Our top brokers be region and regulate in 2024 are:

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
98 SCB, ASIC
FCA, CySEC
1.10 1.40 1.20 0.10 0.40 0.20 $3.50 77ms $0 62+ 12+ 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
85 ASIC, FSA-S
CySEC
0.62 0.83 0.77 0.02 0.23 0.17 $3.50 134ms $0 61+ 18+ 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
81 FCA, CIRO, ASIC
MAS, JFSA, FSC-BVI
KNF, NFA/CFTC, MFSA
0.6 0.9 0.7 - - - - - $0 70+ 4+ Visit Site
43 ASIC, CySEC, MFSA
FCA, FSA, FINRA
GFSC
1.0 2.0 1.0 - - - - 130ms $200 (Australia), $50-$100 (EU) 49+ 46+ 30:1 400:1 Visit Site
80 ASIC,CySEC
FSCA,FSA-S,FSC-M
1.1 1.3 1.3 0.10 0.20 0.20 $3.00 225ms $100 70+ 10+ 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
57 ASIC, CySEC, MAS
FCA, FMA, DFSA
EFSA, FSA, FSCA
1.70 2.3 1.4 - - - - 140ms $100 71+ 15+ 30:1 300:1 Visit Site
71 ASIC, FCA, BaFin
FINMA, NFA/CFTC, MAS
CySEC, DFSA, FMA
JFSA, BMA, FSCA
1.13 1.66 1.01 0.16 0.59 0.29 $6.00 174ms $450 100+ 12+ 30:1 200:1 Visit Site
64 ASIC, FSCA
CBI, KNF, CIRO
ADGM, FSC-BVI
- - - - - - - 160ms $100 55+ 15+ 30:1 400:1 Visit Site
52 NFA, CFTC, CBI
ASIC, FCA, MAS
CIRO, JFSA
- - - - 0.08%-0.2% 110ms $0 100+ - 30:1 500:1 Visit Site
41 SEC, NFA/CFTC
FINRA
1.4 1.3 1.2 - - - - 110ms $2000 70+ (Spot) - 50:1 50:1 Visit Site

1. Pepperstone World’s Best MT4 Broker

Pepperstone

Forex Panel Score

98

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.1
GBP/USD = 0.4
AUD/USD = 0.2

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, cTrader, TradingView, Capitalise.ai

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend Pepperstone

We consider Pepperstone to not only be the best broker in the world but also the best broker for the MetaTrader 4 (MT4) platform. Pepperstone provides several useful tools to use with MT4 such as Capaitalise.ai for automation, Myfxbook for social trading and DupliTrade for copy trading and of course, you can use expert advisors to create custom indicators.

All the tools and features required to develop successful currency trading strategies are offered by Pepperstone, including low spreads, the best trading platforms, a great product range, and award-winning customer service.

Pros & Cons

  • Fast MT4 execution speeds
  • Competitive spreads
  • Diverse trading platforms
  • No Physical Stocks
  • Lacks GSLO
  • Limited education resources

Broker Details

Below we summarise some of the most notable features Pepperstone offers.

Competitive Spreads: With an average spread of 0.10 pips for EUR/USD, Pepperstone has some of the lowest spreads of any broker we’ve reviewed. You can choose between commission-free spreads on the Standard account or commission-based spreads on the Razor account.

The table below compares how Pepperstone spreads compared to other brokers. We collect these average spreads from the broker’s website and update these spreads once a month.

ECN Broker Spreads
0.40 0.60 0.10 0.40 0.20
0.20 0.30 0.10 0.30 0.20
0.20 0.30 0.20 0.40 0.20
0.20 0.83 0.44 0.40 0.42
0.24 N/A 0.17 0.54 0.30
0.30 1.10 0.10 0.60 0.50
n/a 0.60 n/a 0.60 0.50
0.30 0.50 0.20 0.60 0.30

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 03/01/2024

Great Range of Trading Platforms: Pepperstone offers a diverse range of platforms including both MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, as well as cTrader, Capitalise.ai, and TradingView. You can also social trade with Myfxbook, an algorithmic platform that lets you copy trades without running any software.

Excellent Customer Service: From our analysis, Pepperstone offers the best customer service of any broker we’ve tested. It scored a perfect 10/10 in terms of coverage, support hours, and overall website experience.

pepperstone account international 1 pips

 

View Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone

2. IC Markets Largest Broker by Volume

IC Markets

Forex Panel Score

85

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.02
GBP/USD = 0.23
AUD/USD = 0.17

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, cTrader

Minimum Deposit

$200

Why We Recommend IC Markets

Australian-owned, IC Markets is the largest broker by volume, with 25 global liquidity providers, allowing them to consistently offer tight ECN/STP spreads. IC Markets also scored highly with us in terms of low trading costs, choice of trading platforms, and range of markets.

Pros & Cons

  • Lowest zero-commission spreads
  • Good range of platforms
  • Solid selection of markets
  • No TradingView or cTrader Copy
  • Average Execution Speeds
  • Limited Regulations

Broker Details

Below we summarise some of the most notable features IC Markets offer.

Lowest Spreads Based on Our Testing: Based on our testing, IC Markets has the lowest spreads across both its Standard and Raw accounts. The Australian broker had an average spread of 0.76 pips on its Standard account against the broker average of 1.52 pips and 0.16 pips on its RAW account against the broker average of 0.44 pips.

Good Choice of Trading Platforms: While IC Markets doesn’t offer a proprietary platform, the broker does offer both MetaTrader platforms, in addition to cTrader and social/copy trading options with ZuluTrade, Myfxbook and cTrader Copy.

Solid Range of Markets: IC Markets has a solid range of trading products including 61 forex pairs, over 1600 share CFDs and a smaller selection of indices, commodities, bonds and cryptocurrencies. You can also trade futures and physical shares as an alternative to CFDs with IC Markets.

3. OANDA Corporation The Most Trusted Broker

OANDA Corporation

Forex Panel Score

81

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 1.4
GBP/USD = 2
AUD/USD = 1.4

Trading Platforms

MT4, TradingView, OANDA Trade (fx Trade)

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend OANDA

We recommend OANDA because we consider them to be our most trusted broker. The CompareForexBroker team gave the broker a trust score of 100 largely due to its stellar reputation and multiple tier-1 regulations. The broker also offers an excellent proprietary platform, OANDA Trade, along with the popular MT4 and TradingView.

Lastly, OANDA has some of the most competitive commission-free spreads, keeping its costs low. All of these factors add up to OANDA being ideal for beginner forex traders.

Pros & Cons

  • Highly trusted broker
  • Competitive commission-free spreads
  • OANDA Trade Platform
  • Lacks CFD shares
  • Slow Account Opening
  • Lack of funding methods

Broker Details

Below we summarise some of the most notable features OANDA offers.

Competitive No-Commission Spreads: OANDA has the best published average spreads for Standard accounts, with an average spread of 0.70 pips for the 5 most traded currency pairs.

Great Trading Platforms: OANDA scores points for offering an excellent proprietary platform, OANDA Trade, as well as MT4 and the excellent charting platform, TradingView. With OANDA Trade, you can also use a guaranteed stop-loss order (GSLO), which not all brokers offer.

Trust: With a perfect score of 100/100, OANDA is our most trusted broker overall, based on its longstanding history, excellent reputation, and multiple regulators.

4. eToro The Largest Social Media Platform

eToro

Forex Panel Score

43

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 1
GBP/USD = 2
AUD/USD = 1

Trading Platforms

eToro Trading Platform

Minimum Deposit

$50

Why We Recommend eToro

eToro is one of the pioneers in the social trading space with the largest social media platform in the industry. Founded in 2007, eToro is a kind of ‘Facebook’ for traders, because its trading platform is designed to allow you to ‘follow’, share ideas with and copy the trades of other traders automatically in the eToro community.

We like eToro’s Smart Portfolios feature. This feature is a type of index that combines the best traders or most popular stocks into an index for you to buy.

Pros & Cons

  • Social trading leader
  • Simple proprietary platforms
  • Low minimum deposit
  • Spreads could be tighter
  • Inactivity and withdrawal fees
  • Lacks advanced platform tools

Broker Details

Below we summarise some of the most notable features eToro offers.

Low Minimum Deposit: As a market marker, eToro doesn’t have the lowest spreads out there, but the broker does offer a low minimum deposit of $50 to ease your way into trading.

Social Trading King: Not only is eToro the best social trading broker out there, but it also has the largest social trading network and community in the industry. There are over 30 million users, which is an astounding number of traders to connect with. The platform comes with ‘Copy Trader’ to help you find and copy the best traders in their network and smart portfolios which creates an index of the best traders.

User-Friendly Platforms: While eToro only offers its own, proprietary trading platforms, they are all user-friendly for beginner traders. You can trade over 3000 products on the eToro trading platform, as well as utilise CopyTrader and SmartPortfolios for copy trading.

etoro account types international

5. FP Markets Top Choice For Scalpers

FP Markets

Forex Panel Score

80

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.1
GBP/USD = 0.2
AUD/USD = 0.1

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5

Minimum Deposit

$100

Why We Recommend FP Markets

FP Markets is our top choice for scalpers due to the unrestricted trading on its MetaTrader platforms. The broker gives you the freedom to trade over short holding periods utilising technical analysis methods on both MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). You can also use these MetaTrader platforms for automation through the use of expert advisors (EAs).

While some competing brokers do offer more products than FP Markets, FP Markets does have 71 forex pairs, which is amongst the most of any broker we’ve tested.

Pros & Cons

  • Low Trading Costs
  • Fast market execution speeds
  • IRESS trading for Aussies
  • Very basic proprietary app features
  • Average educational content
  • Limited CFDs outside forex

Broker Details

Below we summarise some of the most notable features FP Markets offer.

Fast Market Execution Speeds: With an average market order speed of 96ms, FP Markets is the 4th fastest broker overall based on our testing. This means executing live market orders will often result in less slippage than other brokers, adding to the scalping appeal of the broker.

Low-Cost Broker: FP Markets offers competitive average spreads of 1.30 pips for its Standard account and 0.22 pips for its RAW account. Charging commissions of $6 per round-turn trade, FP Markets has one of the cheapest RAW accounts. There are also no inactivity fees, adding to FP Markets’ low-cost appeal.

Proprietary Mobile Platform: FP Markets offers a proprietary mobile app, which has a simple layout and is user-friendly. In addition to both MT4 and MT5, Australian traders can also use the IRESS trading platform for trading on over 10,000 shares and traders outside Australia can use cTrader.

6. Plus500 Good Trading App

Plus500

Forex Panel Score

57

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 1.7
GBP/USD = 2.3
AUD/USD = 1.4

Trading Platforms

Plus500 Trading Platform

Minimum Deposit

$100

Why We Recommend Plus500

UK-based, Plus500 has a good trading proprietary app, which makes it great for mobile trading on the go. The broker is also listed on the London Stock Exchange and has risen in value by over 1200% since its original listing in 2013.

We like the Plus500 app and platform because it has been built from the ground up with traders’ needs in mind. The user interface is intuitive and contains a wealth of charts and technical indicators to make better trading decisions. Trading is commission-free and has good risk management features such as a guaranteed stop-loss order.

Pros & Cons

  • Commission-free spreads
  • Good trading platforms for beginners
  • Solid range of CFD products
  • No MT4 or MT5
  • Wider than average spreads
  • Limited market research

Broker Details

Below is an overview of some of the key features of the Plus500 platform.

No Commission Trading: Although it offers slightly wider spreads than the average, Plus500 offers no commission trading with its Standard account.

User-Friendly Trading App: The Plus500 trading app is a user-friendly trading platform for mobile trading. While limited in trading tools, the platform features guarantee stop loss orders (GSLOs) and Negative Balance Protection to prevent a negative account balance.

Good Range of Markets: Plus500 offers a good range of around 5,500 financial instruments, including 65 forex pairs, all tradeable as CFDs.

7. IG Group Oldest Online Forex Broker

IG Group

Forex Panel Score

71

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.16
GBP/USD = 0.59
AUD/USD = 0.29

Trading Platforms

MT4, IG Trading Platform, L2 Dealer, ProRealTime

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend IG Group

IG Group is the oldest and largest online broker, regulated by 12 different financial authorities, from jurisdictions as diverse as FCA in the UK, ASIC in Australia, CYSEC in Cyprus, FSCA in South Africa and NFA/CFTC in the U.S.

While IG Group’s spreads are slightly wider than average, the broker offers discounts for high-volume traders on its active trader account.

We think one of the most appealing aspects of the IG Group is that they have one of the widest product ranges (few brokers have interest rates, options, and futures) and a good selection of trading platforms, suited for both beginner and experienced retail traders.

Pros & Cons

  • Huge range of markets
  • Trusted and established
  • Solid proprietary platforms
  • Market maker spreads
  • Slow execution speeds
  • No MT5 or TradingView

Broker Details

Below we summarise the key features IG Offer

Huge Range of Markets: Perhaps IG Group’s biggest selling point is the broker’s huge range of tradeable markets. You can trade over 80 forex pairs and a whopping, 13,000 share CFDs. In addition to bonds, options and futures you can also buy shes (i.e. the underlying instrument.

Oldest and Trusted Broker: Being the oldest online broker gives IG Group a level of trust that few brokers can boast. We gave IG Group an almost perfect trust score of 97/100.

Good Range of Platforms: IG Group offers MT4 and ProRealTime as third-party platforms which are great for charting, automation and customisation plus two excellent proprietary trading platforms, fit for different purposes. The IG Trading Platform is user-friendly and packed full of features, while the L2 Dealer is a direct market access (DMA) platform allowing you to trade shares or forex CFDs, or trade shares outright, straight through the order books of international exchanges.

8. Avatrade Good For Day Trading

Avatrade

Forex Panel Score

64

Average Spread

EUR/USD = 0.9
GBP/USD = 1.5
AUD/USD = 1.1

Trading Platforms

MT4, MT5, AvaTradeGo, AvaOptions

Minimum Deposit

$100

Why We Recommend Avatrade

AvaTrade is good for day trading due to its low trading costs, reliable trading platforms and decent charting tools. Unusually for a market maker, they don’t place limits on scalping or automation making them a good choice for day trading.

While AvaTrade only offers a commission-free retail investor account with spreads of 0.9 pips for the EUR/USD, the broker offers a solid choice of platforms, a good range of markets and great copy trading tools.

Pros & Cons

  • Solid range of markets
  • Great choice of platforms
  • Good copy trading tools
  • Only commission-free account
  • No TradingView
  • Inactivity fees after 3 months

Broker Details

Some of the key features of AvaTrade include:

Good Range of Markets: AvaTrade offers a good range of over 1200 markets, including 55 forex pairs, which is about average. You can also trade options and physical shares with AvaTrade, products that not all brokers offer.

Solid Choice of Trading Platforms: From MT4 and MT5 to two unique proprietary platforms, AvaTrade Go and AvaOptions, AvaTrade offers a great range of trading platforms.

Great for Copy Trading: AvaTrade offers AvaSocial, along with ZuluTrade and DupliTrade for copy trading. ZuluTrade is one of the top third-party social trading platforms, while AvaSocial is the broker’s own, solid social trading platform, available as a mobile app.

avatrade account types uk

9. Interactive Brokers LLC Popular With Professionals

Interactive Brokers LLC

Forex Panel Score

52

Average Spread

EUR/USD = N/A
GBP/USD = N/A
AUD/USD = N/A

Trading Platforms

Trader Workstation

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend Interactive Brokers LLC

Interactive Brokers is popular with professionals due to its huge range of products and advanced trading platforms.

The broker offers a unique range of financial markets to trade, including complex instruments such as mutual funds, that not a lot of brokers offer.

With a history stretching back to 1977, Interactive Brokers is also a highly trusted broker that is even listed on the Nasdaq-100.

Pros & Cons

  • Huge range of products
  • Highly trusted and respected
  • Sophisticated trading platforms
  • Not suited for beginners
  • Potentially high trading costs
  • Lack of funding options

Broker Details

Key Features Interactive Brokers offer include

Highly Trusted Broker: Regulated by eleven different entities, including ASIC, FCA and NFA/CFTC, Interactive Brokers is highly trusted. The broker also has a longstanding history and is a listed company, adding to our high trust score of 93/100.

Huge Range of Products: You can diversify your trading with over 8500 instruments across 10 different asset classes available, including 90 forex pairs. What instruments are available to you will, however, depend on where you are trading from.

Advanced Trading Platforms: Interactive Brokers stands out for its sophisticated, proprietary trading platforms, with platforms designed for web, mobile, and desktop. Client Portal is an easy-to-use online trading platform, Trader Workstation (TWS) is a desktop platform designed for active traders while IBKR Mobile is a robust mobile app for Android and iOS devices.

10. TD-Ameritrade Widest Range Of Products In The US

TD-Ameritrade

Forex Panel Score

41

Average Spread

N/A

Trading Platforms

Thinkorswim

Minimum Deposit

$0

Why We Recommend TD Ameritrade

We recommend TD Ameritrade as they have the widest range of products for trading in America. The broker lets you access various asset classes and markets, paying no commission fees when trading shares, ETFs, and options.

US-based, TD Ameritrade also boasts a solid proprietary platform, thinkorswim, low trading costs and decent educational resources.

Pros & Cons

  • Low trading costs
  • Large range of forex pairs
  • Good proprietary platform
  • No MT4, MT5 or TradingView
  • Lacks RAW spread account
  • No share CFDs

Broker Details

TD-Ameritrade features include:

Low-cost Broker: While TD-Ameritrade only offers a Standard account, its average spreads of 1.2 pips are competitive for an account of its type. Having no commissions, with competitive spreads keeps TD-Ameritrade’s trading costs low.

Large Range of Forex Products: You can trade an impressive range of 70 forex pairs, which includes currency ETFs, exchange-traded forex futures, and options on forex futures.

Solid Proprietary Platform: Thinkorswim, TD-Ameritrade’s proprietary trading platform, offers a smooth trading experience across mobile, web, and desktop. The desktop version is our pick of the bunch, however, with fully customisable software and access to advanced trading tools, including 400 technical studies, for a superior charting experience.