With an average daily turnover of over $5 trillion, the Forex market is exponentially growing and gaining popularity adding millions of new users each day.
Therefore, it becomes essential for you to choose a trusted and reliable forex broker as markets are already subjected to risk, however it’s beneficial to have peace of mind knowing that your capital is in safe hands.
List of Best Forex Brokers
Below we have compiled a detailed list of the best forex brokers in the industry and provided an in-depth overview to help you choose the forex broker that best suits your needs.
Forex Broker | Founded | Regulated | Broker Type | Minimum Deposit | Maximum leverage |
1. IG Group | 1974 | ASIC, FCA | DMA, MM | 0$ | 1:200 |
2. CMC Markets | 1989 | ASIC, FCA | NDD, STP | 0$ | 1:500 |
3. IC Markets | 2007 | ASIC | NDD, ECN | 0$ | 1:500 |
4. Plus 500 | 2008 | ASIC, FCA | NDD | 100$ | 1:300 |
5. OANDA | 1996 | ASIC, FCA | – | 0$ | 1:100 |
6. Forex.com | 2001 | FCA, CFTC | ECN, MM | 0$ | 1:400 |
7. FXCM | 1999 | ASIC, FCA | NDD | 0$ | 1:100 |
8. TD Ameritrade FX | 1975 | FINRA, SIPC | DMA | 2000$
| 1:50 |
9. OCTA FX | 2014 | FSA (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), CySEC | $ 5 | ||
10. FBS | 2009 | CySEC, IFSC | $ 1 | ||
11. exness | 2008 | FCA UK, CySEC, FSP, BaFin, CRFIN | $ 1 | ||
12. Capital.com | 2016 | $ 20 | |||
13. VA Trade | 2006 | $ 100 |
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1. IG Group
Established in 1974, IG Group is well known & one of the best forex brokers in Europe. Being a publicly-traded company & trusted in six tier-1 jurisdictions, IG is a highly safe & reliable broker for forex as well as CFDs trading.
IG also offers rewarding features as an online forex broker and has a global presence including countries like New Zealand, Japan, the United States, and of course, the United Kingdom. Additionally, if you are a resident of Europe and intend to benefit from international market opportunities, then IG also offers opportunities to trade in ETFs.
Benefits:
- IG Group being one of the best forex trading company provides access to a wide range of investment products. Its investment products include Currency Pairs which are around 104 as well as CFDs which are around 19500. They also provide the option of cryptocurrency trading as CFDs.
- Leveraging its size and reputation as one of the top forex brokers in the world, IG provides competitive pricing regardless of the product you choose.
- If you are a professional CFD trader who trades with high volumes, then IG also offers attractive discounts through its active trader rebate programme. Rebate hierarchy is of 2 levels with Level 1 being of £50 million worth of transaction volume per month which offers 10% of the spread rebate and Level 2 being of £300 million worth of transaction volume per month which offers 20% of rebate.
- With an astonishing selection of trading platforms, IG is termed as one of the best forex brokers to use. Facilities provided serves amateur as well as professional traders. Moreover, IG Group’s advanced web platform services provide an amazing trading experience.
Limitations:
- Even though IG’s L2 Dealer platform can be considered for active trading due to its discount offerings, the MT4 platform still lags in performance and is limited in the product range.
- IG developed mobile stands among the top in the industry, however, it is not recommended for stock and investment research as the only information access it offers is from Reuters. If you are into investing in stocks research and invest in best day trading stocks.
Get to know the best covered call stocks to buy now.
2. CMC Markets
Established in 1989, CMC Markets is a public traded and renowned UK forex broker making it one of the best forex brokers in Europe. Adapting to the changing technological advancements and developing a next-generation online trading platform proves CMC Markets is well equipped to provide a futurist and feature-rich trading experience.
Being one of the top forex brokers in the world, CMC Markets offers a wide range of products and trading instruments like CFDs and spreads in varied asset classes. Apart from that it also provides an opportunity to invest in cryptocurrencies and government bonds.
Benefits:
- CMC Markets is regulated by one of the most trusted regulatory agencies in the United Kingdom i.e. Financial Conduct Authority which enhances its credibility as well as reliability. Moreover, all client funds are strategically segregated in the various UK and European banks ensuring the safety of client funds.
- CMC Markets‘ highly prompt and interactive customer service distinguishes them from the rest of the brokers making it one of the best forex trading companies. You need to be able to reach a broker quickly as time is of the essence in trading.
Also read: Best Stock Forecasts & Prediction Services
Limitations:
- The biggest limitation is faced by residents of the United States as like most of the UK forex brokers, CMC Markets also doesn’t accept US clients because of the regulatory conditions.
- Like IG Group, CMC Markets also has the major product and facility constraints on its MT4 platform.
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3. IC Markets
Founded in 2007, IC Markets is a fairly young brokerage company but getting included in our list shows that it definitely at par with companies that have been in the business for a long time. Headquartered in Australia, IC Markets proves to be a blessing for algo traders.
The brokerage company is building it’s brand and reliability one step at a time. At present, it holds regulatory status in one tier-1 jurisdiction and one in tier-2 jurisdiction putting it in the list of reliable brokerages for trading in Forex and CFDs.
Also read: Best Gold Trading Signals.
Benefits:
- IC Markets provides an astounding amount of market research accommodating both technical and fundamental analysis. This enables traders and investors alike to stay updated and develop their future strategies.
- IC Markets offers highly attractive costs with the opportunity of scalable execution which makes the brokerage platform a blessing for algorithmic trading.
- IC Markets holds a strong place in being one of the best MetaTrader brokers due to its advanced MT4 and MT5 platforms for both, web as well as desktop.
Limitations:
- IC Markets’ trust score among its competitors remains low as it is not a publicly-traded company and has authorization from only one of tier 1 regulators i.e. Australian Securities and Investment Commission.
- The brokerage company only offers limited trading instruments with only 61 Currency Pairs and 230 CFDs making it less attractive for active traders
- In comparison with industry leaders, IC Markets research tools are quite lagging and don’t cater to traders’ needs.
Read more:
4. Plus 500
Another young growing brokerage company on our list is Plus 500 which was founded in 2008 and headquartered in Israel. Plus 500 is a publicly-traded company and prides itself as primarily an Online Trading platform.
Plus 500 has its global presence through its subsidiaries which are located throughout Europe and Asia-Pacific and are listed on London Stock Exchange since 2018. Moreover, the brokerage company was the first one to offer Bitcoin CFD in 2013 putting it on the best forex brokers’ list.
Benefits:
- Plus 500 offers a comprehensive product mix on its platform by providing access to forex, stock index, shares, options derivatives, commodities, ETFs as well as cryptocurrencies to clients around 50 countries.
- Plus 500 enjoys the trust of the UK market as it is regulated by the FCA which is one of the major regulatory agencies of the country. Also, its user-friendly WebTrader platform makes it reliable and attractive to clients around the globe.
- One of the biggest benefits of Plus 500 is its facility of negative balance protection ensuring client protection as this facility restricts losses to the total capital in the account.
Limitations:
- As explained above the importance of having a broker on call, Plus 500, unfortunately, lacks in the same forte. With its customer service limited to online modes like chat and e-mail, traders are unable to reach a broker in the time of need.
- The biggest limitation is faced by residents of the United States as like most of the UK forex brokers, Plus 500 also doesn’t accept US clients because of the regulatory conditions.
- Professional traders who adopt multiple research tools from third parties will also be disappointed as the brokerage company doesn’t offer the desired facility on its WebTrader platform.
5. OANDA
Established in 1996, OANDA is one of the most reputed and trusted forex brokers. In fact, its advanced and high-quality market research makes the brokerage firm one of the top forex brokers in the world.
Being a globally trusted name OANDA is regulated in each of the six tier-1 jurisdictions which enhance its credibility as well as reliability.
Benefits:
- One of the major benefits of OANDA is the relief it offers US traders as it accepts US clients. This feature provides the firm a competitive advantage and distinguishes it from the rest of the brokerage firms
- OANDA platform is well designed keeping in mind the slightest of needs for traders. Its platform offers a wide range of tools inclusive of Dow Jones FX Select news and advanced trading calculators making fxTrade an efficient and convenient platform.
- OANDA market research tools are also state of the art, providing in-depth economic analysis, real-time data, and advanced data analytics.
Limitations:
- OANDA is not suited for beginner US traders as it doesn’t offer the facility of negative balance protection to them. This can be highly detrimental as if the stop loss is not maintained, the client capital balance can go negative making the loss unlimited.
- The brokerage company offers limited trading instruments with only 70 Currency Pairs and merely 55 CFDs making it less attractive for active traders.
- OANDA Can also prove to be quite expensive if you are an occasional trader as it charges inactivity charge each month in addition to its other operating fees like deposits and withdrawals etc.
6. Forex.com
Established in 2001, Forex.com was introduced as a part of New Jersey-based GAIN Capital Holdings which is a global leader in online trading services since 1999. Forex.com is one of the reputed names in forex trading providing an excellent range of instruments globally. It also offers user-friendly and real-time tools for in-depth market research and screening. Being one of the most technologically advanced platforms, Forex.com prides itself as the #1 rated online broker making it one of the top brokers of the world.
Benefits:
- Forex.com offers a wide range of instruments to profit from giving traders numerous opportunities.
- Forex.com offers an inbuilt Trading View chart that will enhance your trading experience with its programming language Pine Script offering traders the to develop custom indicators at no extra cost.
- Forex.com offers the UK and European clients a facility of negative balance protection ensuring client protection as this facility restricts losses to the total capital in the account.
Limitations:
- Forex.com doesn’t offer its US clients a facility of negative balance protection which is highly detrimental as if the stop loss is not maintained, the client’s capital balance can go negative making the loss unlimited.
- Even though the live chat service is advertised, it is unavailable on the platform. Being an online broker, efficient customer service is way more necessary.
7. FXCM
Established in 1999, FXCM is operated by Jefferies Financial being a Leucadia Company. The brokerage company is trusted by clients globally for trading in forex and CFDs because of its long-standing reputation as well as 3 of its regulatory authorities being in tier 1 jurisdiction.
Moreover, its best-in-class platform and tools as well as customer service make it one of the best forex brokers to use for amateur and professional traders alike. Indicators and tools are used by both professional and regular traders, both to understand the market.
Benefits:
- FXCM not only competes but supersedes its competitors when it comes to advanced trading platforms and tools. It provides best in class platforms like MT4, TradingView, and NinjaTrader8 making it a blessing for algorithmic trading and one of the best forex sites for trading.
- FXCM offers premium research material on its platform inclusive of content from Trading Central, investing.com as well as FxStreet.
- Availability of premium content from eFX Data on FXCM trading platform also provides quality market data.
Limitations:
- FXCM only offers limited trading instruments with only 39 Currency Pairs and 82 CFDs making it less attractive for traders
- We wouldn’t recommend FXCM for retail traders as the brokerage company was banned from the US market just 2 years ago and trust issues still persist.
- Transparency concerns have also been observed relating to its net costs, subscriptions, and unavailability of direct interbank.
8. TD Ameritrade FX
Established in 1971, TD Ameritrade is one of the best forex brokers in the USA. The firm remains one of the biggest names in the industry and is continuously building on the legacy. With its highly user-friendly platform and interactive services, TD Ameritrade is the recommended forex broker for beginners.
The availability of multiple platforms on the platform serves traders of all spheres. For beginners, the brokerage firm’s best in class educational material offers great insights.
Moreover, active investors benefit from its state of the art thinkorswim platform that provides all needed data and tools to decode market opportunities.
Benefits:
- The user-friendly platform offered by TD Ameritrade ensures convenience for all and it’s well designed mobile application provides an informative but simple experience.
- Availability of the advanced thinkorswim platform on the web provides traders access to advanced tools and real-time analysis to trade in multiple instruments like equities, options, forex, and much more on the web.
- TD Ameritrade is one of the top forex brokers in the world offers a wide range of instruments in varied asset classes.
Limitations:
- TD Ameritrade doesn’t offer cryptocurrency trading and only provides the option of trading in CME Bitcoin futures
- You might have to shift among multiple platforms. For an instance, if you wish to trade in options then the trade-specific tools are confined to thinkorswim platform, however for the purpose of fundamental analysis, one would need to access the web portal.
9. OCTA FX
OctaFX is a global forex trading company that is getting popular because of low initial deposit amounts, higher leverage, and low brokerage. Established in 2014, Octa FX has been ranked 5th in the lowest capital Forex brokers ranking.
Traders can open two types of trading accounts with OctaFX – Habitual trader and Smart trader. OctaFX platforms are stable and easy to use, making them highly reliable for users.
OctaFX has received several awards for its efficient customer support and reliable trading platforms. The most recent is Best FX Broker Asia 2021 (Global Banking & Finance), Most Transparent broker 2020 (forex-awards.com), and Best ECN Broker 2020.
Benefits:
- It offers an unlimited number of account openings.
- It offers quick forex trade order execution.
- It offers Copy trading which allows investors to choose to follow skilled traders to diversify their investment portfolio.
- OctaFX is among a few forex brokers that offer low spreads.
- It offers efficient customer support
Limitations:
- There is no direct connection for money transfers. Transfers must be made to the payee’s account and must notify the broker by attaching proof of transfer
- The platform does not cater to clients from the USA
- There is a limited selection of tradable instruments
- Not all currency pairs are available for trading
10. FBS
FBS is a leading international broker which was founded in 2009. It is an excellent platform for both newbie and professional traders alike.
FBS has been recognized with over 60 international awards that acknowledge its status as a Transparent Broker and Best Customer Service Provider
FBS offers three types of accounts: the Standard, Crypto, and FBS Cent accounts. FBS offers both demos and live trading accounts for all members.
FBS is a trading service that offers transparent conditions for trading by the use of popular instruments including Forex, Metals, and all related to it. However, FBS offers around 40 currency pairs and 6 Indices based on CFD Trading.
Benefits:
- Low stock and stock index fee
- No fee for an inactive account
- Quick Account opening process
- Excellent customer support. It is available 24/7 either through live chat, international phone lines, or email.
- Copy Trading is available
- FBS Learning Centre offers a range of Webinars, Forex Guidebooks numerous Tips for Traders Video Lessons
Limitations:
- Very limited product portfolio
- Few accounts base currencies
- No protection for the non-EU client base
11. Exness
Exness is a leading multi-asset broker founded in 2008. It is a certified financial platform whose key role is purchasing and selling assets.
Exness is designed to meet different client needs. Broadly speaking, the profiles of Exness are categorized in two broad categories: Standard- Is for starters, and Professional – is for experienced traders. Also, the platform offers a variety of tools has 100+ instruments for Forex trading and up to 7 for Cryptocurrencies.
Exness offers a free guide for beginners and intermediate-level traders. There is a complete manual for traders willing to pursue their trading careers, considering Internet reviews and feedback. It also offers partnership programs, where it allows members to earn by inducing broker and affiliate programs.
Benefits:
- New functions and tools are continuously added to the platform to enhance the user experience.
- Strong Customer Support Services – A client can reach website representatives via phone, email, or live chat regarding any question 24/7.
- Client security and assurance are highly valued at Exness
- It offers tight spreads
Limitations
- Exness does not offer multi-currency accounts
12. Capital.com
Capital.com is an award-winning platform that is trusted by more than 5k clients. Founded in 2016, it offers traders the option of trading in 6,100 markets across indices, commodities, cryptocurrencies, shares, and currency pairs.
Capital.com stands out for its quality research, strong educational content, and innovative web platform, making it a great choice for both beginners and experienced traders. It offers in-depth financial analysis via more than 75 technical indicators along with multiple trading chart types and extensive drawing tools.
Benefits:
- Educative Material for Traders: Well-articulated, high-quality educational articles, courses, and research articles. The platform also provides educative videos for market analysis.
- Offers an extensive range of 477 cryptocurrency CFDs
- Charges 0% commission for trading & tight spreads
- First-rate customer service: telephone support, WhatsApp and Telegram, live chats and email
- 6,500 plus financial instruments to choose from
- The process of opening an account and starting trading is very smooth and fast
- Capital.com has one of the best trading apps among the growing number of CFD brokers XXXavailable in the market
Limitations:
- Capital.com owns limited licenses. It does not own additional licenses in tier one jurisdictions outside of the U.K. and Australia
- Only offers CFDs, spread betting, and real stocks
13. AVA Trade
AvaTrade is an online trading company founded in 2006 and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. It provides four trading instruments and investment products including retail forex trading, CFD, options, and cryptocurrencies
AvaTrade has expanded enormously; with over 300,000 registered customers globally, executing more than two million trades a month. The company’s total trading volumes now surpass $ 70 billion per month. AvaTrade’s user-oriented perspective, combined with solid financial backing, has made it an investor preference. Moreover, within the field of online trading, AvaTrade’s offerings are unique and better than what’s available.
Benefits
- It has a very low setup cost
- Account opening is fast, easy, and completely digital.
- Wide variety of research tools
- Copy trading is one of the most prominent services of AvaTrade. The platform allows clients to copy the trading activities or behaviors of other high-performing clients or traders.
- It offers focused and informative educational and research material available on its website. It offers a variety of learning materials ranging from free courses and market analyses to video tutorials and explainer articles.
- Solid Customer support – AvaTrade maintains 24/7 chat and phone support, in addition to online form entries and social media communication.
Limitations
- There are many hidden charges and fees depending on the account type
- For experienced traders, there is no discount on huge transactions
- It charges a fee for an inactive account
- Slow withdrawal process
So this was a list of the best forex brokers in the industry. Since your forex broker will be your trading partner, choose them carefully, and make sure they are reputable and fit your requirements as a trader.
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Disclaimer: None of the information published in this article should be construed as investment advice. Article is based on author’s independent research, we strongly advise our readers to always do their due diligence before investing.
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