Finding the best forex brokers can seem like a difficult task but, luckily, we’ve done the hard work for you. Our experts have reviewed hundreds of different forex brokers, using their own money and our precise testing process. They checked their fees, licenses, product offerings, and trading platforms so that you don’t have to. You’ll find them all on this page.
Our Winners
Summary of Best Forex Brokers for December 2024
FOREX.COM
ETORO
NADEX
FXCHOICE
XM GROUP
Full List of Licenced Forex Brokers
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Min Deposit: $100
Challenge Types: 1-step, 2-step
Payout: Bi-weekly after initial 30 days
Challenge Types: 1-step
Payout: Bi-weekly
Challenge Types: 2-step
Payout: Bi-weekly
Challenge Types: 2-step
Payout: Bi-weekly
Challenge Types: 1-step or 2-step
Payout: 14 days (first payout), 10 days, then weekly
Challenge Types: 1-step or 2-step
Payout: 14 days (first payout), 10 days then weekly
Challenge Types: 1-step
Payout: 10 days (first payout), then 5 days
Challenge Types: 1-step or 2-step
Payout: Bi-weekly
Challenge Types: 2-step
Payout: Bi-weekly
Challenge Types: 1-step & 2-step
Payout: Every 5 days
Challenge Types: 2-step
Payout: Bi-Weekly
Top Forex Brokers – Our Expert Picks
We tried and tested over 150 of the best forex brokers using our unique and accurate methodology. To do this, we opened live accounts, deposited funds, and considered over 200 criteria points. We looked for brokers that provided a wide range of trading opportunities, competitive spreads, top-tier licensing materials, and industry-leading trading platforms.
You can register with those who offered excellence in all these departments, our best forex brokers, by simply clicking on the logos below. Sounds too easy right? That’s because it is – we want to save you both time and money. To learn more about each of our best forex brokers, and to analyze them side by side, visit our comparison page.
✅ Mobile App Available
✅ 0% Trading Commission
✅ Minimum Deposit €10
✅ Secure and Regulated Broker
✅ +250 Instruments
✅ Award Winner
✅ Segregated accounts
✅ New Account Bonus
✅ Large breadth of market instruments
✅ 24/7 Support
✅ 500:1 Max Leverage
✅ Fee-Free Funding Options
✅ 2000+ Instruments Online
✅ Compliant at every Level
✅ Zero Commission Trading
✅ Mobile & Desktop Platforms
Why Trade with the Best Forex Brokers?
The best forex brokers give you access to one of the largest and most appealing markets in the world. It’s no surprise that you want to get involved. Having a broker that you can trust also allows you to take advantage of the many benefits of forex trading, including:
Round The Clock Trading The forex market is open 24 hours a day, five days of the week. This means that you can always trade at a time that’s convenient for you.
Unparalleled Liquidity With a daily trading volume of over $5 trillion, forex is the most liquid market in the world. This allows transactions to be completed quickly and easily, which keeps your trading fees down. Such high liquidity levels also give you more opportunities to trade – you can speculate on small price movements frequently.
High Volatility Levels The popularity and size of the forex market make it incredibly volatile. Whilst this may sound scary, it simply means that there’s plenty of chances to profit as, with the best forex brokers, you can go both long and short.
Leveraged Products Forex is traded with leverage, which enables you to open much larger positions than you may be able to in other markets. Essentially, with a top forex broker you can make your money go further in a safe and controlled way.
Diverse Trading Opportunities With forex, you can trade both the world’s most important currencies and those from emerging countries too. Not only does this allow you to choose markets that are interesting to you, but it also allows you to diversify your portfolio and hedge your trades. If one currency is suffering, you can simply trade a different one.
Discover what you need to start trading forex here
How We Choose Our Best Forex Brokers
Choosing the right forex brokers for our readers is a responsibility we don’t take lightly. To accomplish this task most effectively, we have devised a methodology that analyzes over 200 different criteria. We update this process often too, to ensure that we’re taking new forex products, markets and features into consideration. Some of the most important things we look at are:
- Safety and Regulation – To be considered one of our best forex brokers, the firm must be licensed and regulated by a top tier authority. It must also provide you with a range of safety features such as investor compensation, negative balance protection and SSL encryption. Simply put, if a broker isn’t reputable, it won’t make it to this page.
- Competitive Spreads – To make sure you’re getting the most for your money, we dissect each broker’s trading fees. For forex, most fees are charged via spreads. We compare and contrast the minimum spreads for the EUR/USD currency pair. This is a popular choice for most traders and it’s also a good indicator of whether the broker’s other fees will be fair.
- Industry Leading Trading Platforms – All of our top forex brokers offer intuitive and efficient trading platforms. This may be award-winning third-party software, such as MT4 or MT5, or a proprietary platform that offers all the tools you need to succeed.
- Wide Range of Currency Pairs – As one of the biggest benefits of trading forex is that it allows you to diversify your portfolio, all of our recommended forex brokers offer major, minor and exotic currency pairs.
- Beneficial Trading Conditions – To find the best forex brokers for you, we take a deep-dive into execution policies and terms and conditions. We look for high maximum order sizes, ultra-fast execution speeds, and fractional pip pricing as this reduces the risk of you receiving requotes. Essentially, we read the small print so that you don’t have to.
- Efficient Payment Methods – We understand that you want to deposit and withdraw from your forex account in a way that’s both familiar and quick. For a broker to make it to this page, therefore, it must offer a diverse range of payment methods. This includes bank transfers, e-wallets and localized solutions. Your convenience is something we take into consideration every step of the way.
- Quick and Easy Account Opening – Last but certainly not least, our best forex brokers all offer a straightforward sign-up process. They won’t make you jump through hoops and will help you to meet regulatory requirements, such as KYC checks, as easily as possible. They’ll also offer excellent customer support in case you get stuck.
Your Safety is Our Priority
Your safety is of the utmost importance to us which is why our methodology focuses heavily on regulation and licensing. Unlike other sites, our tested reviewing process guarantees that only forex brokers with licenses from top-tier authorities are recommended by our experts.
In addition to checking that all our best forex brokers are well-regulated, we also scrutinize their reputation, history and security protocols. Thanks to the high number of points we award in this area, only forex brokers who are committed to protecting your data and money make it to this page.
Which is the Best Online Forex Broker for Beginners?
If you’re new to forex trading, you’ll need a broker with specific features. Don’t worry though, as we’ve got you covered. When it comes to choosing our best forex brokers, we consider the needs of traders of all skill levels. As such, all of our recommendations offer beneficial conditions for beginner traders.
The best forex brokers for beginners offer account types with low minimum deposit requirements. A low entry point makes it easy for you to start trading without having to put too much money on the line. They also have low spread fees, no matter how much you want to trade, and a transparent pricing structure.
To make sure your trading career gets off to a great start, we also look for top forex brokers that provide you with excellent learning tools. This includes educational materials, daily analysis articles, copy trading opportunities, and trading signals. We know it can be daunting to start forex trading, but rest assured you’re in safe hands.
How to Start Forex Trading
Before selecting your perfect forex broker, it is important to understand what exactly forex trading is and what brokers allow you to do.
Put simply, forex brokers allow you to buy or sell currencies at one price and then sell/buy them at a later point. Ideally, this set of transactions should yield a profit. The best forex brokers for day trading allow you to perform this set of transactions within a short time frame. At times, you may only hold your positions for a matter of minutes.
To start forex trading, you’ll need an account and a good forex broker. Whilst we’ve provided you with our best forex broker recommendations above, we understand that choosing a firm to work with is entirely subjective.
All of the brokers found on this page offer a high-quality trading experience, but you may be looking for certain features. When you browse our selections, therefore, it’s important to consider which aspects are most important to you. Do you want to take advantage of a wide range of currency pairs or will you be sticking to the majors? How will you fund your account, what size trades do you want to place?
If working out what exactly you want your forex broker to do for you sounds confusing, fear not, as we’re here to help. In the following sections, we’ll explain how different forex broker account types work and what main features the best forex brokers offer. With this knowledge under your belt, you’ll be able to scroll back up and choose the best forex broker for you.
How Do Forex Broker Accounts Work?
When you register with the best forex brokers, one of the first decisions you will have to make is which account type you want to choose. Usually, brokers tend to offer micro, standard, and premium accounts, although they may use different names.
Micro Account – This is the best option for beginner traders as it allows you to place smaller trades (0.01 lot) and usually comes with a low minimum deposit requirement. Sometimes, however, micro accounts carry higher spreads. This is so that the broker can compensate for your lower trading volume. If you are considering opening a micro account, it’s a good idea to look for a forex broker that also has a competitive standard account. This way, you can upgrade once you’re more comfortable with trading.
Standard Account – A standard account is what most traders will opt for. All top forex brokers offer this type of account and it comes with several benefits; an accessible minimum deposit requirement, good spreads, and optimal leverage. With a standard account, you’ll also usually have access to all of the broker’s best features, be it trading platforms, tools, or signals.
Premium Account – This is a top-tier account which is usually reserved for those who deposit and trade large amounts. In the past, premium accounts used to come with the best spreads, but recently the best forex brokers have been closing the gap between standard and premium. Nowadays, the most obvious difference between the two is that the premium account will come with added tools, professional trading platforms, and dedicated account managers. If you want to make sure you’re always the broker’s top priority, this is the account for you.
Besides live accounts, the best forex brokers also feature Islamic and demo accounts on their platforms. Islamic accounts, as their name suggests, are designed for Muslim traders. These accounts are Sharia-compliant, as they come with no overnight interest fees.
Demo accounts are perfect for everyone, as they give you a chance to try out the best forex brokers for free. You can also continue using them once you’ve registered to test new strategies.
What Forex Trading Fees Will I Pay?
There are two main types of charges that a broker will impose; trading fees and non-trading fees.
Trading fees include:
Spreads – This is the difference between the bid and the ask price, and they are listed in pips. Spreads may be fixed, meaning the fee stays the same at all times, or variable, which means they change depending on market conditions.
Commissions – These fees are usually compulsory if the broker has waived spreads and are charged per lot traded. Like spreads, they may be fixed to a certain price per lot or expressed as a percentage. If you choose a commission-based account, it’s also important to check whether the fee is charged per side or per round turn. Per side means you will pay when you buy and sell, whilst per round turn means you will pay the one fee each time you trade.
Overnight Swaps – This is an interest fee that is charged if you hold your positions overnight. It is calculated for both long and short positions and you can usually find the fee listed within the trading platform.
Non-trading fees include:
Deposit Fees – Some brokers will charge you for funding your account. In general, these are brokers you want to avoid. All of our best forex brokers remove depositing fees as we see them as unfair; if you are choosing to spend your money with a company, you shouldn’t be worse off for doing so.
Withdrawal Fees – These fees are incurred when you go to withdraw your profits. They may be charged if you choose to take out a small amount of money or if you use a specific payment method. Withdrawal fees should be nominal; they should only cover what the broker is expected to pay to the payment provider.
Inactivity Fees – Most brokers will unfortunately charge you if you don’t trade frequently enough. The best forex brokers will give you a generous period of time before you start incurring these fees, most likely between 6 and 12 months. To avoid these fees, you simply need to place a trade before your account is considered to be inactive. Alternatively, you can withdraw your complete account balance if you know that you won’t be trading before the period begins.
The Main Features of the Best Forex Brokers
Whilst we always look for the brokers with the most advantageous trading conditions, it’s important that you know exactly what to expect at the best forex brokers. Below we’ve provided you with definitions of the most important broker features and explanations of how a broker can excel in each department.
Trading Platforms – A trading platform is the software that facilitates trading with the broker. It should be user-friendly, efficient, and customizable. The best trading platforms also allow you to place various order types and arm you with a plethora of charting and drawing tools. A broker may offer a proprietary platform or support third-party software such as MetaTrader and cTrader.
Research Tools – The best forex brokers will make it easy for you to make informed trades. To do this they will offer a range of research and analysis tools. This could include fundamental and technical indicators, sentiment charts, economic calendars, market news, and expert advice.
Educational Materials – In addition to providing you with the apparatus you need to trade, a forex broker should also help you to hone your skills. Many top forex brokers offer educational content such as video guides, e-books, and term glossaries. They may also provide live webinars and training courses.
Mobile Apps – Due to the fast-paced nature of the forex market, being able to trade at all times is vital. Forex broker apps must be fully functional. They should allow you to fund your account, manage your trades, open new positions, and contact customer support.
Learn More About Our Methodology
We created BrokersOnline because we were fed up of finding sites that directed traders to ‘the best forex brokers’ without explaining how they came up with their recommendations. When you’re putting your money on the line, someone else’s opinion isn’t good enough. You want clear and honest information and we want to provide it.
Every forex broker recommendation that you find on our website has been created using accurate data and unbiased information. When we find a new broker, we always assess it using our tested methodology. This ensures that every broker we endorse has met the same high standards.
Of course, talk is cheap. In order to prove that we’ve got your best interests at heart, we have to share this process with you.
How the Testing Process Works
Throughout this page, we’ve explained what exactly we look for in our best forex brokers, and why these features are beneficial to you. How does this translate into actionable data that we can use to rank brokers? We’re glad you asked.
Each broker we inspect is judged on the same criteria points in 10 key areas. There are over 200 criteria points that a forex broker must meet to be considered the best of the best. This standardized approach also guarantees that our rankings are fair.
Our 10 key areas are as follows; licensing and regulation, reputation, fees, trading platforms, product offerings, mobile compatibility, security, payment methods, training tools, and customer support.
How Does Our Methodology Protect You?
A broker can gain a certain amount of points in each of our 10 key areas, yet these points are not weighted equally. Certain areas are more important than others and our methodology reflects that; having a cool design is not as important as offering a secure platform, obviously.
The points a broker obtains for licensing, regulation, and reputation are worth twice as much. Paired with the points available for security features, this ensures that only trustworthy forex brokers will pass our tests. If a broker fails to excel in any of these areas, it won’t be able to gain a score that puts it amongst our top brokers and so it won’t be recommended to you.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
To find the best forex broker for you, you first need to look for a trusted brand with a good reputation. Luckily, all of the recommendations on this page have been tested by our experts and offer strong licenses and excellent trading experiences.
Next, you need to figure out what else you need and want the broker to provide. If you are a beginner forex trader, you may want a broker with a low minimum deposit requirement. As an experienced trader, you may be looking for high-end platforms. Our top picks cater to a variety of skill levels, so you use our list to find one that suits you with ease.
If you want to make money trading forex, there’s a few preliminary tools you’ll need in your arsenal; a good forex broker with good trading fees, a strong trading plan, and a knowledge of the markets and trader psychology. The first step is the easiest. Simply compare broker fees and features to find the best forex broker for you.
Creating a successful trading plan and acquiring knowledge is a little more difficult, yet many good forex brokerages also offer educational materials and risk management tools.
The minimum deposit amount you’ll need to start trading forex will vary from online broker to broker. Some discount forex brokers may eliminate this requirement, yet others may impose higher limits depending on your account type. In general, a minimum deposit limit of 100 USD is reasonable for top forex brokers. This gives you the capital to make small trades and to weather losses without wiping out your account.
The best forex brokers for beginners are those that are accessible, user-friendly, and committed to helping you to become a better trader.
For a broker to be accessible to beginner traders, it should offer reasonable minimum deposit requirements, accounts that allow you to trade micro lots, and competitive spreads. To be user-friendly, the broker must offer an intuitive trading platform, have a great customer service team and have a transparent pricing structure. Finally, by providing educational materials or the ability to copy professional traders, you can rest assured you’re trading with a beginner-oriented Forex broker.
Yes, there are many top forex brokers that are both reliable and safe. These brokers will have top-tier licenses issued by respected authorities, complex money protection mechanisms, and very realistic trading terms and conditions. That said, there are also a large number of rogue and scam forex brokers. To make sure that you always trade with a legit broker, choose one of our recommendations. These brokers have been verified by our experts, who examine their licenses, reputation and safety features. An unsafe broker can’t pass our testing process, it’s as simple as that.
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BrokersOnline was created to give expert recommendations to prospective forex traders. We believe that forex trading should be accessible, easy to understand, and fair. That’s why our advice is objective, data-driven, and unrestricted.
So that we can keep providing you with free content, our partners compensate us. Whilst this may influence which products we review and feature, our partners cannot pay to change our opinions, ratings, or advice. All of this is grounded in research and facts, so our partners are never guaranteed a favorable review. Moreover, our reviewers do not have access to our advertising data or campaign planning.
