Offshore Forex Brokers Accepting US Clients

We recommend Hugo’s Way due to competitive trading costs, fast execution speeds and trading account flexibility. Of all the offshore forex brokers, Hugo’s Way comes closest to providing a trading environment that measures up to onshore brokers, with the added benefit of high leverage. We also appreciate that Hugo’s Way offers clients the option to scalp or hedge, two strategies not usually available to American traders with onshore brokers.

We were attracted to Hugo’s Way for an offshore broker as it offers STP/ECN style execution, connecting you with a range of liquidity providers to provide you with tight spreads.

This was an important factor to consider because, as a US citizen, it’s important that your execution speeds are fast between opening trades in the US and being matched with the liquidity provider in another part of the world. At least with ECN execution, you’ll bypass the broker and get matched directly with a buyer/seller in the market.

When we tried Hugo’s Way, they only had the PRO4 available to open, which is the broker’s commission-based account with tight spreads. With the PRO4 account, you are charged $5 per lot traded, and we experienced spreads averaging 0.90 pips on EUR/USD. These spreads are competitive but are not the lowest we’ve seen.

Hugo’s Way offered various trading products on the PRO4 account: 55 forex pairs, 73 stocks, six commodities, ten indices, and 38 cryptos. Although not the largest range of markets, they offer each market’s most popular assets.

We found that the broker lets you leverage 1:500 on currency pairs and 1:100 on crypto, which is appealing considering that US traders are capped at 1:50 on forex markets.

However, no major financial authority, such as the CFTC or FCA, regulates Hugo’s Way. Instead, the broker is registered in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, so they do not provide the same level of oversight as US or European regulators.

This lack of regulation means that US citizens, among others, are not protected by regulators if anything goes wrong. By not being regulated by a tier-1 broker like the CFTC, Hugo’s Way can offer high leverage through Contract for Difference trading, which is banned in the US.

While setting up the account, the customer service was decent. They responded swiftly and had solid knowledge of the questions we asked. Customer service is supported through live chat, which is open 24/7. Plus, they have an extensive FAQ section for common questions you can answer instantly.

Hugo's Way ReviewVisit HugosWay

We recommend LQDFX for the variety of trading account types available to American clients, which include a Micro account and an Islamic/SWAP account. This broker also stands out for its risk management measures like negative balance protection and extensive educational resources.

In our testing, we found LQDFX to have a solid selection of trading accounts that let you pick how you want to pay trading fees. The broker offers the following:

• Micro Account: This account is suitable for beginners. It requires a minimum deposit of $20, offers spreads from 1.0 pips, and leverage up to 1:1000.
• Gold Account: This account requires a $500 deposit and has tighter spreads starting at 0.7 pips with a maximum leverage up to 1:300.
• ECN account: This account is ideal for experienced traders looking for tighter spreads (0.1 pips typically) and has a commission of $3.50 per lot traded.
• VIP Accounts: The VIP accounts have tight spreads (as low as 0.1 pips) and commissions of $2.50 per lot traded, but the leverage is limited to 1:100. To access this account, you must make a minimum deposit of $25,000.

From this list, we think most traders will open micro or ECN accounts; both are decent options compared to their peers. The commissions on the ECN account surprised us as they are one of the lowest available for an offshore broker.

LQDFX has 71 currency pairs covering all the major and minor pairs, plus some exotic pairs, the most we’ve seen from offshore brokers. The broker offers 11 indices, four commodities, 37 stocks, and 16 crypto markets (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple) on all accounts.

We noticed that the broker claimed to have their business accounts segregated from the client’s funds, a legal requirement for regulated brokers.

However, as LQDFX is unregulated and based offshore, there are no guarantees this is in place, which adds to the potential risk of trading with offshore brokers.

We recommend MidasFX because it offers decent low spreads (0.70 pips on EUR/USD) with ECN-style execution on its MT4 Standard account.

These qualities can improve the trading experience on the MetaTrader 4 platform, especially if you are using Expert Advisors for automated trading.

MidasFX offers popular trading platforms MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5, which you can use on your desktop PC, mobile device, or browser. Although the MetaTrader 4 platform has many unique features, such as algo trading and customized charting, these features are unavailable to mobile and web-based platforms.

After installing MidasFX’s MT4 platform, we found it was just the generic MetaTrader 4 platform, preloaded with the servers to access MidaFX’s servers faster. This is common practice, but other brokers like OANDA are known to provide extra MT4 Expert Advisors with their versions.

The MetaTrader 4 platform has 30+ indicators, allowing you to develop strategies and perform technical analysis without downloading third-party tools. We also like the drawing tools with the platform, such as Fibonacci retracement, which is very helpful for price action trading.

To test the MT4 platform, we found that MidasFX offered multiple accounts depending on how you wish to pay your trading fees. The good news is that all their accounts use ECN-style execution, offering faster execution speeds with lower spreads, so you are not penalized for using a specific account.

For their standard account, which is spread-only (no commissions), MidasFX charges EUR/USD spreads from 0.7 pips, which is competitive. The MidasFX ECN account has tighter spreads from 0.0 pips, but you pay a $5 per lot traded commission.

Like all offshore brokers, MidasFX is not regulated but still provides forex trading services based in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Due to being unregulated, the broker can offer a high leverage of 1:1000 for US clients, which may sound attractive if you want to maximize your trading potential.

However, you must also consider the risks involved in using an unregulated broker, as your rights or your funds will not be protected should anything happen with the broker.

We recommend Eagle FX for its ultratight spreads, which are among the lowest of any offshore broker we reviewed for this list. Commissions are likewise competitive: just US $6 per lot, round turn. No minimum deposit requirement or withdrawal fees also help keep your trading costs down, which we like.

We tested a variety of the best offshore brokers for their Raw account spreads and found EagleFX to be one of the lowest. Our tests revealed that the broker averaged 0.60 pips on EUR/USD while trading as low as 0.10 pips.

One thing we didn’t like was the transparency in finding this information on its spreads by saying the spreads are variable, avoiding publishing the data publically. We couldn’t find a typical spread offered on the website alone, and this is something unregulated brokers can get away with.

Instead, we had to open a demo account and verify the spreads before opening a live account, and this means they had our information before revealing the spreads.

That said, they are transparent about the commissions charged, which are $3.00 per lot traded, the lowest of the offshore brokers we’ve tested.

EagleFX also offers high leverage, up to 1:500, on forex majors. As an unregulated forex broker, you can trade with smaller margins while taking on more risk. Higher leverage is an appealing aspect of offshore brokers, but for new traders (and even experienced traders), leveraging too much may wipe out your funds.

We also tested the customer service, and we think this is very important when choosing an offshore broker, as a poor experience could cost you. We found that EagleFX offers a 24/7 live chat feature, which is good if you want to manage your account over the weekend while still having access to support for questions.

OANDA is our top and most trusted US broker because it is regulated by the CFTC and a member of the NFA. It is also regulated by four other Tier-1 regulators worldwide, reinforcing its top-notch financial practices and adherence to protecting your trading funds.

The broker’s spreads are some of the lowest we’ve tested in the US (0.60 pips EUR/USD with no commissions), making it a cost-effective and trustworthy broker.

OANDA is one of our top-rated brokers, especially considering they are regulated in the United States and for their low spreads.

As a US trader, we highly recommend using a regulated broker. Not only does it offer you protection on your funds, but it also ensures the broker follows the best practices. The last thing you want to see is an issue happening with an unregulated broker and being left in the dark with no help.

OANDA is one of the most regulated brokers in the world, with licenses to provide financial services in every jurisdiction from Australia to the US. The broker is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a National Futures Association (NFA) member. These regulatory bodies ensure that OANDA follows strict financial practices, providing you with a safe and secure trading environment – which is why we rated the broker 10/10 in our trust score tests.

Although you are limited to 1:50 leverage with forex trading in the US compared to offshore brokers, that’s a small price for security. Plus, when you look at Australian and UK brokers, you’ll find their leverage is lower at 1:30, so even in the US, the leverage is generous.

In our testing, we found that OANDA only offered spread-only accounts, which simplifies choice. Surprisingly, the spreads averaged 0.60 pips on EUR/USD—cheaper than the offshore brokers, who charge similar spreads with high commissions. We think this makes OANDA an excellent option if trading fees are a bigger priority than the amount of leverage available.

As the broker is regulated, it can partner with other companies to provide better trading services. For example, OANDA offers TradingView, which we couldn’t use with offshore brokers in our tests. Along with TradingView, the broker offers MetaTrader 4 and OANDA Trade, giving you a wide selection to customize your trading experience.

We recommend FOREX.com for the tightest Raw spreads regulated by the CFTC and NFA, especially for its excellent ECN-style execution services.

The broker came out on top for offering spreads from 0.0 pips on EUR/USD, some of the lowest available in the US. In addition to its low costs, we liked the broker’s provision of a range of trading tools, such as SMART Signals and Capitalsie AI, which enhance your overall trading experience.

FOREX.com is also a solid alternative to offshore brokers with its excellent ECN-style execution and Raw trading accounts. You will be protected as the broker is fully regulated in the US.

What stood out for us was that FOREX.com offered a Raw pricing account, which not many US-regulated brokers offer. Our analyst, Ross Collins, tested the Raw account option and found its spreads were tighter than the Standard account, offering spreads from 0.0 pips vs. 1.2 pips on EUR/USD for the standard account.

To access these tighter spreads on the Raw account, you must pay $7.00 per lot traded, which can be lowered by up to 15% through the broker’s ActiveTrader program. Using Raw accounts can help you average or achieve better trading costs, especially if you are a high-volume trader.

On FOREX.com, you can take advantage of the Raw spreads across 2,500+ markets, including 84 currency pairs and 2,500+ stocks. The broker offers MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, and its Forex.com Web Trader platforms to trade these markets.

In general, FOREX.com offers a solid suite of trading services, but what interested us was the range of trading tools they provided. We found the broker to offer SMART Signals, which scans the currency markets for chart pattern setups that you can use to trade, which is helpful if you are struggling with trading ideas.

Additionally, the broker also provides Capitalise AI, which you can use to transform your manual trading strategy by making it automated without writing a line of code. We tried the Capitalise AI platform and found it easy to use.

You can type in your trading condition, and the software will automate the rules for you. The platform also includes free backtesting and forward-testing services to test and optimize your automation before deploying it on your live account, which is very helpful.

Like OANDA, FOREX.com is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). We prefer regulated brokers because this ensures high security and transparency, protecting you from potential malpractices.

In contrast, offshore brokers often operate under flexible regulations, posing higher risks. FOREX.com’s strict regulatory adherence means it must comply with stringent financial standards, safeguard your funds, and ensure fair & transparent trading practices.