Low Spread Forex Brokers In UK

Compare low spread forex brokers that are FCA regulated based on the lowest spreads published in December 2022 and other UK forex broker fees. Finalists include the best no commission, fixed spread and 0 spread forex brokers.

Written by Justin Grossbard

With over 20 years of investing experience and 10 years of trading, Justin co-founded Compare Forex Brokers in 2014. He has worked within the foreign exchange trading industry for several years and for several of the largest banks globally. Justin achieved Honours in Commerce and has a Master's degree from Monash University. He also owns Innovate Online offering digital marketing services with over 20 employees.

Updated: 01/12/2022

What Changed?

Each month we update average spreads data published by the brokers the retail brokers lose %

Fact Checked

We double-check broker fee details each month which is made possible through partner paid advertising. Learn more this here.

Our forex comparisons and broker reviews are reader supported and we may receive payment when you click on a link to a partner site.

Lowest Spread Forex Broker UK List

The December 2022 FCA regulated low spread forex brokers is.

Pepperstone - Lowest Spread Forex Broker in UK
AvaTrade - Lowest Fixed Spread Forex Broker
FXCM - Best Low Fee UK Spread Betting Account
City Index - Top Low Spread No Commission Forex Broker
FXPro - Great low spread cTrader Forex Broker
CMC Markets - Great Low Spread Betting Account
OANDA - Low Spreads And Low Deposit Forex Broker
Axi - Good MT4 Forex Broker Spreads

Visit Site

Our Rating

9.33

6.83

8.33

7.46

7.17

Review Of Pepperstone

74% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider

73% of retail CFD accounts lose money

71% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider

77.20% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs and Spread Betting with this provider

73% of retail investor accounts lose money when
spread betting and/or trading CFDs with this provider

Regulations and Licenses

FCA (UK)

CBI (Ireland)

Brokerage

EUR/USD Avg. Raw Spread

0.17

0.3

0.51

GBP/USD Avg. Raw Spread

0.59

0.4

0.66

AUD/USD Avg. Raw Spread

0.24

0.5

0.63

EUR/USD Standard Spread

0.75

0.80

0.90

1.24

0.73

EUR/USD Fixed Spreads

0.90

2.17

Commissions (USD Base)

$3.50

$4.50

Minimum Deposit

$150

$100

Swap Free Account

No Inactivity Fees

Funding Methods

16+

No Funding Fees

Markets and Instruments

Currency Pairs

62+

84+

55+

69+

338+

Cryptocurrency CFDs*

12+

25+

15+

30+

19+

Index CFDs

14+

21+

33+

24+

46+

Share CFDs

300+

4500+

625+

150+

9,000+

Commodities CFD

46+

30+

21+

124+

Stockbroking

9,000+

Retail Max. Leverage (The United Kingdom)

Major Pairs 30:1
Minor Pairs 20:1

Pro. Max. Leverage (The United Kingdom)

500:1

400:1

200:1

500:1

*Cryptocurrency CFDs are not available to retail traders in the UK due to FCA regulations
*CFD trading is not available in the USA due to NFA and CFTC regulations, American traders spot trade in place of CFDs.

Trading Platforms + Tools

MetaTrader 4 (MT4)

MetaTrader 5 (MT5)

cTrader

TradingView

Proprietary Platform

Automated Trading

Social + Copy Trading

Standard Stop Loss

Guaranteed Stop Loss

Demo Account

Overall

Our Rating

9.33

6.83

8.33

7.46

7.17

Review Of Pepperstone

Official Site	Our Rating	Regulation	EUR/USD Spread	GBP/USD Spread	AUD/USD Spread	Execution Speed	Minimum Deposit	Currency Pairs	Crypto CFDs	Retail Leverage	Prof. Leverage
Visit Broker >	9.33	FCA, ASIC CySEC, DFSA	0.17	0.59	0.24	85ms	$0	62+	12+	30:1	500:1
Visit Broker >	6.83	ASIC, MAS	-	-	-	145ms	$150	84+	25+	30:1	500:1
Visit Broker >	8.33	AISC, FSCA IIROC, ADGM	0.3	0.4	0.5	160ms	$100	55+	15+	30:1	400:1
Visit Broker >	7.46	FCA, FSCA CySEC, SCB	0.51	0.66	0.63	110	$0	69+	30+	30:1	200:1
Visit Broker >	7.17	ASIC, MAS FCA, IIROC	-	-	-	140	$0	338+	19+	30:1	500:1

Pepperstone is the UK Lowest Spread Forex Broker

Offering competitive spreads across its entire range of products, Pepperstone is our lowest spread forex broker in the UK. This is because Pepperstone uses multiple top-tier liquidity providers to provide ultra-competitive quotes on a wide range of instruments. To obtain these quotes, you can choose between a Standard account, which has no commission costs, and a Razor account, which has the lowest spreads from 0.0 pips, combined with low commissions.

Unlike many brokers where one account is clearly more costly than another, Pepperstone’s overall pricing for both accounts ends up around the same, meaning you can comfortably select either type of account.

Pepperstone is also a trusted UK broker, regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK.

When trading with the FCA-regulated UK Pepperstone branch, you will receive strong investor protections, such as negative balance protection, leverage caps, close-out margins, and access to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). To find out more about the risk management tools, you can view our Pepperstone UK Review.

Trading Accounts

Pepperstone gives you a choice of 2 main trading accounts: Standard and Razor. The MetaTrader trading platforms (MT4 and MT5) are available with both Standard and Razor, while cTrader and TradingView is only available with the Razor account.

Standard Account Spreads

Also known as a commission-free account, the standard account has the main fees factored into the spreads. This makes it straightforward to calculate trading fees and is the most popular account for beginners.

Pepperstone has the December 2022 lowest spreads for this account, as shown below.


0.77	0.86	1.40	1.19	0.86
1.13	1.12	1.71	1.66	1.12
0.70	1.40	1.30	2.20	1.40
0.80	0.80	1.70	1.80	0.80
1.20	1.70	1.50	2.20	1.70
1.30	1.40	1.80	1.70	1.40
0.62	0.74	1.27	0.83	0.74
1.10	1.20	1.40	1.50	1.20
1.30	1.90	1.90	1.80	1.90
1.20	1.20	1.40	1.40	1.20
1.20	1.40	1.40	1.40	1.40
1.30	2.00	1.90	1.90	2.00
1.30	1.50	2.10	1.40	1.50
1.20	1.20	1.40	1.50	1.20
1.24	1.33	1.65	1.81	1.33
1.40	1.60	1.90	1.90	1.60
1.70	1.60	2.00	2.20	1.60

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/11/2022

Pepperstone’s spreads, which reflect the difference between the bid price and the asking price of trading instruments, come with a verified market order execution speed of 85 milliseconds. Compared to other UK forex brokers, only FP Markets (95ms) can boast an execution speed below the 100 milliseconds mark.

Unfortunately, UK traders can no longer trade CFD cryptocurrencies. This is due to recent changes to FCA that have led to a ban on CFD cryptocurrency products for retail traders.

View Pepperstone View >>Visit Pepperstone >>

Razor Account Spreads

Sometimes called an ECN pricing account, the Pepperstone Razor account is the one to choose if you are after the lowest spreads. Spreads with this account are low-cost because they are obtained using straight-through-processing (STP) to aggregate across at least 22 tier-one liquidity.

To ensure the spreads quoted are the true market rate, Pepperstone charges a commission instead of widening the spread. For each standard lot (100’000 units) they charge a fee of AUD/USD $7.00 round-turn.

The below table compares the spreads that brokers publish on their websites. As you can see, Pepperstone averages some of the lowest spreads across most currency pairs. This table is updated each month.


0.17	0.24	0.40	0.43	0.47
0.20	0.40	0.80	0.90	0.80
0.20	0.20	0.40	n/a	0.30
0.44	0.42	0.40	0.30	0.83
0.17	0.30	0.54	0.68	N/A
0.20	0.40	0.50	0.70	0.70
0.10	0.50	0.60	0.80	1.10
n/a	0.50	0.60	0.40	0.30
0.46	1.28	1.26	1.29	1.60

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/11/2022

If you prefer a spread-only account, Pepperstone is also one of the best brokers you can choose. Spreads with this account start at 0.06 pips for major currency pairs such as the EUR/USD, AUD/USD and GBP/USD.

While the overall cost is slightly higher than ECN pricing accounts, this type of account is very popular with beginner traders. This is because the cost structure is simpler as there are no commission costs.

Pepperstone’s Trading Platforms

Pepperstone offers a solid range of trading platforms to ensure you have the best possible trading experience.

Chief among them are 3 mainstream trading platforms. MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader. All these trading platforms are free to clients of Pepperstone and all have their own strengths.

1) MetaTrader 4

The MetaTrader 4 (MT4) forex platform’s reputation rests on the fact that it is the most popular forex trading software worldwide. Being used by so many traders, the platform has excellent features to get the most out of your trading.

Features include:

30 trading indicators, 33 analytical trading tools, 9 timeframes
The ability for automated trading (Expert Advisors)
A large trading community for help and a marketplace for EAs and signal

2) MetaTrader 5

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is an upgrade on MT4. It offers all the features MT4 has and more. Features include:

6 pending orders
38 technical indicators, 68 analytical tools, 21 timeframes
Depth-of-Market (MOM) and economic calendar included
Fast back-testing facilities

MT5 boasts extra processing power compared to MT4 and is a better choice for share trading since they are designed for centralised and decentralized trading.

3) cTrader

cTrader is an increasingly popular alternative to MetaTrader. Its main point of difference is that it has extra charting tools compared to MetaTrader and the forex platform is commonly used by day-traders. Expert strategies that utilise automation (cBots) are executed for financial services with other features:

Detachable next-generation charting with level II market depth pricing
Fast execution entry speeds for quick online trading
Automated options through the cTrader dedicated platform

4) TradingView

TradingView is the most recent introduction to Pepperstone’s already impressive range of trading platforms. The platform is a web-based charting platform that is also a social trading network. Over 30,000 million traders use this platform to trade directly through the platform’s extensive range of charts or join the largest social trading network in the world. Key features of TradingView include:

Direct trading through all 12 chart types available
12 chart types, 100+ pre-built indicators, 50+ smart drawing tools, 100,000 community-built indicators
Pine Script to create your own indicators
Social trading with the largest social trading network in the world.

Final Verdict On Pepperstone

Pepperstone has the lowest spread standard account (with no commissions) and has won multiple awards for best customer support to most reliable trading platforms. UK traders can open a free demo account or open a live account with a minimum deposit of GBP 200.

View Pepperstone Review >>Visit Pepperstone >>

Our Rating

The overall rating is based on review by our experts

9.17

Spreads

10 / 10

Leverage

10 / 10

Trading Platform

10 / 10

Risk Management

7 / 10

Range of Markets

8 / 10

Customer Service

10 / 10

AvaTrade Has The Best Fixed Spreads Of All Brokers

As the name suggests, spreads that are fixed do not change regardless of the time of the day, market conditions, or volatility. Traders may prefer fixed spreads to variable spreads as prices are more predictable which can make it easier to prepare a trade plan or strategy.

Choosing a fixed spread account does mean your spreads will be wider than ECN Pricing accounts and even standard accounts but provide are less risky. Like a standard account, a fixed spread account contains no commission charges.

The table below is compiled each month and contains the published spreads from brokers that offer fixed spreads. Spreads with AvaTrade are superior to all others brokers that offer fixed spreads, with only easyMarkets coming close. It is worthwhile noting that AvaTrades fixed spreads are superior to the spreads some brokers offer with that standard account.


0.90	1.10	1.50	1.80	1.50
0.70	1.20	1.50	1.80	1.30
1.38	1.77	1.81	1.81	1.98
1.60	1.90	1.70	2.40	2.10
1.50	1.80	2.00	2.00	2.00
3.00	3.00	3.00	3.00	3.00
4.00	4.00	3.00	5.00	5.00
3.00	4.00	4.00	6.00	4.00

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/11/2022

AvaTrade Advanced Risk Management Tools

If you are using AvaTrades WebTrader or AvaTradeGo trading platforms then you will have access to AvaTrade’s unique risk management feature called AvaProtect. When you purchase AvaProtect, should your position produce a negative outcome within the protection period, the forex broker will refund the difference.

With AvaProtect, you can guarantees that you will not make a loss on your trade for up to 2 days after you open your position and activate AvaProtect.

To use AvaProtect, you will only need to pay a fee if AvaProtect is used to recover your losses. The longer your protection, the more you will pay. AvaProtect is only available with forex, Gold, and Silver.

AvaTrade Regulation

AvaTrade has over 200,000 traders which makes them the world’s largest broker to offer fixed spreads. As a trader from the UK, you will be trading with AvaTrade’s Irish subsidiary.

Europe – AVA Trade EU Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland

Summary Of AvaTrade

AvaTrade, with its fixed spreads, offers a point of difference from most other brokers as they offer variable spreads. For this reason, AvaTrade is a good option if you are new to the market and are concerned about dramatic changes in spreads due to market volatility.

An additional benefit for beginners is AvaTrade’s intuitive social trading app, AvaTradeSocial, which is a tool used to copy the investment strategies of expert traders using copy trading or mirror trading.

View AvaTrade Review >>Visit AvaTrade >>

FXCM Is A Low Spread Betting Broker

Spread betting has much in common with CFD trading since it allows you to profit from movement in the underlying financial instrument without actually owning the asset. Many traders in the UK prefer to spread bets rather than trade CFDs as there are no taxes on profits or no stamp duties you need to pay.

FXCM Retail Spread betting account

The FXCM retail spread betting account has the same spreads as FXCM’s standard account for CFD trading. Regardless of whether you are spread betting using Forex, Shares, Indices, or any other financial instruments FXCM offer, the spread will be the same as if you were trading CFDs.

FXCM does not charge commissions, which means they include the markup as part of the spread. Spreads for the FXCM account are as follows:

FXCM Spread Betting: Standard Account, No Commission Spreads
	1.30	1.70	2.40	2.10	1.70

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/11/2022

Active trader account for spread betting

If you want the best spread betting prices FXCM have to offer, then you may wish to consider joining the FXCM active trader account. With this account, you can save up to 62.4% when trading forex. With an Active trader account, you will pay a $25 commission for each $1 million you bet.

To qualify for these savings, you need to trade at least 150 million to 500 million for the month. While $150 million might sound like a lot, keep in mind that you are spread betting using leverage.

When trading on margin, keep in mind that leverage is a risky instrument so you may incur large losses if price movements go against your favour. For this reason, FXCM requires your account to maintain at least $25,000 in equity.

The following table lists the average spreads FXCM offers for Active Traders, which is updated each month. As you can see, FXCM is one of the tightest in the market for spread betting.


1.30	1.01	2.10	2.30	2.10
0.30	0.40	0.80	0.60	0.70
0.79	0.87	1.55	1.26	1.39
0.85	0.82	1.79	1.40	1.97
0.80	0.90	2.70	1.70	2.30
0.81	1.21	2.44	1.40	1.49

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 01/11/2022

Using an active trader account doesn’t just mean FXCM best spreads but also gives you other features like:

Dedicated support – personal support through a relationship manager
Market depth – with FXCM’s Trading station for Depth of Market (DoM)
Free eFXplus subscription

FXCM Spread Betting Products – Shares, Forex, Trading Baskets

FXCM is a great choice Choosing FXCM means you get a large and diverse range of financial instruments you can use for trading and hedging purposes. Products include:

43 Forex Pairs
Choice of global stock markets such as US, UK, Hong Kong, German, French, and other European stock markets
16 Indices
11 hard and soft commodities
1 Treasury (Bund)
3 Forex Baskets – US Dollar Index, Yen Index, Emerging Markets Index
16 Stock Indices – including FAANG, Cannabis, U.S Banks, eSports, Biotech, Airlines, Casinos

Note: Cryptocurrencies are not available for retail traders in the UK

FXCM allows you to trade stocks right across the world. Regardless of whether you prefer to use shares from Australia, the USA, The UK, or even Hong Kong, all the major stock markets are available.

If you prefer something less risky than single shares, then you can trade 15 indices across the world including SPX500, GER30, UK100, US30, and AUD200.

Lastly, you can bet using FXCM’s most unique products – Forex and Stock Baskets. Baskets are a type of custom indices compiled based on a common theme.

FXCM’s 3 Forex baskets are based around 4 to 6 currencies in a particular currency denomination. For example, the Dow Jones Dollar Index Basket is in US Dollars and consists of US$10,000 of AUD, YEN, Euro and GBP). In a similar vein, The JPY Basket is in Yen and consists of YEN in each of AUD, GBP, USD, Euro, and CAD. The 3rd option is the Emerging Markets Index which consists of $2,500 in Mexican Peso, Turkish Lira, Chinese Renminbi and South African Rand.

The difference between each index is the number of currencies that make up the index.

Alternately, you can trade using a stock basket grouped by theme. The FAANG consists of the best tech stocks on the US Market while other themes include BioTech stocks, Cannabis and eSports.

View FXCM Review >>Visit FXCM >>

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

City Index Has The Top Low Spreads No Commission Forex Account

CFD trading is associated with costs that could pile up over time and reduce earnings. Therefore, choosing a Forex broker with tight spreads and low commissions is essential to preserve gains. Among the regulated brokers in the UK that we reviewed, City Index offers the lowest spreads in combination with no commissions.

City Index is a trading name of GAIN Capital UK Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under registration number 1761813. GAIN Capital is authorised and regulated by the United Kingdom’s FCA with reference number 113942.

CFD Trading With Zero Commissions

City Index offers a transparent pricing model. This means City Index clients will be aware of the total costs of trading before they open a position. With City Index, UK-based investors can trade over 12,000 financial markets with zero commissions on the following instruments:

CFDs on Forex
CFDs on Commodities
CFDs on Indices
CFDs on Bonds

Note: The only exception is Shares CFDs, where a commission is charged when clients open a trade and when they close a trade. Spreads start from 0.1% on UK stocks and commissions start from GBP 10.00 on UK shares.

CFD Trading with Low Spreads

When it comes to spreads, City Index offers two pricing models:

Variable spreads

With variable spreads, City Index offers clients the minimum spread for a trading instrument plus an average spread for a specified historical period.

If we set our focus on trading the Forex market specifically, we should note the broker offers pip spreads as low as 0.5 on major currency pairs such as EUR/USD and AUD/USD. The following table visualises spreads associated with major and some minor pairs:

Overnight Financing Commissions

We should note that lower spread Forex brokers usually pass on additional charges to retail clients, in case UK-based traders hold an open position overnight. A daily financing fee will be imposed on clients’ accounts every day during which they hold an open trade, including weekend days. City Index sets financing rates (also known as swap rates) by using the benchmark interest rate LIBOR +/- 2.5%.

When trading Forex, every night clients will pay a small financing charge on the exposure of their position. The financing charge depends on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in the currency pair.

Overall, City Index is one of the best forex brokers in the UK if you want to benefit from no commission trading. City Index platform is equipped with the latest technology, so if you want to test your trading strategy, you can open a demo account by clicking the button below.

Open a demo account >>Visit City Index >>

OANDA Has The Top Low Spread Low Deposit Broker

Established in 1995, OANDA Corp has an international presence being regulated across multiple continents. Our team of experts have chosen Oanda for its no minimum deposit requirement.

UK Forex Broker with No Minimum Deposit

OANDA has no minimum deposit requirement to open an Oanda Standard Brokerage Account. While you will not need to make a deposit to open an account, you will still need to meet margin requirements to open and maintain a trading position.

Forex Trading Spreads and Commissions

Oanda only has one type of trading account in the UK, this account is a no commission Standard account. Spreads with Oanda start from 0.6 pips for the USD/EUR pair.

Oanda Deposit Methods

UK Forex traders can deposit money on their Oanda account using 5 types of payment options:

Credit card and debit card
Electronic wallet (PayPal)
Bank wire
Electronic bank transfer

At Oanda, there are no deposit fees, but UK clients can incur a withdrawal fee of GBP 10 for the first withdrawal processed within a calendar and GBP 20 for any subsequent withdrawals. If you want to have access to life forex quotes and currency rates but without committing any money, you can opt for an Oanda live account.

Oanda Regulation:

Oanda provides its financial services to traders in the UK, through the following subsidiary:

OANDA Europe Limited is a company registered in England with registration number 7110087, while it is authorised and regulated by the FCA with reference number 542574

Open a demo account >>Visit OANDA >>

FxPro Is The Best Fixed Spread Broker

The low spread forex brokers we reviewed so far offer either variable spreads only or a combination of variable and fixed spreads on their products. When it comes to the most competitive fixed spread brokers in the United Kingdom, our research clearly points to FxPro.

Established in 2006, FxPro Financial Services Ltd is an international online UK CFD provider based in London, United Kingdom, which serves retail and institutional clientele in 173 countries. FxPro Group Limited is the parent company of:

FxPro UK Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority with reference number 509956
FxPro Financial Services Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) with licence number 078/07. It is also authorised by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa with authorisation number 45052
FxPro Global Markets Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) with license number SIA-F184

FxPro is not an ECN or STP broker. FxPro is self-labelled as a true No Dealing Desk Execution model, which means customer orders are executed with no dealing desk intervention. The brokerage offers two types of execution models:

instant execution
and market execution

With an instant execution model, clients will have their orders filled at the price they see on the screen or they can receive a requote. With the market execution model, client orders will be filled at the volume-weighted average price.

Forex Trading with FxPro MT4 Fixed Spread Account

FxPro offers fixed spreads only on its MT4 Account. UK-based traders are able to choose from 4 major and 3 minor currency pairs with fixed pricing. The broker will have the spread fixed, depending on specific time intervals during the trading session. For example, when trading GBP/USD on MT4 Fixed Spread Account, the spreads offered will be as follows:

Between 08:00 am – 08:00 pm (UK time) – 1.8 pips
Between 08:00 pm – 08:00 am (UK time) – 2.1 pips
Between 09:15 pm – 10:50 pm (UK time) – 3.0 pips

Note* We should note that depending on the market conditions and available liquidity, the GBP/USD spread can reach 3.5 pips.

FxPro will charge no commissions for CFD trading on its MT4 and MT5 account types. However, UK-based clients trading Forex currency pairs on the FxPro cTrader account will be charged $4.5 per side for every 1 standard lot traded. Click the link below to open your FxPro demo account, but be prepared to follow the same standard process that comes with a live account.

Open a demo account >>Visit FxPro >>

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

CMC Markets Has A Top Spread Betting Facility

Headquartered in London, CMC Markets is a leading online CFD provider having offices across Europe and the Asia Pacific region. CMC Markets UK plc is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by:

the UK Financial Conduct Authority with reference number 173730
while CMC Spreadbet plc falls under the FCA’s regulation with reference number 170627.

Among the best 20 Forex brokers in the UK we reviewed, CMC Markets offers the best spread betting conditions.

Lowest Spread Betting Account

Spread betting, just as CFD trading, is associated with a high risk of losing capital as leverage is used. At present, CMC Markets offers spread betting only to residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Clients are allowed to spread bet on more than 9500 global instruments in asset classes such as:

Currency pairs
Commodities
Indices
Shares
ETFs
Treasuries

Spread betting is a form of derivatives trading, which is not subject to stamp duty and capital gains tax in the UK. Clients are able to speculate on the price movement of trading instruments without the need to actually buy or sell a particular asset. They simply buy or sell a specified amount per point of movement for the selected asset, also known as spread bet stake size.

How does Spread Betting work?

Let us consider a simple example. A client decides to place a buy spread bet on Barclays Plc on the expectation the stock will gain value. Barclays was trading at 164/165 (with the spread being equal to 1). The client opens a long position at £10 per point of movement.

In two weeks’ time, the stock indeed surges to 220/221, while the client decides to close the position. Thus, she sells at 220, the current sell quote. Since the price has moved 55 points in her favour (220 sell price – 165 buy price originally), her stake of £10 is then multiplied by that amount to generate a profit of £550.

CMC Markets Low Spread Betting Account

CMC Markets has no minimum deposit requirement on its Spread Betting Account and offers spreads of as low as:

0.7 points on EUR/USD
0.9 points on GBP/USD
1.0 points on the UK 100

UK-based clients are able to spread bet without paying any commissions, however, if a position is held overnight, there will be holding costs. In Forex spread betting, holding costs will be calculated as follows:

Buy position holding rate = tom-next (tomorrow to next day) rate % + 0.0027%
Sell position holding rate = tom-next (tomorrow to next day) rate % – 0.0027%

CMC Markets best UK spread betting platform comes with the following key features:

Advanced charting tools and layout management
100 built-in technical indicators
Automatic pattern recognition
Client sentiment analysis
Advanced order types and automatic execution
1-click trading directly from the chart
Mobile apps for on-the-go trading

Overall, CMC Markets offers competitive costs for trading CFDs and spread betting. Professional clients that open an account with this award-winning provider can qualify to gain monthly cash rebates (CMC Markets paid £14.1 million in cash rebates during the previous fiscal year).

Open a demo account >>Visit CMC Markets >>

Axi Is The Great MetaTrader 4 Low Spread Broker

Our research has concluded that among the leading regulated brokers in the UK that we’ve reviewed, Axi (formally AxiTrader) stands out clearly offering the best MT4 platform trading conditions.

The AxiCorp group was established in Sydney, Australia, in 2007 by a team of professional traders. Axi UK represents a trading name of AxiCorp Limited registered in England under registration number 06378544. AxiCorp is authorised and regulated by the following regulatory financial authorities:

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, with reference number 509746
Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) in Australia with AFSL number 318232
Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)

Axi offers a MetaTrader 4 package that includes a full set of functions such as charts, alerts and analysis tools. The most popular trading platform is available for:

Desktop PC
Mac operating system
Android
iOS (iPhone, iPad)
WebTrader

Lower costs, faster execution, better pricing

What really impresses with Axi’s MT4 offering is the network technology used, which allows for considerable latency reduction. As a result, the probability to experience slippage is also reduced drastically, which translates into lower trading costs compared to a standard connection.

Due to lower latency, Axi’s system refresh speed is increased, which ensures better pricing received by clients. This is especially valid during times of high market volatility and/or low liquidity such as those surrounding major political events (presidential election).

Since Axi’s pricing is derived directly from a source of up to 20 independent market makers, the broker’s network is not reliant on ECN-style technology. As a result, the company’s pricing is delivered faster, refreshes faster, features more depth and fewer outages.

Axi’s specialised low latency network enhances clients’ back-end execution, meaning they will enjoy faster speeds and greater reliability compared to the same setup in the same conditions on a different network.

MT4 Trading Instruments and Features

With Axi’s MT4 offering, UK-based clients are granted access to over 150 trading instruments, including major, minor and exotic currency pairs, commodities and indices.

Forex traders can closely monitor market movement thanks to real-time pricing. They have the freedom to choose:

how market data is visualised with MT4 live charting options
take advantage of automated trading via Expert Advisors
automated news updates.

Another notable feature is the Autochartist MetaTrader Plugin, the world’s first market scanner that allows traders to view all symbols and all time periods from a single chart. It continuously scans markets for real-time pricing, automatically recognises trade setups and alerts clients to unbiased market analysis. The Autochartist feature is also available on a demo account with the broker.

The Autochartist MT4 Plugin allows for:

continuous intraday market scanning
automated technical analysis
detailed performance statistics
volatility analysis and more

MetaTrader 4 Multi Account Manager

Axi offers a unique solution for money manager through its Multi Account Manager (MAM) software that it’s integrated with the MetaTrader 4 trading platform. UK professional traders interested to take advantage of the Axi MAM solution can expect the following benefits:

Unlimited number of managed accounts
Includes all the features that come with Axi Standard Account
Increased speed
6 allocation methods (Lot Allocation, Percent Allocation, Proportional By Balance, Proportional By Equity, Equity Percent Allocation and Allocation by Equal Risk)

Summary of Best MetaTrader 4 Broker in the UK

In conclusion, Axi’s MT4 offering may suit all types of trading styles, from scalping to swing trading. Axi is handling more than $100 billion in trading volume for its client’s base of 40,000 trading accounts from over 100 countries that are managed from 8 international offices. The live forex spreads start as low as 0.8 pips on EUR/USD respectively 1.8 pips on GBP/USD (Standard Account).

Open a demo account >>Visit Axi >>

FAQs About Low Spread Brokers

What Is The Best Low Spread Account For A UK Trader?

There are four types of trading accounts available in the UK:

Standard account with no commission but higher spreads
Raw (ECN) account with the lowest spreads but a commission added
Spread betting account that has tax benefits to CFD trading
Fixed spread account with a set spread based on the currency pair traded

The lowest December 2022 spreads for the first three account types is Pepperstone with a full analysis made on our Pepperstone fee comparison.

What Are Low Spreads In Forex?

A spread is the difference between the buy and sell price of a currency pair. A wider spread will lead to reduced profits or greater losses when trading similar to stockbroking fees when investing in shares. Spreads are different based on the currency pairs traded with the most popular being:

EUR/GBP
EUR/USD
GBP/USD
GBP/EUR

View our trading guide to learn more about trading fees and forex in general.

How We Found The Best Low Spread Forex Brokers in the UK

Our team of experts at Compare Forex Brokers is regarded as being the main source of authority when it comes to broker review content. Our low spread forex broker UK review is the result of extensive research evaluating the forex spreads among the leading FCA-regulated FX brokers in the UK.

The foreign exchange brokers based in the UK come with different flavours, aka different levels of spreads. For example, among the leading financial services providers in the UK, Pepperstone scored the highest points in our review scoring system. The Pepperstone ECN account can boost an average spread of 0.13 pips on EUR/USD and respectively 0.44 pips on GBP/USD. At the same time, City Index offers the lowest average spreads for the zero commissions account.

Our list of low spread forex brokers in the UK was reduced down to the best 6 brokerage trading firms. Our devoted team of investing professionals kept the options at a minimum to make it easier to choose a low-spread broker.

Risk Warning Notice: Before deciding to invest in the interbank market, learn about the potential risk involved with highly leveraged products. Forex and CFD trading may not be suitable for all investors, as you might lose all your funds.

Top Low Spread Brokers in the UK

The brokers with the lowest spreads for UK traders

Forex Broker	EUR/USD spreads	GBP/USD spreads
Pepperstone	0.09	0.38
IC Markets	0.10	0.4
IG	0.17	0.59
GO Markets	0.2	0.5
XTB	0.3	0.6
FP Markets	0.1	0.3
FXTM	0.3	0.5
Admiral Markets	0.1	0.6
Fusion Markets	0.09	0.24

The table lists the average spreads that are published on the broker’s website for their commission or zero-spread account. ECN Style accounts are a good option for scalpers that want to get the lowest spreads available as the costs usually work out better even when one factors in the commission costs.

About the author: Justin Grossbard

lowest spread forex brokers south africa

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