBP/USD Spread |
Standard AUD/USD Spread |
Raw EUR/USD Spread |
Raw GBP/USD Spread |
Raw AUD/USD Spread |
Commissions (USD Base) |
MetaTrader 4 | MetaTrader 5 | cTrader | Execution Speed | Minimum Deposit | Currency Pairs | Crypto CFDs | Retail Leverage | Prof. Leverage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
9.00 | ASIC, SCB, CySEC | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.06 | 0.73 | 0.27 | $3.50 |
|
|
|
143ms |
$250 (Raw) $500 (Standard) |
40+ | 250+ | 500:1 | 500:1 |
|
|
8.50 |
ASIC, FSA CySEC |
0.62 | 0.83 | 0.77 | 0.02 | 0.23 | 0.17 | $3.50 |
|
|
|
134ms | $0 | 61+ | 18+ | 30:1 | 500:1 |
|
|
9.33 |
ASIC, FCA CySEC, DFSA |
1.12 | 1.69 | 1.22 | 0.10 | 0.60 | 0.30 | $3.50 |
|
|
|
77ms | $0 | 62+ | 12+ | 30:1 | 500:1 |
|
|
8.17 | ASIC, VFSA | 0.93 | 1.08 | 0.92 | 0.13 | 0.21 | 0.12 | $2.25 |
|
|
|
79ms | $0 | 90+ | 10+ | 500:1 | 500:1 |
|
|
8.50 | FMA, FSA | 1.20 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 0.23 | 0.72 | 0.65 | $3.00 |
|
|
|
72ms | $0 | 64+ | 11+ | 500:1 | 500:1 |
|
We analysed all the published spreads of forex brokers available to Australian traders and then did our own testing using EAs to determine which are the best Raw spread forex brokers. To do this, we only considered forex brokers that offer ECN-like or ‘Raw’ pricing (I.E. commission-based accounts). Our results have been broken down into specific categories as each broker had a unique competitive advantage.
Eightcap has low spreads and good commissions
When combining trading cost factors, spreads and commissions, Melbourne-based forex broker, Eightcap came up trumps, based on our tests. The broker’s list of strengths include:
Our Testing Confirms Eightcap’s Low Spreads
Eightcap has low spreads across all the major forex pairs, according to our analysis. When comparing against other low-spread brokers such as FP Markets and Pepperstone using spreads the brokers publish on their website, Eightcap stacks up well, as you can see. While the broker may not have the ‘lowest spreads’ on some currency pairs, strictly speaking, it does for two of the most competitive pairs, EUR/USD and USD/CAD. This was also confirmed in our Raw Spread Testing by Ross Collins, our Chief of Technology Research and you can find our results on our RAW/ECN test results page.
|
ECN Broker Spreads
|
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
0.06 | 0.23 | 0.20 | 0.42 | 0.27 |
|
0.10 | 0.20 | 0.30 | 0.30 | 0.20 |
|
0.12 | 0.47 | 0.50 | 0.40 | 0.22 |
|
0.30 | 0.50 | 0.60 | 0.50 | 0.50 |
|
0.30 | 0.30 | N/A | 0.50 | 0.40 |
|
0.44 | 0.20 | 0.83 | 0.40 | 0.42 |
|
0.17 | 0.24 | N/A | 0.54 | 0.30 |
|
0.20 | 0.30 | 0.70 | 0.50 | 0.40 |
|
n/a | n/a | 0.30 | 0.60 | 0.50 |
Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/09/2023
Eightcap’s Raw account has tight spreads and low commissions
Eightcap has two types of trading account:
When testing, we found the broker’s Raw account has the best combination of low spreads and competitive commission fees. On their own, Eightcap’s commissions of $7 AUD round-turn are in line with the industry average. However, when combined with the broker’s published average spreads of 0.06 pips for EUR/USD, we found Eightcap has the best Raw spreads. This is because when evaluating your trading costs for an ECN-like (Raw) account, both spreads AND commissions must both factored in.
To open a Raw account with Eightcap will require a minimum deposit of AUD $250, which is fairly standard from our research.
Looking at Eightcap’s trading products, the broker specialises in stocks and cryptocurrencies. We were particularly impressed by Eightcap’s 250 crypto trading instruments, which is the most of any broker we’ve reviewed. Compared to other strong crypto brokers such as eToro, IC Markets and Capital.com, Eightcap has generally tighter spreads across most crypto products. This is why Eightcap won the award for our top automated crypto trading platform In Australia.
Eightcap’s Diverse Trading Platforms
Eightcap really stands out with a diverse range of trading platforms. While the broker doesn’t have a proprietary platform, it does offer both MetaTrader platforms, in addition to four excellent specialised platforms. Key to these specialised platforms are Capitalise.ai, for useful, ‘code-free’ automated trading and The Amazing Trader, an advanced charting algo platform.
The broker is also one of the best for TradingView, a powerful charting platform, which we recommend for technical analysis having over 100 technical indicators and 50 analytical indicators. So much do we like Eightcap’s TradingView offering that we awarded it the best TradingView broker.
All of the above reasons add up to why we scored Eightcap a solid 8/10 for its platform offering, overall.
Our Eightcap Verdict
Eightcap has the best overall Raw account based on our September 2023 trading account testing. The broker has the best combination of the lowest published Raw spreads andcompetitive commission rates of brokers we’ve reviewed. In addition, Eightcap is a top crypto broker, with the lowest crypto CFD fees and the biggest range of cryptocurrency products we’ve seen. Saying that, we recommend Eightcap as the superior broker to minimise your trading costs with highly favourable ECN-style trading conditions.
IC Markets has market-leading ECN spreads
IC Markets has some of the lowest ECN spreads in the industry based on our market analysis. In general, we like IC Markets for the following reasons:
Our testing proved IC Markets is the top low spread broker
IC Markets fared extremely well in the tests done by Ross Collins to determine the broker that offers the best RAW spread. We tests 20 MT4 brokers and found that IC Markets was consistently in the top 3 brokers for the 6 currency pairs we tested. With this in mind, think IC Markets is worthy of our pick for best RAW account for low spreads.
| Broker | Average Spread | EURUSD | AUDUSD | USDCAD | USDJPY | GBPUSD | USDCHF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IC Markets | 0.32 | 0.19 | 0.23 | 0.45 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0.57 |
| Pepperstone | 0.36 | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.61 | 0.36 | 0.41 | 0.39 |
| FP Markets | 0.41 | 0.20 | 0.31 | 0.51 | 0.39 | 0.31 | 0.71 |
| EightCap | 0.50 | 0.20 | 0.48 | 0.64 | 0.47 | 0.44 | 0.76 |
| CMC Markets | 0.73 | 0.44 | 0.68 | 0.75 | 0.64 | 0.90 | 0.94 |
| Admiral Markets | 0.79 | 0.21 | 0.70 | 1.46 | 0.58 | 0.73 | 1.08 |
| BlackBull Markets | 0.94 | 0.46 | 0.85 | 1.01 | 0.43 | 0.96 | 1.31 |
We should also note that we have previously established that IC Markets also has the lowest Standard Account spreads based on our testing against 20 other top forex brokers. So if you are looking for a spread only style account, the IC Markets is a good option for this as well.
| Broker | Average Spread | EURUSD | AUDUSD | USDCAD | USDJPY | GBPUSD | USDCHF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IC Markets | 0.32 | 0.19 | 0.23 | 0.45 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0.57 |
| Pepperstone | 0.36 | 0.19 | 0.19 | 0.61 | 0.36 | 0.41 | 0.39 |
| FP Markets | 0.41 | 0.20 | 0.31 | 0.51 | 0.39 | 0.31 | 0.71 |
| EightCap | 0.50 | 0.20 | 0.48 | 0.64 | 0.47 | 0.44 | 0.76 |
| CMC Markets | 0.73 | 0.44 | 0.68 | 0.75 | 0.64 | 0.90 | 0.94 |
| Admiral Markets | 0.79 | 0.21 | 0.70 | 1.46 | 0.58 | 0.73 | 1.08 |
| BlackBull Markets | 0.94 | 0.46 | 0.85 | 1.01 | 0.43 | 0.96 | 1.31 |
IC Markets have Low Spreads In both account types
IC Markets offers two Raw Spread accounts and a Standard account.
The Raw Spread accounts are separated by trading platform, which affects what commissions you will be charged. However, if you are trading in USD, you will obtain the cheapest commission fees of USD $6 round-turn, no matter what platform you use.
When we tested using MetaTrader 4, IC Markets came out with market-leading spreads across both its Raw Spread (3rd in our 2023 analysis) and Standard account (our overall winner). Combined with the competitive commission rates of USD $6, IC Markets has some of the lowest trading costs in the industry, from our analysis.
IC Markets is our top MT5 broker
Much like Eightcap, IC Markets has an excellent range of trading platforms. As well as offering both MetaTrader 4 and Metatrader 5, the broker offers cTrader, which is popular for algorithmic trading.
Where IC Markets stands out, however, is in its delivery of MT5. With its combination of tight spreads, low commissions and fast execution speeds, we named IC Markets as our best forex broker for MT5.
IC Markets’ MT4 offering also features, Advanced Trading Tools, which include 20 exclusive trading tools previously not available on MetaTrader 4. This further enhances MT4’s reputation as the best forex trading platform, giving IC Markets an edge over other MetaTrader brokers.
IC Markets Verdict
Overall, IC Markets has market-leading ECN spreads based on the broker’s published data and our own testing. While our testing was primarily done on MT4, we also rated IC Markets as our top MT5 broker, proving it is a leading MetaTrader broker. For the combination of low ECN spreads and powerful trading platforms, we recommend IC Markets.
Pepperstone’s spreads are 0 pips most of the time
Another Melbourne-based broker, Pepperstone, has the consistently lowest spreads when looking at zero spreads. Pepperstone’s key strengths are:
Pepperstone has consistently low spreads
While conducting testing, we found Pepperstone has a 0 pip spread 100% of the time for its Razor account (Raw account equivalent). This testing was done over two periods for 26 hours using MetaTrader 4 EAs.
Given a Raw account spread is set by the market, a broker only makes money from the commission. Rather than mark up its spreads or having poor liquidity, Pepperstone provides consistently low spreads which will lower your overall trading costs. It is not uncommon for some brokers to claim their spreads start from 0.0 pips but we wanted to find out how true this was and how often there are 0 pips, as it turns out, our test found some brokers nearly always have 0 pips spreads for certain pairs.
| Broker | Time at Minimum Spread | Minimum Spread |
|---|---|---|
| Pepperstone | 100.00% | 0.00 |
| City Index | 100.00% | 0.00 |
| Fusion Markets | 98.55% | 0.00 |
| TMGM | 97.83% | 0.00 |
| IC Markets | 97.83% | 0.00 |
| FP Markets | 97.83% | 0.00 |
| EightCap | 97.83% | 0.00 |
| Admiral Markets | 95.65% | 0.00 |
| ThinkMarkets | 94.93% | 0.00 |
| Blueberry Markets | 94.20% | 0.00 |
| Go Markets | 87.68% | 0.00 |
| Blackbull Markets | 86.96% | 0.10 |
| Tickmill | 86.23% | 0.00 |
| Axi | 82.61% | 0.10 |
| CMC Markets | 81.88% | 0.10 |
Pepperstone has tight Raw Spread spreads and fast execution speeds
Pepperstone’s Raw account is actually called a Razor account, but it’s still an ECN account. The benefit you’ll get with Pepperstone’s accounts, from a trading cost perspective, is that commissions are competitive if you use cTrader and TradingView at $6 USD round-turn.
As mentioned above, Pepperstone offers a zero spread 100% of the time, which means you can benefit from lower spreads more consistently. Coupled with that, Pepperstone came in as our 3rd fastest broker according to our execution speed tests. This means you will have reduced latency in your trading (I.E less time delay between an order being placed and its execution), resulting in your orders being filled at the best possible prices.
Pepperstone also offers the diversity of 5 powerful trading platforms to use with your Razor (ECN) account: MT4, MT5, cTrader Capitalise.ai and TradingView.
Our Pepperstone Verdict
It’s no secret that Pepperstone is one of our favourite forex brokers. The broker regularly scores highly in our overall ranking, with a near-perfect score of 97/100. This excellent rating was based on spreads, execution speeds, range of trading platforms and customer support. As such, we highly recommend Pepperstone as a great all-around, low-spread, forex broker.
Fusion Markets has the lowest commissions in the industry
Based on our testing, Fusion Markets has the lowest Raw commissions in the industry at AUD $4.5 per round turn. The broker has the following key strengths:
When comparing the Raw based commissions of top forex brokers in September 2023, we found Fusion Markets had the cheapest at AUD $2.25 a side ($4.50 per round turn). The nearest Australian forex broker is GO Markets, at $0.75 more expensive per side (or $1.50 per round turn). While this doesn’t sound like a lot, over time, these cheaper commissions will substantially reduce your overall trading costs.
| Broker | Commission Rate (AUD) |
Commission Rate (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| Fusion Markets | $2.25 AUD | $2.25 USD |
| GO Markets | $3.00 AUD | $2.50 USD |
| Blackbull Markets | $4.50 AUD | $3.00 USD |
| Pepperstone | $3.50 AUD | $3.50 USD |
| Eightcap | $3.50 AUD | $3.50 USD |
| FP Markets | $3.50 AUD | $3.50 USD |
| IC Markets | $3.50 AUD | $3.50 USD |
| ThinkMarkets | $3.50 AUD | $3.50 USD |
| TMGM | $3.50 AUD | $3.50 USD |
Tight ECN spreads combined with lowest commissions
Not only does Fusion Markets have the lowest commissions, the broker also has the tightest Raw/ECN account spreads based on our testing of 15 top forex brokers. Testing conducted by our Head Technology Researcher, Ross Collins, found that Fusion Markets’ Zero account type had an average spread of 0.22 pips based on the 6 major currency pairs.
Having the tightest ECN spreads combined with the lowest commissions means Fusion Markets has some of the lowest trading costs in the industry.
While there is no minimum deposit requirement, the average Fusion Markets client funds $1500 into their accounts, which reflects well on the broker’s low trading costs.
Lastly, it’d be remiss of us not to mention Fusion Markets’ huge range of over 90 forex pairs to trade. As such, combined with the broker’s low trading costs, we can highly recommend Fusion Markets for forex trading.
Our Fusion Markets Verdict
Overall, Fusion Markets is one of the best Australian forex brokers with the combination of the lowest commission fees and tightest Raw spreads in the industry. Coupled with that is the broker’s lightening fast execution speeds, based on our 2023 Execution Speed Testing Results, which shows Fusion Markets as the second fastest broker overall.
BlackBull Markets is the best choice for scalpers
Boasting the fastest execution speeds for an ECN account, BlackBull Markets is our overall winner based on our 2023 testing. The broker has many highlights to note, including:
Fastest Execution Speeds based on our testing
When conducting execution speed testing in 2023, BlackBull Markets came up as the fastest broker overall. Our chief of technology research, Ross Collins, tested both limit and market orders of 20 top brokers to find who had the fastest speed. He found BlackBull Markets had an average limit order speed of 72 milliseconds and an average market order speed of 90 milliseconds, putting it at our number 1 spot. Trading with BlackBull’s fast execution speeds minimises your trade latency, meaning you can lock in a lower spread, which will significantly cut your trading costs as a result.
BlackBull’s Fast ECN account type
BlackBull Markets’ ECN Prime account is its Raw spread account, which charges industry standard commission fees of AUD $7 round-turn. With minimum spreads as low as 0 pips, BlackBull’s fast execution speeds will help keep your spread costs low while you trade.
The broker is able to achieve this due to using servers located in the heart of New York City, dedicated to Forex trading. With the VPS being so close to the Equinix servers that BlackBull Markets use, this results in a low latency between the two, resulting in the faster execution speeds we measured.
As an Australian trader, it’s important to mention that BlackBull Markets is not regulated by ASIC in Australia, so you will go through the broker’s offshore regulator in Seychelles.
While BlackBull Markets does have over 23,000 stocks available to trade as an underlying asset, these are not available to Australian traders unfortunately. For Forex traders, however, you can trade a decent range of 64 currency pairs. Please note that as an Australian trader, you will only be trading CFDs with BlackBull Markets.
Our BlackBull Markets Verdict
As the broker with the fastest execution speeds, BlackBull Markets beat out every top forex broker we tested which is no small feat. With such fast execution speeds, we particularly recommend BlackBull Markets for scalpers.
A raw spread account, often referred to as an ECN account, offers the tightest spreads available in the market. This is because these accounts provide direct access to the liquidity providers, thereby eliminating the broker’s mark-up on the spread. However, it’s essential to note that while the spreads are tighter, a commission fee is usually charged, typically around $6.00 per lot.
The primary advantage of opting for a raw spread account lies in its cost-effectiveness. In a standard account, the broker includes a mark-up in the spread, which serves as their profit. This mark-up is absent in a raw spread account, where the broker earns through commissions instead. Over an extended period, the savings on the spread can be substantial, making raw spread accounts a preferred choice for traders keen on minimising costs.
While raw spread accounts offer the allure of lower spreads, they are not devoid of costs. The commission fees, although transparent, are an additional expense that traders must consider. Therefore, the decision between a raw spread and a standard spread account should be based on a comprehensive understanding of your trading strategy and cost considerations. Raw spread accounts offer a more transparent trading environment and are often the choice of more experienced traders including myself. Our forex broker comparison site gives weight towards this account type.
