Broker Reviews: Forex, CFDs and Trading Platforms

IC Markets

The Lowest Spread Broker

IC Markets have the lowest brokerage overall based on:

1. Lowest spreads with ECN Pricing for major currency pairings
2. Lowest Commission Brokers for ‘ECN’ account types
3. No deposit or withdrawal fees
4. No inactivity fees
5. Competitive overnight swap fees

IC Markets offers ECN pricing, which is why they are able to offer some of the lowest spreads for many currency pairs. Not only does IC Markets have tight spreads, but the broker also has Lowest Commission Brokers costs for most base currencies including the GBP, USD, EUR and AUD.

IC Markets Raw Account Spreads	EUR/USDGBP/USDEUR/GBPUSD/SGDAUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/JPYUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDGBP/USDEUR/GBPUSD/SGDAUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/JPYUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDGBP/USDEUR/GBPUSD/SGDAUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/JPYUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDGBP/USDEUR/GBPUSD/SGDAUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/JPYUSD/JPYUSD/CAD	EUR/USDGBP/USDEUR/GBPUSD/SGDAUD/USDAUD/JPYEUR/JPYUSD/JPYUSD/CAD
	0.02	0.23	0.27	0.85	0.03
	0.10	0.30	0.30	1.40	0.20
	0.10	0.30	0.20	1.50	0.20
	0.20	0.50	0.40	1.50	0.20
	0.17	0.59	0.54	N/A	0.30
	0.20	0.60	0.50	10.00	0.40
	0.10	0.60	0.60	1.30	0.50
	n/a	0.20	0.60	3.10	0.50
	0.44	0.85	0.40	1.30	0.42

Avg. spreads are taken from each broker's website and updated monthly. Last update on 04/01/2025

Like Pepperstone, IC Markets was founded in Australia and holds an ASIC regulation license. In Europe, it holds CySEC regulation (Cyprus) and also has Seychelles regulation issued by the FSA. IC Markets offer a choice of  MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5 and cTrader forex trading platforms. Traders outside Europe and Australia have a maximum leverage of 500:1, leverage for major currency pairs in Australia and Europe is 30:1 and 20:1 for minor and exotics.

Lowest Spread Forex BrokersVisit IC Markets

ThinkMarkets

The Best Forex Broker For Beginners

A 2025 comparison of the best brokers for those new to forex trading found ThinkMarkets was the best beginner broker. This review found ThinkMarkets to be the best broker for beginners because:

1. Negative balance protection included for all clients
2. No minimum deposit requirements
3. Commission-free Standard Account spreads from 0.4 pips
4. Trading server hubs in UK, NY and HK for fast execution
5. Three highly rated trading platforms for beginners

Founded in 2010, ThinkMarkets has its headquarters in London and Melbourne. The broker is regulated by ASIC, FCA, FSCA and FSA is an excellent choice for beginner traders as it has low minimum deposits meaning one can commence trading with a small investment and a standard accounts with spreads from 0.4 pip making the broker one of the best value for commission free trading in the industry. To give beginner brokers an extra level of security, all ThinkMarkets clients receive negative balance protection.

ThinkMarkets trading servers are located near major financial hubs in the UK, NY and HK meaning fast trading execution, which is critical to reducing slippage, especially when using their ThinkZero STP account, which has spreads from 0.0 pips and a commission of $3.50. Lastly, ThinkMarkets offer MetaTrader 4, 5 and their own developed platform ThinkTrader, the no.1 mobile trading app in the world. This app allows you can trade on the go using 80 indicators, 50 graphical tools and 14 different chart types.

Best Brokers for BeginnersVisit ThinkMarkets

eToro

The Best Broker For Social Trading

Established in Tel Aviv, Israel, eToro has offices in Cyprus, the UK and Australia. eToro differs from most brokers as it’s a social trading platform that allows traders to view, compare and share trading ideas and strategies with millions of other traders worldwide. eToro offers advanced trading tools such as the CopyTrader™ system to copy trades from other portfolios, and CopyPortfolios™ which is an investment fund of sorts where you can invest in a portfolio compiled from top eToro traders.

Key features of eToro include

1. Social trading specialist FX platform for all trading levels
2. Innovative tools – CopyTrader™ system, CopyPortfolios™
3. Has one of the latest trading communities
4. No commission fees
5. Large range of cryptocurrencies for social trading

eToro strength as a social trading apps is helped not only by excellent tools but the size of its trading community, which means access to a large knowledge base for social success. This community can trade using a wide range of CFD products including 16 cryptocurrencies pairs, 2000 stocks, 145 ETFs, 14 commodities and 13 indices all available with no commission frees as eToro is a spread-only product.

eToro is regulated by CySEC, FCA and ASIC. They were featured highly in the best forex brokers in UK.

Fusion Markets

The Broker That Has The Lowest Brokerage

Brokerage when trading forex ranges from spreads, commissions and holding costs. Our forex broker fee comparison found that Fusion Market’s market-leading commissions (most of which were 50% lower than other brokers) made them the cheapest worldwide.

1. Lowest commission fees in the industry from $2.25
2. No minimum deposits
3. Highly competitive spreads costs
4. Transparent with brokerage fees
5. Friendly Customer Support

Founded and headquartered in Melbourne in 2017, Fusion markets are regulated in Australia and Vanuatu and offers one of the best trading experience by applying ‘the Fusion Formula’. This formula combined ‘Low-Cost Trading + Friendly Support + Leading Technology’.

Low-Cost Trading is achieved in 3 ways:

• Industry-Lowest Commission Brokers: With commissions of $4.50 round-turn, this online broker offers the lowest commission’s costs in the forex market.
• Tight Spreads through STP trading execution – Fusion Market offers industry competitive tight spreads with Avg 0.12 for EURUSD, making it one of the best value for trading costs
• No hidden fees – Fusion Markets are transparent with their fees. They have no inactivity fees and or funding fees (except for international bank transfers) or inactivity fees.

In addition to low costs, Fusion markets offer ‘white gloves’ friendly customer service and leading technologies such as a blazing fast trade execution speed of 0.2 ms and MetaTrader 4 forex trading platforms.

Best Forex Brokers In AustraliaVisit Fusion Markets

XTB

The Recommended Broker For CFD Trading

Contract For Difference (CFDs) is more than just trading forex. They also allow the trading of cryptocurrencies to commodities and indices. Our Best CFD Brokers in Australia rewarded XTB as the best CFD broker.

1. Over 1500 global markets for trading CFDs
2. Award-winning proprietary CFD trading platform
3. Great training material for beginners
4. The in-depth market analysis material
5. Dedicated account manager

Founded in Warsaw, Poland in 2002 under the name X-Trade and later changed to XTB, this CFD broker is one of the largest stock exchange-listed brokers. XTB offers a large range of financial products for trade on the market with 1500 instruments including 49 forex pairs, 42 indices, 22 commodities, 1755 stock CFDs, 113 ETF CFDs and 25 Crypto pairs. Spreads for forex start at 0.28 pips for EURUSD for its PRO trading account.

In addition to its excellent range of CFDs, XTB stands out for its choice of trading platforms and free features.  XTB offers a choice of 2 trading platforms, its proprietary award-winning xStation 5 CFD trading platforms, which offers instant execution with an average trading execution speed of 85 ms, no requotes and MetaTrader 4.

The broker also has a wealth of free tools including its online Trading Academy which offers multiple courses with an extensive range tailored for beginner traders. Lastly, XTB has a solid range of market analysis tools. One unique feature is its mobile trade alert via WhatsApp for the latest trading news.

XTB is regulated by FCA, CySEC, CNMV (Spain), KNF (Poland), IFSC (Belize)

XTB ReviewVisit XTB

*Your capital is at risk ‘77% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

easyMarkets

The Broker With Good Risk Management Features

easyMarkets offers an extensive range of risk management tools. One risk management feature traders will appreciate is guaranteed negative balance protection.

1. Best range of risk management tools
2. Innovative risk tools – dealCancellation, Freeze Rate
3. Fixed rates regardless of market volatility
4. No slippage guarantee
5. Free guaranteed stop-loss, negative balance protection

Founded in 2001 with headquarters in Limassol (Cyprus) and regulated by ASIC and CySEC, easyMarkets (formerly easy-Forex) market maker with its main strength being its range of risk management tools usually included free of charge. easyMarkets operates with three 3 simple values: Simple, Honest, Transparent.

1. Simple trading: through their in-house developed user-friendly trading platform and its large range of risk management tools such as free ‘guaranteed stop-loss’, guaranteed Negative Balance Protection, ‘dealCancellation’ (which allows you to reverse a trade if you change your mind) and ‘Freeze rate'(allows you to temporarily pause the screen so you can grab the quote before it changes).
2. Honest trading: easyMarkets offers fixed spreads with a no slippage guarantee and is overseen by tier-1 regulators like CySEC and ASIC.
3. Transparent trading: As a market maker, easyMarkets never changes its fixed spreads no matter how extreme market events might be.

Most of the easyMarkets risk management is included ‘free’ with each trade, which means they are paid for through the standard spreads prices. This means trader’s get good value for the prices paid, especially as easyMarkets do not have commission fees. easyMarkets offers a choice of 3 types of trading accounts including a VIP account and 64 forex currency pairs, 53 shares CFD, 3 cryptocurrencies, 5 metals, 5 energies, 7 soft commodities and 15 indices. easyMarkets also offers options and futures trading not often found with other brokers when trading financial markets.

easyMarkets ReviewVisit easyMarkets

City Index

A Broker Recommended For Crypto CFDs

Individuals looking for Cryptocurrency CFDs such as Bitcoin should consider Forex.com (City Index) which has the lowest trading costs.

1. Lowest Spreads for crypto CFD among major brokers
2. Low overnight funding costs for cryptos
3. Tight spreads with no commissions
4. Large selection of free trading tools
5. Market analysis from expert analysis

City Index is a No Dealing Desk Brokers broker and part of the Gain Capital umbrella who are listed on the NYSE and also own the CFTC regulated Forex.com in the USA.  Regulated by ASIC, FCA, UAE Central Bank (United Emirates) and MAS (Singapore), the broker offers 2 types of retail investor accounts where one can choose from 2 trading platforms, AT Pro (with over 100 technical indicators) or MT4 and from over 4500 CFD markets,  84 currency pairs with spreads starting from 0.7 pips and no commissions.

The City Index product portfolio is very strong overall includes 21 indices, 4500+ shares CFD, 25+ hard and soft commodities and less common options such as bonds, interest rates and options and one of its major strengths; cryptocurrencies. City Index offers 6 of the most popular cryptos including Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum and Litecoin but where it shines is the low costs with some of the lowest spreads and swap rates on the market.

As a market maker rather than an ECN broker, City Index includes lots of free features, making their spreads excellent value. Included is the City Index trading academy which covers all City Index financial markets from beginner to advanced level and a wealth of trading tools including a research portal, built-in trading strategies for trading signals, Reuters news and expert market analysis.

City Index ReviewVisit City Index

Your capital is at risk ‘70% of retail CFD accounts lose money with City Index’

Best Trading Education

Trading any financial product requires training that can be completed either online or on-site. Currency trading has many elements for a trader to get used to, including the forex trading platform, key market events and dates, the use of leverage and automation. Each forex broker differs in their quality of training and the level that training courses are aimed.

FP Markets

FP Markets has twice won the Investment Trends award for best educational material. Their best feature is their video tutorial with approximately 100 lessons to build up traders’ knowledge from beginner to expert. There are also dedicated training courses dedicated to each level of trader experience. Mixed in are webinars held frequently, including one at the start of the week to discuss upcoming events that may impact the market. There are also trading e-books which are ideal for those who want to learn about forex, shares and CFD while travelling.

IG Group

IG Group, which is Australia’s largest retail foreign exchange broker was considered the second-best when it came to education. The IG Academy included interactive education, webinars, and seminars as well as a demo account to trade risk-free.

There are also articles, blogs, and exclusive videos provided by IG Markets. These online resources combined with the in-person seminars they hold periodically across Australia, which was why this FX broker was considered the best in the category.

IG ReviewVisit IG Group

CMC Markets

CMC Markets are close behind IG Markets who also have a high market share when it comes to retail foreign exchange in Australia. They have similar forex training features as IG, including videos, demo accounts and videos. An extra feature worth downloading is their eBooks which cover a range of training topics. These are catered for those new to forex trading and intermediate traders. Another popular feature is The Artful Trader Podcast which is where experienced traders are interviewed to hear their stories and tips. Training is multilingual making CMC Markets one of the Best Forex Brokers In Thailand and Best Forex Brokers in Germany.

CMC Markets ReviewVisit CMC Markets

*Your capital is at risk ‘69% of retail CFD accounts lose money’

Pepperstone

Pepperstone came third based on their online videos and the availability of a dedicated account manager who can assist with training forex traders. Smart trading tools also provide training and market information within the MT4 trading platform. This was followed by FXCM who have ‘After work’ seminars to educate and keep traders up-to-date with elements impacting markets.

Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone

Best Forex Trading Platform

There are two types of forex trading platforms. The first is a shared platform that is created by a software company and is shared by many forex brokers. The big advantage of a shared platform is that it reduces the barrier long-term to switching forex brokers, as there won’t be a need to re-learn the platform. The second option is a propriety forex trading platform that is exclusively created and offered by a single forex broker. The advantage of a propriety platform is that features unique to that FX broker can be integrated into the software.

Reviewing each forex broker’s trading platform, it was clear that two platforms, cTrader and MT4 are the leaders in execution speeds, features and high adoption rate in the FX community making it easy to exchange trading strategies and programs (expert advisors) between traders.

MetaTrader 4 (MT4) by MetaQuotes

It is the most popular forex trading and analytical technology offered by forex brokers and used by retail foreign exchange traders. While the interface may seem old fashion, the platform is light and powerful, allowing for fast execution speeds. Traders can trade directly from charts, make pending orders and instant executions of implement stop-loss orders.

It’s widely accepted that the analytical functions with the strength of MT4. There are nine interactive charts allowing traders to review quotes and react to price movements within currency markets. There are also 30 technical indicators and 23 analytics objects to assist in analysing the market.

Another advantage of MT4 is the built-in Market. This allows for automated strategies (Expert Advisors) to be purchased.

There are a plethora of Expert Advisor indicators and robots available for purchase. This can be done within the MT4 interface.

• Most trading applications of any forex trading platform
• Over 2,000 technical indicators and 1,700 trading robots
• A range of free and commercial options are available

There is also the functionality to copy deals automatically from other forex traders. There are free and paid signals that can be copied which vary based on logic, risk appetite resulting in differing profitability. You can learn about the Best MT4 Brokers on our comparison page.

cTrader by Spotware

It is an all-in-one CFD and forex trading platform with enhanced tools and features. It is the second most popular platform and has an interface that is more modern and attractive compared to MetaTrader 4. In addition to the rich charts, there is also level II pricing, advanced order types and fast execution.

One of the most popular features of the platform is cTrader copy. This allows anyone to make strategic decisions and charge a fee for others to copy trades. Another is cTrader automate, which allows traders to create their own automated robots. Unlike MetaTrader 4 this is based on C# API to write the code with a test environment provided to simulate trades with the robot.

Other features of cTrader include:

• Open API allows FX traders to build and own their own applications for free.
• Fix API interface for trading with hedging accounts with no administration costs.
• A web-based version that requires no downloads while having most functionality
• Android and iOS applications so that trading can be done via mobile devices

cTrader overall is a technology-focused platform with enterprise-grade IBM hardware, ultra-low latency and those cross-connects liquidity providers. There has been over $40m USD invested in infrastructure, which has helped achieve 100% uptime over the past seven years.

The platform has 3ms internal processing time with over one million price updates each minute. View our list of the best cTrader brokers.

Pepperstone Has The Best Forex Trading Platform

Pepperstone was given the most votes because the forex broker offers both MetaTrader 4 and cTrader. Commission fees for Razor accounts are low on all platforms:

• MetaTrader platforms: Starting from $3.50 per side per 100,00 traded.
• cTrader: 0.0035% of the base currency, i.e. €3.50 if 100,000 units of the EUR/USD is being traded

The FX broker also offers advanced trading tools, allowing for enhanced features to enhance forex trading.

1. MT4 Alarm Manager
   This tool allows traders to set up notifications or alerts that are triggered by trade-related events. Emails, web updates or an SMS can be sent as the alert mechanism.
2. MT4 Connect
   This is a centralised all-in-one portal including Pepperstone trading guides, economic calendar, RSS news feeds and the ability to fund the MT4 account and other account information.
3. MT4 Correlation Trader
   With the ability to compare competing markets, MT4 correlation highlights the similarities between markets in real-time or when different time periods are selected.
4. MT4 Market Manager
   Traders with a market manager can access features including making trades with a set percentage of equity by balance order limits. Trade information can also be monitored, including floating profit and loss.
5. MT4 Excel Real-Time Data
   Traders can use visual basics for application programming skills or basic excel skills to monitor and analyse the market. This can help build financial models for sophisticated currency trading.
6. MT4 Trade Terminal
   This positional analysis tool is packed with features from stop-loss orders, expert close-up functions, and fast trading. Traders can also view pip size and value per pip as well as the functionality of one-click order cancellation.
7. MT4 Sentiment Trading
   The Sentiment Trader provides an easy-to-read market sentiment rating for a particular market. The same sentiment data can be viewed historically to see the impact this has had on market direction.
8. MT4 Session Map
   This feature presents trading hours across the world from Melbourne, New York to London. The map shows when a session is live as well as when they overlap. News events are also displayed helping identify liquidity opportunities.
9. MT4 Stealth Orders
   Traders can hide pending orders using this tool. This is done by waiting for the entry price to be hit when orders are placed whether it is a buy or sell order. It’s worth noting that slippage is higher using this stealth order functionality.
10. MT4 Trade Simulator
    This simulator provides analysis and profit-and-loss results on tested strategies. This allows detailed testing to be done quickly whether automatic or manual trading. Orders can also be placed (including trailing orders) using the simulator.

Pepperstone ReviewVisit Pepperstone