Pepperstone is the best-rated forex broker based on trading experience, low fee structure and customer support levels. The most popular Pepperstone razor account average spreads are 0.09 pips in the EUR/USD currency pair with a $3.50 commission per lot charged.
Updated: 12/05/2021
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Pepperstone is the most awarded forex broker. In May 2021 our review found Pepperstone had the fastest MetaTrader 4 execution speeds across both account types. Other Pepperstone strengths include customer service levels, low spreads, no withdrawal fees and a requirement of a $200 minimum deposit.
Pepperstone offers two main account types with a Standard account with no commissions and a Razor account with tight spreads. A comprehensive Razor vs Standard guide compares these two trading accounts.
To review all account types offered by Pepperstone view the detailed trading account page. In summary, most traders choose the Razor account based on the lower fees and faster execution speeds. A bonus of the Razor account is the active trader program which further reduces trading costs for high volume monthly trading.
The overall rating is based on review by our experts
Pepperstone offers three account types in total:
Our 2021 analysis the leading ECN broker found the Pepperstone razor account has one of the lowest spreads. The razor account achieves this through straight-through processing (STP) of orders with no dealing desk. The account also has direct access to 60+ Exchanges, 400+ buy/sell firms and 150+ financial service providers to achieve tight spreads for traders.
Data taken from broker website. Accurate as at 07/05/2021
The Pepperstone standard account (no commission account) has the lowest spreads after they were reduced in 2021.
Compare All Spreads >>
Another reason Pepperstone offers the lowest average spreads is through Price Improvement Technology. This works in volatile markets when large price movements occur with price improvement technology working in three steps. Firstly, the trader makes a forex or CFD trade through the forex platform. Secondly, the trade is executed and a more favourable price movement is detected. Finally, the price improvement technology aims to fill the price at an improved level.
As Pepperstone acts as an ECN broker for Razor account traders a commission is charged based on volume. This commission is based on the forex trading platform chosen (discussed in the next section) and the base currency chosen. The table below shows the commission charged for those who select MetaTrader 4.
As a benchmark, the commission rate of $3.50 AUD per lot is extremely competitive for Australian Dollar base currency accounts and £2.29 GBP per lot for British Pound base currency accounts. These rates can be further reduced due to the active trader program. This program offers rebates per fx lot starting at 10% when over 100 lots are traded over a three month period.
ECN brokers have the lowest trading costs with no markup on spreads and straight-through processing. By combing the 2020 average spreads and commissions of the leading ECN accounts Pepperstone came out the best in this category.
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Spread Costs
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There are no deposit or withdrawal fees from the primary funding methods with the Razor account. There are also standard fees for overnight rollovers and ongoing premium subscriptions.
Pepperstone Razor is the best low fee account for forex traders.
Traders can open a free Razor demo account or start trading after individual details are provided.
Open a demo account >>Visit Broker >>
Pepperstone offers three trading platforms:
1) MetaTrader 4
Pepperstone was awarded the best MT4 broker based on:
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Once an order is received within Pepperstone’s bridge most orders were executed within 30ms through the ASIC regulated Australian subsidiary called Pepperstone Group Limited. The FCA regulated United Kingdom subsidiary Pepperstone Limited reported 60ms speeds. In independent tests done through MT4 demo accounts verified these fast speeds with the market order execution speeds of 85ms.
One of the main features of MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the ability to trade share CFDs in addition to the instruments MT4 offers from currencies, commodities to cryptocurrencies. Below shows the main share CFDs offered and the margin through Pepperstone Group (pepperstone.com).
Commissions for MT5 are the same as MT4 except for those that choose USD as their base currency with a lower rate of USD $3.50 per lot. If you’re unsure which MetaTrader platform best suits you then view our exclusive MT4 vs MT5 guide.
Traders that choose MT4 or MT5 have the benefit of smart trader tools which is a package of 16 trading tools and 15 custom indicators. The 10 most popular features include:
In addition to Smart Trader Tools, there are further additions such as ZuluTrade, Autochartist, Mirror Trade and Myfxbook. This plethora of features led Pepperstone to win the ‘Platform Features’ category in the last Investment Trends based on actual forex traders.
cTrader is a favourite of expert CFD traders with
Commission costs on cTrader are determined by the currency pair you are trading, with fees equating to 0.0035% of the base currency. E.g. if you are trading 100,000 currency units of the EUR/USD, you will pay €3.50 per side.
The cTrader platform provides enhanced modification options within the interface combined with advanced order placing options. There is also Webtrader which doesn’t need to be downloaded. Webtrader is normally used as a back-up to the above forex trading platforms primarily for those who are using a computer that they don’t own. For more details view the cTrader Guide.
Traders benefit through the availability of the most popular forex platforms from MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader.
Pepperstone has the fastest speeds and best forex platform tools.
By offering the best trading environment and enhanced tools, the forex broker gives traders the best chance of executing their trading strategies successfully.
Pepperstone has award-winning customer support which is a key reason why in Australia they increased their market share by 3% in the retail CFD trading market. This has been in-part credited to their customer support. In fact, Pepperstone support levels were so high they won the Investment Trends overall client satisfaction award.
Key elements that have led to Pepperstone’s customer support winning these awards include there:
Pepperstone offers a customer service team that hold years of experience within the forex trading sector. As real traders, they can help educate and answer any forex trading enquiries beginner, intermediate or expert traders may have. In many cases, a dedicated account manager may also be assigned to a trader to gain a stronger understanding of the trader’s needs.
Pepperstone support is always available when the forex markets are open thanks to their five offices which are located in Melbourne, Shanghai, Dallas, Bangkok and London. This also provides local options for those forex traders located outside of Australia.
A key strength found in the review of Pepperstone was the ability to use live chat to get high-level support. Live chat is available 24 hours a day as is their phone customer support (with different national numbers for each office location). E-mail support is also available. There is also training held on-site and online with a wealth of trading guide to suit expert to beginner traders. This customer support led to Pepperstone winning the most recent Investment Trends “Overall Client Satisfaction” award comparing the survey results of actual CFD traders.
Forex brokers review sites generally have provided positive Pepperstone reviews since their launch in 2010. Trustpilot rate Pepperstone as Excellent with a score of 4.3 from 780 reviews (4.5 stars) as of May 2021. This score highlights the broker is strong when it comes to customer satisfaction and the services they offer.
The key forex broker reviews issues raised were in relation to ‘exotic pairings’ (pairing outside of the major currencies). There also were complaints about withdrawing money from accounts. Positive Pepperstone broker reviews related to how fast their VPS is (<5ms), fast deposits, easy to get an account offering a stable platform. Investment trends which also does an annual survey late each year also found the Australian forex broker was the best across several areas. These include customer service, value for money, platform reliability and execution speeds.
Broker reputation has been the key to growth over the past decade.
Pepperstone has award-winning customer service and reviews.
With offices in London, Melbourne and other key locations around the world, they offer premium customer support 24 hours, five days a week.
The minimum deposit of Pepperstone is $200. The broker actively doesn’t enforce this minimum deposit requirement but in the UK recommended a trading balance of £500.
You can view more about funding and account here.
Base currencies available include:
Dollars – USD, AUD, NZD, CAD, HKD, SGD, GBP, EUR, JPY, CHF
Traders should consider the base currency they are used to and the fact that commissions are based on the currency chosen.
Pepperstone has no funding or withdrawal fees, unlike some brokers. Only some intentional institutions may charge their own fees. Payment methods can vary by region and overall include:
The main brokerage charged is collected by most brokers through spreads and commissions. Pepperstone avoids hidden trading costs such as funding fees. With easy funding methods and low overall broker fees, Pepperstone is the best value broker overall.
The largest retail foreign exchange brokers sell themselves as an ‘all-in-one trading solution’. This includes IG and CMC Markets who offer a range of markets including stockbroking.
The leverage you can use while CFD trading depends on the Pepperstone subsidiary you are signed up to and the asset class you are trading. The brokers offshore operations in Kenya (CMA) and the Bahamas (SCB) offer much higher leverage than in tier-1 regulated jurisdictions such as Australia (ASIC), the UK (FCA) and Europe (CySEC and BaFin). CFDs are complex instruments recommended for advanced traders.
Pepperstone is only a specialist trading provider offering:
There are 59 currency pair available including the most popular currency including the United States Dollar. Other currencies include the Euro, Japanese Yen, Great Britain Pound (GBP) and the Australian Dollar. Over $1.5 trillion a day worldwide* is traded. The leverage on fx trading is 500:1 offshore and 30:1 elsewhere.
CFD trading (Contract for Difference) also known as derivative trading allows traders to speculate on the movements of financial markets. Pepperstone offers 14 CFDs on indices such as the Australian 200 Index, EU Stocks 50 Index and US Tech 100 Index.
Pepperstone offers precious metal CFDs such as Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium, as well as oil and gas markets. Soft commodity markets include coffee, sugar, cocoa cotton and even orange juice.
There are four cryptocurrency options available for trading with 5:1 leverage offshore and 2:1 in Australia and Europe. Crypto CFDs are not available to UK traders under FCA regulation.
Bitcoin + Bitcoin Cash
Pepperstone offers Bitcoin trading which remains the most popular cryptocurrency in 2021. In 2020 over a USD $186 billion market capitalisation exists. It’s no surprise that bitcoin trading remains the preferred option for traders.
Learn more about Bitcoin on this Australian site.
Ethereum
Another popular cryptocurrency option is Ethereum which is considered one of the most exciting bitcoin technologies. Smart contracts allow Ethereum to have multiple applications which allows it to service a plethora of industries.
View the official Ethereum Project site.
Dash
Dash also know as ‘Digital Cash’ focuses on a faster cryptocurrency option allowing for anonymity. Digital cash is used as an efficiency payment system across the globe and has experienced high volatility and liquidity compared to Bitcoin.
Learn more about Digital Cash at the Dash website.
Litecoin
Litecoin is a relatively late arrival and focused on using a simple algorithm to accelerate transaction times. The simpler algorithm since 2011 is what has led to Litecoin’s popularity and make it a real alternative to the mainstream cryptocurrency options.
View more about this on the P2P site.
Pepperstone traders that select the MetaTrader 5 forex trading platform can trade US share CFDs. Over 60 US shares can be selected to be traded as a CFD with low commissions from USD$0.02 per share. Traders can go long or short on each individual share.
There are risks involved when trading CFDs as they are a complex instrument and leverage makes it so there is a high risk of losing money rapidly. Understanding these risks is critical and learning the tools that can help manage these risks. The secure client area also allows leverage to be adjusted after opening an account.
Pepperstone has limited tools including CFD risk management features available.
Pepperstone offers three order types of currency trading orders. This includes a limit order and a stop-loss order exits a trader after a price is reached. This can be set by price or the maximum a trader is looking to gain/lose in a trade. The final currency trading order is a trailing stop that moves with the market as the price fluctuates. The trailing stop activates only when a designated level is reached.
Pepperstone doesn’t offer guaranteed stop-loss orders. This is similar are the same as a ‘stop-loss’ order but the maximum loss is guaranteed at the designated level. A stop-loss order, on the other hand, can lead to losses exceeding the designated level in high volatile markets leading to slippage. While guaranteed stop-loss orders have increased fees, they can be an effective risk management tool for those with a low-risk appetite or new to currency trading.
Pepperstone also doesn’t offer negative balance protection. While they have tools that are designed to prevent a negative balance from exiting a CFD trader before their losses exceed their deposit, this is not guaranteed. When the risk is a concern, it may be worth considering a CFD broker offering negative balance protection like easyMarkets.
Pepperstone has various subsidiaries that hold different financial licenses and are required to abide by differing financial regulation.
Pepperstone Group Limited (trading as Pepperstone) is regulated by ASIC with the Australian Financial Services Licence 414530. The maximum leverage for retail traders are:
View the forex broker Australia comparison table.
Pepperstone Limited (trading as Pepperstone) is regulated in the UK through the FCA with licence number 684312. As the UK is currently considered part of Europe EMSA trading rules apply to limit leverage for retail traders to the same caps as ASIC above, yet cryptocurrency CFDs are not available in the UK at all as the FCA has banned access to crypto markets for retail traders.
View the forex broker UK comparison table.
The broker operates two branches in mainland Europe with Pepperstone GmbH being the local German entity that is BaFin regulated. 151148 is the licence number of the German regulation. The Cyprus regulated entity is Peppertone EU Limited. Founded in 2019, the entity received their CySEC licence in 2020. The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission License number is 388/20
Both regulators enforce ESMA guidelines of 30:1 leverage caps for major fx pairs, as in FCA jurisdiction, yet cryptos are available.
Pepperstone Financial Services Limited is regulated in Dubai with DIFC Registered Number 3460. This applies to the United Arab Emirates region. Pepperstone’s UAE operations follow ASIC and FCA leverage limits of 30:1 for major forex pairs.
View the forex broker Dubai comparison table.
Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited in 2020 became established and regulated with the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Kenya. It holds CMA Licence No.128 with company number PVT-PJU7Q8K and was rated the best forex broker in Kenya. In Kenya, leverage up to 400:1 is available when trading forex.
The broker’s offshore subsidiary based out of the Bahamas offers the highest leverage of 500:1.
If you a trader in the United Kingdom then the trading conditions with Pepperstone will be much the same as for traders outside the United Kingdom however there are some differences and these are worth noting.
While the available Account types (Standard account, Razor account, Swap-free account), spreads, trading execution and trading platforms (MetaTrader 4, 5 and cTrader) with Pepperstone will be the same, the following difference should be noted.
FCA regulations must be compliant with Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) II guidelines set by European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) which means some regulatory requirements need to be followed not found elsewhere. ESMA has a set of guidelines for retails traders and guidelines for professional traders.
Pepperstone’s registered office location is: 70 Gracechurch Street, London EC3V 0HR, United Kingdom and can be contacted on +44 (800) 0465473 for support.
ESMA guidelines are aimed at protecting retail traders who may not have the knowledge to successfully trade with leveraged products and resources to manage losses which can be significant. Because of this ESMA and FCA restrict the leverage retails traders can trade with. Professional traders can apply to trade with more generous leverage provided they meet conditions set by FCA.
ESMA FCA requirements also mean Pepperstone offers greater risk management protection to retails traders, these are no available to professional traders. Protections come in 2 types
Please note, both risk management policies are also provided t0 Pepperstone traders in CySEC (Europe) and ASIC (Australia) jurisdictions.
In addition to risk management tools, FCA requires Pepperstone to offer a Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Pepperstone offers up to £85,000. This scheme means Pepperstone clients will receive compensation from the FSCS in the event their broker is unable to pay a claim against it.
Provided 2 of the following 3 criteria is satisfied:
As you have qualified as a professional trader, this means you understand the risks associated with high leverage so as per ESMA guidelines, Pepperstone will not offer negative balance protection to professional traders.
Professional traders will also receive the following benefits
Pepperstone cannot offer MyFxBook to its clients in the United Kindom due to FCA regulations, instead, the broker offers Pelican. Like MyfxBook, Pelican is a social trading app that allows you to source crowd knowledge when trading, traders can then trade directly within the platform.
Spread betting is a popular alternative to CFD trading and is only available to Pepperstone traders in the United Kingdom. As both CFD and Spread betting are leveraged products, they can be seen as similar however the main difference comes down to 2 key points
As no ownership of the underlying instrument when spread betting, tax savings can be made as there is no capital gains tax on your profits. Spread betting is a spread only product meaning there are no commissions.
Pepperstone is the best forex broker overall. Their top score of 9.17/10 is based on their low spreads, fastest execution speeds and tier 1 regulation with the FCA, ASIC and DFSA. Designed for expert forex traders, they offer the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 or cTrader forex trading platform.
Yes, Pepperstone is a market maker which means all orders will be filled even if no buyer is available. The razor account does allow direct market access (DMA) but there can be broker interference at times. That said, Pepperstone has some of the lowest spreads and fastest execution speeds making it the 2021 best forex broker overall.
Pepperstone allows scalping and hedging through the Razor trading account. Scalping is allowed through the MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 or cTrader forex trading platform.
You can view our MetaTrader 4 vs MetaTrader 5 comparison to see which of the two most popular forex platforms is more suitable for your scalping requirements.
The Pepperstone Razor account offers ECN Broker spreads from 0.0 pips for the EUR/USD currency pair. Pepperstone connects forex traders directly with over 20 liquidity providers through the Electronic Communications Networks (ECN). The account offers straight-through processing with 22 liquidity providers. There is no dealing desk.
View our ECN broker article to learn more about no market-maker providers and Pepperstone.
Unlike most other foreign exchange brokers, Pepperstone is Australian based (in Collins Street, Melbourne) by a management team with currency trading experience. In 2016 at the Pepperstone Melbourne office Champ was announced as a strategic investor of the business. The Pepperstone firm was founded in 2010 within Melbourn and hold the Australian Financial Services Licence 414530. Pepperstone Limited is the companies UK subsidiary and has the Financial Conduct Authority Registration Number 684312. In 2020 the company also opened another subsidiary in Dubai called Pepperstone Financial Services (DIFC) Limited further showing the company’s global expansion.
As an ASIC regulated forex broker, Pepperstone needs to meet capital requirements. Other requirements include staff training and complying with risk management processes, audits and accounting. If you hear of any Pepperstone scam this may be a broker pretending to be fx broker. Having an AFSL also means that Pepperstone financial accounts (client accounts) must be kept with Australian financial institutions which in this case is the National Australia Bank.
Traders can learn the fundamentals of online forex on the Pepperstone YouTube channel, as well as the online Pepperstone resource centre. There are online webinars and market analysis and also from time to time, the Pepperstone offices in Melbourne and London has on-site training for selected traders.
As an ASIC regulated Australian forex broker, Pepperstone is required to hold client funds in segregated bank accounts. Our review of Pepperstone found this was the National Australia Bank (NAB) which is one of the ‘big 4’. NAB is covered by the Australian government bank guarantee making it an optimal segregated bank account for traders.
Pepperstone offshore operations offer leverage of up to 500:1, while Pepperstone tier-1 regulated branches offer retail traders up to 30:1.
Leverage associated with CFD trading (forex trading) high-risk activity. 79% of retail investor accounts with Pepperstone lose money so it’s critical to understand CFDs prior to trading. Make sure you only trade amounts you can afford to lose due to the threat of losing your money. Pepperstone also offers an Islamic account. This is a swap-free account avoiding interest which can prevent some individuals from CFD trading.
Pepperstone offers a foreign exchange (online forex) demo account on the cTrader and MetaTrader platform. Our demo article explains more about the advantages of demo accounts, especially those that are new to foreign exchange trading. Once a trader opens a live account they still have the option of using a demo for trading testing on the MT4 platform. A feature many traders use for expert advisors (EAs).
As technical analysis focuses on price trends over time there is a central focus on charting. Pepperstone offers three types of charts including a line chart that connects one closing price to another. This helps identify the direction of the market over a given time. The second type is bar charts which provides more details of market trends through line formats. This includes the highs and lows of specific periods. The final is candlestick charts which also shows the highs and lows over a period. This candlestick format helps identify reversals and pivot points on currency markets.
Focusing on financial, political and economic factors, fundamental analysis focuses on the events and forces that influence foreign exchange markets. These forces and events help impact currency markets which is why news (provided through Reuters) and daily market updates by Pepperstone are so critical. This information focuses on political policies, surplus and deficit information, inflation and trade trends.
The MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 App for Android® and iPhone® provide the core functionality of the online forex trading platform combined with the functionality of a mobile app. cTrader doesn’t have a mobile app but rather a mobile trading platform for those looking to trade on the go.
Pepperstone is a worldwide forex broker but due to regulatory and other local laws, there are countries where residents can’t trade forex with the provider:
Traders in these regions may want to consider brokers such as FXCM, Admiral Markets, eToro, Blueberry Markets and OANDA.
The authors of compare forex brokers have made broker comparison tables to make finding the right Australian forex broker simple. There are also head-to-head comparison tables comparing Pepperstone to other brokers at the bottom of the page. Other comparisons include FP Markets, XM, Tickmill and XTB. There are several forex broker comparison tables each feature on separate areas including leverage and fx platforms offered. Feel free to view our forex broker comparison options each with separate brokers reviews created by real Australians.
This online Pepperstone review was based on information gained from the Razor fx trading account and the broker’s website. A traders review of Pepperstone should factor in the spreads of the accounts offered to alternative accounts from good forex brokers. If you find any element of this online review of Pepperstone is inaccurate please inform us using the ‘contact us’.
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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