To identify the April 2021 lowest spread forex broker, our spread calculator aggregated the top brokers average spreads. Other factors that impact forex trading costs such as trading commissions were then considered to determine the current overall lowest spread forex broker.
Updated: 02/03/2021
What Changed?
Fact Checked
Our April 2021 lowest spread forex broker list is.
You can calculate forex brokerage based on current forex crosses, commissions and spreads below for the major base currency and currency pairs. You can also click on the ‘+’ sign to view the fees that led to the final forex brokerage displayed.
Commission
Spread Costs
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ECN brokers publish their average spreads periodically and in April 2021 IC Markets had the lowest spreads. This included 0.10 pip for EUR/USD and 0.30 for the USD/SGD currency pairing.
Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 02/04/2021
Forex broker with similar spreads to IC Markets includes Pepperstone, FP markets and Fusion Markets. These four brokers offer straight-through processing (STP) ensuring a fast online trading experience. While most ECN forex brokers don’t put a markup on spreads, the superior liquidity providers of IC Markets is why they achieve the lowest forex spreads.
The other factor to consider when choosing a low spread forex broker is commissions. IC Markets has a competitive commission rate based on the forex traders base currency. Current traders who choose the Australian Dollar (AUD) base currency account receive the lowest commission as $3.50 AUD is approximate a $2.68 USD rate per lot (per side).
IC Markets has a minimum deposit requirement of $200 and charges no deposit or withdrawal fees. Traders have the ability to implement advanced trading strategies that involve automation or scalping with the broker. Other key features are IC Markets:
IC Markets Review >>Visit Broker >>
The overall rating is based on review by our experts
The commission charge for ECN brokers is set on the base currency chosen. These are based per side (100k traded) and if calculating per round-turn lot, the amounts below should be doubled. This was based on commission rates found on forex broker websites offering Raw (ECN accounts) and published in April 2021.
As the graph shows, Fusion Markets is the best broker when it comes to low commissions. They are advertised as the lowest ASIC (Australia) regulated forex broker, focusing primarily on the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) forex trading platform. In addition to the low commissions, there are also no fees on deposits or commissions.
The lowest minimum deposit is $0 for opening an online trading account with Fusion Markets. Deposits can be made fee-free via Skrill, Neteller, Visa or MasterCard.
Fusion Markets Full Review >>Visit Fusion Markets >>
Scalpers require a CFD broker that has fast execution speeds and low fees. Based on these two criteria as explained below, Pepperstone was the best broker.
Pepperstone has the lowest self-reported execution speeds with most ordered executed by Pepperstone Group Limited of 30 milliseconds. This is the time taken to process an order once it’s received by the broker. To verify this speed, a comparison using broker demo accounts resulted in Pepperstone having the fastest Market Order Execution Speed of any broker.
While IC Markets has the lowest spreads overall, Pepperstone is a close second and actually beats IC Markets for a number of spreads. Below shows some major forex pairs that Pepperstone beats most competitors when it comes to spreads.
Pepperstone has regulation with:
Pepperstone are also UK regulated with the FCA, which means they lowest spread UK forex broker. The broker offers MT4, MT5 and the cTrader forex trading platform with award-winning customer support.
View Pepperstone Review >>Visit Pepperstone >>
Standard forex accounts (OTC accounts) are designed for beginner forex traders with no commissions charged to traders. This means the main brokerage is the spread, making this element more important than ever. Below compares the standard spreads shown on each CFD brokers website on April 2021 from FxPro to CMC Markets.
As the data above shows, IG has the lowest forex broker spreads in the standard account category. This could be attributed to IG large liquidity pool access as it is the largest retail foreign exchange broker globally. While spreads are the main way IG makes money, they do have other charges including forex conversions, overnight fees and inactivity fees. If trading share CFDs, there are also commissions to note. Below shows an example of how IG charges a spread that is different from the market value.
Beginner forex brokers often prefer a standard forex account, as it’s easier to calculate profit/losses of trades and the fees are built into the prices. Key factors about the IG standard account include:
View Full IG Review >>
Fixed spread brokers are designed for low-risk forex traders looking for transparent fees and advanced features such as guaranteed stop-loss orders. These market maker brokers help traders avoid slippage, which is a key factor making CFD trading high risk but increases the fees (spreads) charged by the broker. Below compares the top fixed spread accounts.
As the above shows, AvaTrade has the lowest fixed spreads of any broker. They don’t charge for withdrawals or deposits but have an inactivity fee after a quarter of no activity. This inactivity is $50 per quarter. They offer a range of CFDs, EFTs and currency pairs.
View AvaTrade Review >>
FxPro is a no dealing desk forex broker adopting straight-through technology (STP) to execute trades. In 2020, this lead to no requotes on 99.32% of trades. It also leads to fast execution speeds with most orders filed in 11.06 milliseconds.
FxPro offers fixed spreads on limited forex pairs and floating spreads on the forex trading platforms MT4, MT5 and cTrader. Floating spreads will vary by market conditions and for major currency pairs such as the EUR/USD to AUD/JPY can be 0 spreads at times.
View Full FxPro Review >>
ForexTime (FXTM) is a global broker best known for the high leverage available. There are two sets of accounts offered by FXTM. The first is the standard account, also known as a ‘non-commission trading account’. As the below table highlights, the cent account has maximum fixed leverage between 25:1 and 1000:1. The Standard Account on the other-hand has up to a 200:1 leverage, which is the highest of any regulated forex broker.
The next set of FXTM accounts are ECN broker style with a spread and commission combination. This is the choice of more experienced traders of those using scalping. There are three main sets of accounts with the main two ECN accounts offering leverage up to 2000:1 while the Pro account has up to 200:1. The Pro account is more designed for institutional traders with a high minimum deposit of $25k.
Leverage puts your capital at risk, especially when market volatility is experienced. Losses can exceed your deposit. Account types with high leverage should only be chosen by forex traders that understand the risk. If you consider a high leverage broker, make sure it’s regulated with a tier 1 regulator unlike a broker such as Vantage FX. FXTM has many regulated entities including the Financial Services Commission of the Republic of Mauritius and the FSCA in South Africa. They also have regulation in Europe by CySEC and the FCA, which have strict leverage caps. This means if you are a resident within Europe, you won’t be able to get the leverage levels shown above.
View FXTM Review>>
The best forex brokers for South African traders are locally regulated with the Financial Services Conduct Authority (FSCA). The broker officially is named HF Markets SA (PTY) Ltd with the Financial Service Provider (FSP) licence number 46632. Key reasons HotForex are recommended is their size and reputation with the broker operating for over a decade with over 2 million forex accounts opened.
The forex provider offers high leverage levels of 1000:1 and the choice of MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 forex trading platforms. Other key features of HotForex are low spreads (from 0.1 for EUR/USD), a range of account types and a range of online trading tools.
South African forex traders should consider the FSCA regulated broker that balances a local presence, leverage and trading costs.
Those looking for social trading features should consider eToro which is built around its copy trading capability. It has one of the largest communities of retail traders that can be reviewed and copied. This means that once you select a trader, you will automatically make the same trades as that individual.
eToro has 0% commission stocks allowing retail traders to buy shares across the world from Australia, USA to Japan with no commissions charged. Like the best forex brokers, they also offer low spreads but have some unique fees such as a withdrawal fee. This can make them more expensive from other brokers, especially when market volatility is experienced.
eToro is regulated in the UK by the FCA, ASIC in Australia, while in the rest of Europe they have CySEC regulation. If you are looking for a social trading (copy trading) specialist CFD broker, eToro is your best low fee option. That said, there are lower spread and commission brokers such as Pepperstone that offer this type of trading but not as their core offering.
View Full eToro Review >>
IC Markets is the lowest spread forex broker. This is based on the average spreads of their Raw Spread trading account, with the account also offering low commissions.
Fusion Markets is an ASIC regulated forex broker offering the lowest commissions worldwide. View our commission comparison to see how the broker compares to other ECN brokers.
Market maker forex brokers widen the spreads (the difference between the buy/sell price) to make a profit. By selling a currency at a more expensive price or buying at a cheaper price, they can make money from the widened margin. Retail traders who want market-based spreads should view our ECN broker comparison.
The lowest spreads and overall fees are based on ECN accounts (Raw accounts). IC Markets in April 2021 had the lowest spreads including:
The commissions charged by IC Markets as analysed above are also competitive, including:
There are no inactivity fees, funding fees, or withdrawal fees. You can view the IC Markets spreads page for more fee information. The broker offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader. If you choose cTrader please view their website as some commission rates differ for this unique forex platform. The company is regulated with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC). The leverage offered through the ASIC subsidiary is up to 500:1 which combined with low fees is why experienced and automated traders choose IC Markets across the globe.
View IC Markets Review>>Visit IC Markets >>
This comparison was made based on the published forex broker average spreads at the time this article was created and revised. Many high-profile brokers from FXTM, HotForex, FBS, OctaFX and forex.com were not included primarily due to the lack of standard spread information. This includes brokers who claim to have zero spread accounts or floating variable spreads but won’t publish average spreads. Forex market conditions can impact capital markets impacting the ask price and sell price spreads. This can lead the actual spreads been quite different from the average spread which will be displayed by the forex broker. Before you start trading, understand the risks of leverage and CFD trading first.
A number of comparison pages exist on CompareForexBrokers that are country-specific factoring in the relevant regulator. This includes the best UK forex Brokers, Forex brokers in Australia and South African Brokers. You can also view the review page to compare the reviews of each forex broker worldwide.
Justin Grossbard has been investing for the past 20 years and writing for the past 10. He co-founded Compare Forex Brokers in 2014 after working with the foreign exchange trading industry for several years. He also founded a number of FinTech and digital startups including Innovate Online and SMS Comparison. Justin holds a Masters Degree and an Honours in Commerce from Monash University. He and his wife Paula live in Melbourne, Australia with his son and Siberian cat. In his spare time, he watches Australian Rules Football and invests on global markets.
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