Best FCA Regulated Forex Broker

ThinkMarkets Is The Top MetaTrader 4 (MT4) Provider

ThinkMarkets is a global, multi-regulated broker and our best MetaTrader 4 (MT4) trading platform provider, which is still the most popular forex trading platform.

The broker also has a number of other benefits including:

• Superior MT4 Platform and Tools
• Low-cost Standard account
• Great range of platforms
• Competitive Forex spreads

ThinkMarkets Account Types

To gain access to MT4, CFD and forex traders can choose between three main account types:

• Standard Account: Commission-free spreads averaging 1.2 pips.
• ThinkZero Account: ECN-style account with average spreads of 0.1 pips, traders pay flat rate commission fees of £5 round turn
• Islamic Accounts are available with Standard or ThinkZero pricing. As per Sharia Law, no interest is paid and earned, with flat rate swap rates being charged instead.

To open a ThinkMarkets UK account under FCA regulation, an initial minimum deposit of £250 is required. This requirement is different in other locations such as South Africa where the broker is regulated under FSCA and in Australia where ASIC is the regulator.

To fund your account, ThinkMarkets provide 4 alternatives:

• Bank Transfer
• Visa/Mastercard
• Neteller
• Skrill

ThinkMarkets Trading Platforms

ThinkMarkets provide both MetaTrader platforms (MT4 and MT5) as well as their own, in-house developed ThinkTrader platform.

ThinkMarkets customers using MT4 can trade an excellent range of financial products while utilising different trading tools and platform features. With various inbuilt and add-on tools to enhance your trading experience, MT4 is great for technical analysis and automated trading.

MetaTrader 4’s pre-installed charting tools include 30 technical indicators, 24 objects, and 9 timeframes, with thousands more available to download from the MetaTrader marketplace online.

ThinkMarkets Trading Products

ThinkMarkets product range is a mixed bag, with a large range of shares CFDs and a smaller range of Forex, indices, commodities and ETFs.

To use the full range of shares, however, you must use the MT5 trading platform.

Our ThinkMarkets Verdict

fThinkMarkets has the best MT4 platform offering, especially in terms of trading tools and markets. Other broker highlights include a good range of share CFDs using MT5, a low-cost standard account and competitive forex spreads overall.

View ThinkMarkets Review >>Visit ThinkMarkets >>

*Your capital is at risk ‘71.89% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

XTB Has A Good Range Of Financial Products

XTB is an FCA-regulated broker that offers a huge range of CFDs across various asset classes.

• Where the broker excels is in the following areas:
• Low Standard Account spreads
• Excellent in-house trading platform: X Station
• Wide variety of tradable markets
• Trusted multi-asset broker

XTB Account Types

Only one account is available with XTB for UK traders, their Standard account. Like most Standard accounts, there are no commission costs for FX but where the broker stands out, is in offering minimum spreads of 0.35 pips for major forex pairs. Not only is this extremely low for a standard account, but it is also industry beating.

Please be mindful that commissions do apply for stock or EFT CFDs at 0.08% per lot, which is a fairly standard charge.

Prior to signing up for a Standard account, prospective XTB customers can practise trading the broker’s wide range of financial products via a demo account. A virtual balance of $100,000 is provided with access granted for 30 days, although demos can be renewed after the trial period ends.

XTB Trading Platforms

XTB only offers their proprietary platform, X Station, which can be used as a web trading option or via a mobile app.

XTB Trading Products

As well as a good range of forex instruments, XTB clients can access the following CFDs and financial markets:

• 42 indices including CFDs from major stock exchanges, i.e. UK100, US500, AUS200, EU50 and JAP225.
• 14 commodities with precious metals, softs, 0il and gas CFDs available.
• 1,700 share CFDs including major corporations such as Apple, JP Morgan and Mastercard.
• 114 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) with share, bond and other funds from different locations around the world.

Market access is dependent on the trading platform you use. The broker offers the choice of MetaTrader 4 and its proprietary software – xStation 5. As an MT4 user, you are restricted to index, commodity and forex trading, while xStation 5 can trade ETFs, and share CFDs as well.

XTB Verdict

Overall, XTB shines as a forex broker in a number of areas. Not only does the broker offer a wide range and variety of tradeable instruments, but XTB also has some of the most competitive FX spreads for a standard account and an excellent trading platform, X Station, which gives traders of all stripes exactly what they need.

XTB Review >>Visit XTB >>

FXCM Is A Great Spread Betting Broker

As a UK or Ireland resident, spread betting is an alternative to CFD trading if you want to speculate on price movements without buying or selling the underlying asset.

In addition to spread betting, FXCM has much to offer:

• Discounted spreads for active traders
• Advanced trading tools for experienced traders
• Good market research
• Algorithmic trading platform specialist

FXCM Account Types

FXCM offers two main account options: a standard account for beginners and an Active Trader account for high-volume traders.

Which account you choose, will depend on the type of trader you are. The broker’s Standard account has no commissions but does come with higher than average spreads (starting at 1.1 pips). There is also a $300 minimum deposit and funding fees of $50 for each deposit.

FXCM’s Active Trader account, on the other hand, is designed for high-volume traders who trade a minimum of 150M a month. If you are in this category, the Active Trader account has the best pricing with $5 commissions round turn and minimum spreads of 0.2 pips for EUR/USD.

Active Traders gain access to significantly discounted spreads starting from 0.2 pips. As well as lower spreads, spread betting accounts that qualify as FXCM Active Traders are provided premium customer support and market data.

For those wanting to try out spread betting in a risk-free environment, FXCM offers a demo account with a virtual account balance of £50,000.

FXCM Trading Platforms

When spread betting with FXCM, three trading platform options are available.

• MetaTrader 4: FXCM clients can use the popular MT4 platform to execute spread betting strategies. Well-known for its professional-grade trading tools, MT4 users can conduct complex analyses and research.
• NinjaTrader 8: A third-party trading platform that offers advanced charting technical analysis tools that can be used to develop spread betting strategies.
• Trading Station: FXCM’s proprietary software is a HTML5 platform that can be used for spread betting. Users are provided with a wide range of technical and fundamental analysis tools and data within a user-friendly interface.

FXCM also offers a range of speciality platforms, like QuantConnect, MotiveWave and SierraChart, particularly suited to algorithmic trading preferences.

FXCM Trading Products

While not a huge range of markets are on offer with FXCM, by far the biggest benefit of signing up with the broker is the ability to do spread betting.

There are 43 Forex pairs available to trade, as well as a smaller array of indices, bonds and commodities.

Our FXCM Verdict

FXCM is not only a trusted broker, but it is also UK-based broker and features many benefits for UK traders. These include having access to spread betting, with competitive pricing, an active trader account option that provides discounts for high-volume traders and a range of trading platforms and tools designed for algorithmic traders.

View FXCM Review >>Visit FXCM >>

*Your capital is at risk ‘67% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

eToro Is The Best Pure Social Trading Platform

With millions of traders from 140+ countries, eToro is regarded as one of the world’s largest pure social trading platforms.

Signing up with eToro gives you the following advantages:

• Top social trading network
• Easy-to-use copy platforms
• Solid range of markets
• Safe and trusted broker

eToro Account Types

In line with eToro’s focus on a smooth trading experience, the broker only offers a Standard account.

This keeps things simple and limits tracking your costs by the spread. As such, there are zero commissions, with variable spreads starting from 1 pip.

Additionally, there are no funding costs, with only a small minimum deposit of $50 required to start trading.

To familiarise yourself with eToro’s social network and trading tools without risking real money, demo accounts are available. eToro demo accounts have no time limits and are funded with a virtual account balance of $100,000.

eToro Trading Platforms

eToro is another broker, like XTB, that only offers its own, in-house platforms to UK clients. The eToro trading platform can be used as either a web trader or on any Android or Apple device.

eToro Trading Products

The number of products eToro offers is quite good, with an emphasis on nearly 3000 stocks and 263 ETFs.

Overall, there is enough of a variety of tradable markets to give UK traders an incentive to open an account with eToro.

Our eToro Verdict

eToro is globally renowned as the top social trading broker, which makes it a great choice for beginners. There is something for everyone though, with a wide range of markets, easy-to-use proprietary trading platforms and the knowledge you are using a trusted broker, regulated in two tier-1 jurisdictions.

*Your capital is at risk ‘68% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

FxPro Has cTrader Broker

FxPro is a hybrid market maker broker with low spreads and fast execution. Because the broker fills orders internally as well as from top-tier liquidity providers, FxPro customers gain access to ultra-tight spreads when using cTrader.

Additionally, FxPro has the following major advantages:

• Variety of pricing options (fixed and variable)
• Best cTrader platform offering
• Access to the full MetaTrader suite and Trading Central
• Smooth charting using FXPro Edge platform

FxPro Account Type

FxPro offers a range of accounts based on the trading platform and whether you choose fixed or variable spreads.

As such, you can select an MT4/MT5 account (using fixed or variable spreads) or a cTrader account.

Predominately a forex trading platform, cTrader provides an ECN-like trading experience with access granted to nearly 70 currency pairs with EUR/USD spreads averaging 0.37 pips. As forex spreads are ultra-tight, traders pay a flat rate, round turn commission fees of $9 (USD) per 100,000 traded. In addition to forex, FxPro provides access to commission-free index trading.

FxPro’s cTrader users can expect minimal slippage and requote when placing orders, with the majority of trades being executed within 11.06 ms. FxPro’s partnership with Equinix Data centres in London and Amsterdam ensures fast execution speeds, with cross fibre connecting cTrader users with top-tier liquidity sources.

FxPro offers demo accounts for those wanting to explore the cTrader platform, with access granted for 6 months and unlimited virtual funds.

FxPro Trading Platforms

FxPro has three main trading platforms:

• MetaTrader 4 + 5
• cTrader
• FXPro

Of these, the broker really stands out by offering the full MetaTrader suite and, in particular, cTrader.

As well as an ECN-style trading environment, FxPro’s cTrader users are provided with the following trading tools and features:

• Algorithmic trading with cBots, developed using the C# programming language.
• Backtesting tools for cBots.
• 50 technical indicators and 26 timeframes for analysis.
• Level 2 depth of market pricing.

Depending on your preferred device, cTrader is available as a webtrader platform online or mobile apps (Android or iOS).

FxPro Trading Products

UK traders will benefit from a great range of trading products, including spread betting which is not available anywhere else in the world.

Of the available 2181 trading symbols, FxPro offers a superior 69 Forex pairs and 2031 stocks, amongst a smaller range of indices and commodities.

Our FxPro Verdict

FxPro has a number of unique advantages for UK traders. These include the ability to trade with fixed or variable spreads using trading platforms that include MT4, MT5 and a superior cTrader offering, as well as having spread betting as a trading alternative.

View FxPro Review >>Visit FxPro >>

*Your capital is at risk ‘78.87% of retail CFD accounts lose money’