Home Best Forex Brokers 2022

Best Forex Brokers 2022

Forex is one of the most liquid financial markets that attract more investors year by year. By 2021, the total daily turnover is equivalent to $6.6 trillion, having grown from $1 trillion twenty years ago. This knowledge makes it one of the most liquid and attractive financial markets with 24/7 availability. For successful Forex trading, a trader needs to choose a “service provider”, namely a brokerage company. This choice should be approached thoughtfully and thoroughly. The correctness of this choice in the future will depend on your financial success. During this year we have written many articles in which we paid attention to the specifics of the work of brokerage companies. We worked for this score for a long time and now we would like to bring it to your attention.

Founded: 2015
Minimum Deposit
USD 5000
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Indices
  • Crypto
  • Stocks
  • Commodities
  • ETFs
Type of broker
Social trading platform
Regulation
  • CFTC, NFA, FINRA (United States)
  • FCA (United Kingdom)
  • BaFin (Germany)
  • CySEC (Cyprus)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • DFSA (Dubai)
Location
  • Offices in the US, Australia, Germany, and UAE
US
Trading platforms
  • TechBerry, MT4, MT5
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
PayPal
Bitcoin
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage: Varies
  • Min. Spread: From 0 pips
  • Currency Pairs: 120+
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Allows to profit from trading for both beginners and professionals
  • Protection against losses
  • Low service fees
  • Automatically generates over 10% monthly gains
  • Partners with leading regulated brokers
Cons
  • Professional traders who want to earn money by uploading their account data have a limited choice of platforms
Founded: 2006
Minimum Deposit
USD 50
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Crypto
  • Stocks
  • Commodities
  • ETFs
  • Indices
Type of broker
ECN/STP
Regulation
  • CySec (Cyprus)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • FCA (United Kingdom)
  • FinCEN (United States)
Location
  • Israel
US
Trading platforms
  • eToro Social Trading Platform
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Skrill
Neteller
PayPal
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage: 1:30
  • Min. Spread: 0.8 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 47
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Comprehensive social trading network and products
  • No commissions
  • Fee-free deposits
  • Negative balance protection
  • Wide range of currency pairs
Cons
  • Low leverage
  • One base currency
  • Doesn’t offer MT4/MT5
Founded: 2011
Minimum Deposit
USD 10
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Energies
  • Indices
  • Metals
  • Crypto
  • Stocks
Type of broker
ECN/STP
Regulation
  • CySEC (Cyprus)
  • FCA (UK)
  • FSCA (South Africa)
  • FSC (Mauritius)
Location
  • UK
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • MetaTrader5
  • WebTrader
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit cards
Skrill
Neteller
FasaPay
UnionPay
Webmoney
Qivi
Bitcoin
Epayments
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:2000
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 63
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Easy to start system
  • Very solid and welcome customer support service
  • Many deposit methods are available
  • High leverage
  • Offers zero spread account
Cons
  • Inactivity fee
  • Fees on some withdrawal methods
  • No bonus offers are available
  • High withdrawal fee for bank transfers
Founded: 2009
Minimum Deposit
USD 5
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Stocks
  • Equity Indices
  • Commodities
  • Metals
  • Energies
  • Shares
Type of broker
ECN/STP
Regulation
  • CySec (Cyprus)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • FCA (United Kingdom)
  • BaFin (Germany)
  • CNMV (Spain)
  • ACPR (France)
  • AFM (Netherlands)
Location
  • Cyprus
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • MetaTrader5
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Skrill
Neteller
UnionPay
Qivi
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:888
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 55+
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Leverage up to 1:888
  • No commissions
  • No fees on deposits and withdrawals
  • Negative balance protection
  • Wide range of accounts
Cons
  • Inactivity fee
  • Doesn’t offer services to residents in the USA, Canada, Israel, and Iran
Founded: 2018
Minimum Deposit
BTC 0.001
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Crypto
  • Indices
  • Commodities
Type of broker
ECN/STP
Regulation
Location
  • Saint Vincent
US
Trading platforms
  • PrimeXBT
Deposit methods
Bitcoin (BTC)
Ethereum (ETH)
Tether (USDT)
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:100
  • Min. Spread : 0.5 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 50
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Competitive trading fees
  • Funding with cryptocurrencies
  • Robust technical analysis tools and charting
  • Copy trading platform
Cons
  • No license from top-tier regulators
  • Not accepting fiat currencies
  • Limited research features
Pepperstone
Founded: 2010
Minimum Deposit
USD 200
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Crypto
  • Shares
  • ETFs
  • Indices
  • Commodities
*All instruments are CFDs
Type of broker
NDD
Regulation
  • FCA, CMA (UK)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • CySEC (Cyprus)
  • BaFin (Germany)
  • DFSA (UAE)
  • SCB (Bahamas)
Location
  • Australia
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • MetaTrader5
  • cTrader
  • TradingView
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Neteller
FasaPay
UnionPay
Qiwi
BPay
Poli
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage: Up to 1:30 (1:500 Pro)
  • Min. Spread: 0 pips
  • Currency Pairs: 62
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Solid 24/7 support
  • Simple fee system
  • Easy to start an account
Cons
  • One step logging
  • Limited product amount
  • Not low withdrawing fees
IG Group
Founded: 1974
Minimum Deposit
USD 250
Trading instruments
  • Indices
  • Crypto
  • Currencies
  • Bonds
  • Metals
  • Softs
  • Stocks
  • ETFs
Type of broker
DMA, ECN, STP
Regulation
  • FCA (UK)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • FSB (South Africa)
  • FINMA (Switzerland)
  • DFSA (United Arab Emirates)
  • MAS (Singapore)
  • JFSA (Japan)
Location
  • UK
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • Specific
  • WebTrader
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
PayPal
BPay
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:200
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 93
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Stop-loss system
  • Well-designed platform
  • Over hundreds of markets to trade
Cons
  • Retail clients are not allowed to trade on interbank
  • Support & sales teams are willing to force you to fund an account immediately
  • There are various fees are present
AvaTrade
Founded: 2006
Minimum Deposit
USD 100
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Crypto
  • Indices
  • Softs
  • Bonds
  • Metals
  • Metals
  • Energies
  • Stocks
  • ETFs
Type of broker
MM, STP
Regulation
  • FSCA (South Africa)
  • FCA (UK)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • JFSA (Japan)
  • BVIFSC (British Virgin Islands)
Location
  • Ireland
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • MetaTrader5
  • AvaTradeGO
  • WebTrader
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Skrill
Neteller
Poli
Webmoney
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:400
  • Min. Spread : 0.7 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 60
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Over five certificates from the solid regulators
  • Multi-languages support (15), the user interface is available on 20+ languages
  • Social trading features
Cons
  • The US investors are not allowed
  • No NFA’s certificate
  • Various fees system
  • There are not enough trading features
  • Lack of deposit methods
Forex.com
Founded: 2001
Minimum Deposit
USD 50
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Indices
  • Metals
  • Softs
  • Crypto
  • Stocks
  • Energies
Type of broker
DMA, ECN, STP
Regulation
  • NFA (US)
  • FCA (UK)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • FSA (Japan)
  • IIROC (Canada)
  • CIMA (Cayman Islands)
  • SFC (Hong Kong)
  • MAS (Singapore)
Location
  • US
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • MetaTrader5
  • WebTrader
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:50
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 91
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • The US-based regulation
  • 8 regulators’ certificates
  • Very solid app and PC interfaces
  • Great variety of currency pairs
Cons
  • Lack of deposit methods
  • Little leverage
  • High fees
  • The limited list of products
Darwinex
Founded: 2012
Minimum Deposit
USD 500
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Crypto
  • Indices
  • Energies
  • Metals
  • Stocks
Type of broker
DMA, STP
  • FCA (UK)
  • ESMA
Location
  • UK
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader4
  • MetaTrader5
  • Social Platform
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
UnionPay
PayPal
Trustly
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:30
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 34
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • Automatically-calculated fees
  • Great user interface
  • Solid PAMM system
Cons
  • High level of the minimum deposit
  • Low level of the leverage
  • Withdrawing from PAMM before the period comes will charge additional fees
Saxo Bank
Founded: 1992
Minimum Deposit
USD 500
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Metals
  • Indices
  • Stocks
  • ETFs
  • Energies
  • Bonds
  • Softs
  • Interest Rates
Type of broker
ECN, STP
Regulation
  • FSA (Denmark))
  • FCA (UK)
  • FINMA (Switzerland)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • DFSA (United Arab Emirates)
  • MAS (Singapore)
  • SFC (Hong Kong)
  • JFSA (Japan)
Location
  • Denmark
US
Trading platforms
  • SaxoTraderPRO
  • SaxoTraderGO
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:200
  • Min. Spread : 0.04 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 182
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 8 regulators’ certificates
  • High level of the max leverage
  • Huge amount of currency pairs
Cons
  • Min. deposit over $500
  • Specific trading platform
  • Inactivity fee, high Forex and other fees
X-Trade Brokers (XTB)
Founded: 2002
Minimum Deposit
USD 250
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Indices
  • Metals
  • Softs
  • Bonds
  • Crypto
  • Stocks
  • Energies
  • ETFs
Type of broker
DMA, ECN, STP
Regulation
  • FCA (UK)
  • KNF (Poland)
  • IFSC (Belize)
  • CNMV (Spain)
  • ACPR (France)
  • BaFin (Germany)
Location
  • UK
US
Trading platforms
  • xStation 5
  • xStation Mobile
  • WebTrader4
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
PayPal
Skrill
Safetypay
Sofort
Paysafecard
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:200
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 48
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • High leverage
  • Relatively fast deposit and withdrawal
  • Good user interface
Cons
  • High fees from e-wallets deposits
  • 24/7 support is not available
CMC Markets
Founded: 1989
Minimum Deposit
0
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Indices
  • Metals
  • Softs
  • Bonds
  • Stocks
  • Energies
  • ETFs
Type of broker
ECN, STP
Regulation
  • FCA (UK)
  • ASIC (Australia)
  • IIROC (Canada)
  • FMA (New Zealand)
  • MAS (Singapore)
Location
  • UK
US
Trading platforms
  • CFD trading
  • Next Generation
  • WebTrader
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Poli
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:500
  • Min. Spread : 0.7 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 300
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • High leverage
  • No minimum deposit requirements
  • Popular among traders broker
  • Huge amount of currency pairs (over 300)
Cons
  • Lack of certificates
  • Lack of deposit methods
  • MetaTrader is not allowed
Dukascopy
Founded: 1998
Minimum Deposit
100
Trading instruments
  • Currencies
  • Indices
  • Metals
  • Softs
  • Crypto
  • Bonds
  • Stocks
  • Energies
  • ETFs
Type of broker
ECN, STP
Regulation
  • FINMA (Switzerland)
  • FCMC (Latvia)
  • JFSA (Japan)
Location
  • Switzerland
US
Trading platforms
  • MetaTrader 4
  • JForex
  • WebTrader
Deposit methods
Wire Transfer
Credit Cards
Trading Conditions
  • Max. Leverage : Up to 1:200
  • Min. Spread : 0.1 pips
  • Currency Pairs : 50
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 20+ years online
  • Low level of min. deposit
  • Exclusive features in charting
Cons
  • Lack of currency pairs
  • Lack of deposit methods
  • Not so good support

The most common option in choosing Forex broker

Every brokerage company has some criteria and average features to be compared. Let’s take a look at the main of them:

Affordability. Each brokerage company sets its minimum deposit threshold value for funding. Typically, this amount starts at $100. Novice traders must make a balanced decision for themselves on how much they can afford to lose. At the same time, you should pay attention to whether the broker fits for you, or whether you should choose another one that is more suitable, but with a higher minimum level of the first deposit.

Deposits and Withdrawing. This option is no less important than the previous one. You, as a trader, should easily manage your funds and, if necessary, withdraw them quickly and without high commissions. The broker’s money returning duty determines its decency and reliability.

Market coverage. You have to check the availability of trading needed currency pairs. 

Trading terms and trading fees. This option is very important because the appetites of forex brokers can vary dozens of times. Before you get started, you should calm down and calculate how much you’ll give to the brokerage company from the moment you start trading until withdrawing your money in a way that is convenient for you.

Trading platforms. There are many of them. They’re a sword and shield of yours. Depends on features that you allow to customize and working speed you’ll be able to experience which one suits you the best. Personal presets are a huge part of your trading success.

Mobile app. A lot of people prefer fully-automated trading robots. Their performance can be checked without a PC. It’s an important option that allows you not to work on a PC and be mobile.

Customer Support. It’s a very important option, especially for beginners, but it’s hard to check it without directly contacting the support.

Reputation. It’s an important part because trading is all about trust. If you see people angry at the company, so, you can entrust your funds and feel that your money is in safety.

Regulation. Before getting started, you have to check how the brokerage company works with your country’s laws. A lot of them have got some restrictions. If you skip this step, you’ll probably be able to fund the account, but you’ll have a huge problem with withdrawing.

The base of knowledge. The solid brokerage company provides a lot of courses, as well as, literature and material to let you get a smoother start in Forex trading. 

User Interface. Everything should be simple and predictable in order to help you to make quicker decisions and be a better trader.

Picking the best Forex brokerage company: completed guide

Let’s describe more detailed some of the most important brokerage company’s features.

Market regulators

Here we go “regulation”. In our opinion, this is the most important and fundamental option in the broker’s work, directly related to how much investors will trust it with their money. Regulators are interested in the stability of the Forex market and the transparency of financial transactions. Due to the huge volume of assets (more than $5 trillion), there is always a risk that drug dealers, arms dealers, corrupt officials, and other dishonest people and organizations want to use Forex as a laundry machine for their capital.

We would like to note that there are several regulatory organizations. As a rule, the more solid and successful the broker, the longer it operates on the market and the more capital traders manage through it, the more organizations assign it an appropriate level of security and transparency.

The list of the most influential regulators look like:

  • NFA (The National Futures Association) in The United States;
  • ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) in Australia;
  • CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) in Europe;
  • FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) in The United Kingdom.

There are other regulators, such as those based on offshore islands. We believe that companies that have received certificates in offshore jurisdictions cannot be as reliable as brokers who received them from our listed regulatory authorities.

Types of the provided accounts

There are few types of account brokers can offer.

The first type is a live account. You fund it and trade for real money. Everything you do on the account becomes your gain or loss.

The second type is a demo account. 

Most demo accounts are designed to let new traders try the service, see how a brokerage company works and can test the application of various strategies before investing in real money in trading.

Platform for trading

Choosing a trading platform you’re most comfortable working with is no less important than choosing a broker. The main thing for the trader is not only that the platform lets you easily manage every day’s duties, but also the broker supports the work with this platform. 

cTrader and MetaTrader are the most popular across the traders’ platforms. Metatrader provides two versions of it: MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5. These platforms are quite complicated for beginners. cTrader is a wise simpler one and fits for every skill of traders from professional ones to brand new investors.

You should also pay attention to how convenient and fast the Android or IOS based applications. It can be either a proprietary application from a broker or a MetaTrader one.

Forex Broker Types

There exist several types of brokers: Market Maker Brokerage companies and Direct Market Access ones. DMA brokers separated into two types ECN and ECN/STP.

Electronic Communication Network (ECN) brokers allow you to trade only between other traders. So if no liquidity is on the market, your trades will get slippage, and you get a requote. ECN system removes the base of the potential conflict of interests between a trader and brokerage company.

Using ECN allows you to trade throw large financial institutions or global banks. The traders got access to the interbank market directly to see a clear picture of what’s happening in markets.

ECN/STP. Straight Through Processing is the technology used by ECN brokers for placing trades on the market. FIX (Financial Information Exchange) protocol uses to place orders to the counterparty. 

The FIX protocol is needed to decrease the needed time for performing trades, reduces slippage and make sure that traders get the best possible price. Some of these brokers can prevent requoting and reduce slippage.

Depending on trades and trader account the system decides what performing method is the best for the customer.

STP is applied when there’s enough liquidity to a particular trade. If there’s a lack of it, ECN takes liquidity from the inner network.

ECN/STP combination allows traders to perform their deals faster. 

Market Makers (Dealing Desks). It’s a type of brokerage companies where the company becomes a market maker The brokerage company always provides needed liquidity but, as well as, always trade against its customers that can be a reason for a conflict of interests. 

Conditions for trading

Leverage

Leverage is necessary so that traders with small capital can benefit from trading. This capital gives loans to a liquidity provider through a forex broker directly to a trader to expand trading volumes. The trader himself or herself is fully responsible for these funds and their return. Leverage is usually displayed in a ratio format, for example, 100:1, which means that one unit of trader’s money for one hundred borrowed units. This also means that trading volume will increase one hundred times. Using large leverage significantly increases the risk of trading. In turn, many regulators can limit the maximum allowable leverage that a broker can offer its clients.

Spreads

Spreads are measured in pips and show the difference between buying and selling one currency to another in a currency pair. This is a kind of brokerage commission for access to the market. You can also get a lot of very important information from the spreads.

For example, the closer the buy and sell prices are, the more profitable it’s for a trader to work with this broker for these currency pairs. That’s why, often, traders choose different brokers for different currency pairs.

Trading Assets

The better than the average broker has got over 40-50 forex pairs to trade. 

Hedging

The hedging option is designed to have insurance in case of adverse market conditions. One of the most common strategies is direct hedging. Brokers themselves do not always support this option for their clients.

Scalping strategy

The scalping strategy allows the trader to profit from quick, usually associated with news, price changes. This strategy is designed to make a profit in a short period of time until the market calms down. Traders applying this strategy usually trade during the day and close all their deals in the evening.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do the first looking for the Forex brokerage company?

First of all, you have to take a look at the amount and availability of demo accounts. The new investor has to know what’s going on in the market, how to customize MetaTrader or one of the other platforms. It takes some time before you get ready to fund the first real account of yours. Usually, demo accounts expire quickly, so you’ll be able to renew it (them) to practice more. During this period you have to read some books about trading strategy and you should pick one that fits you the best. As well as, books there are infinity video courses and various webinars from educational to “the next week trading goals” ones. 

How do I know the brokerage company is good for me?

So… It’s the complicated question to answer to. First of all, if you’re a beginner, check the availability of demo accounts. The second one is the fees. It’s very important to know exactly from the start how much money you’ll have to pay from each, as an example, $1000 profit from the moment of having this amount of money on the account for withdrawing it by the payment system that fits you the best. The third one, check the broker’s certificate. You’d better start working with the forex broker that has got a certificate provided by the regulator from your area, where your country from in order to not mess up with financial regulators, as well as, the texas department.

These three are must follow criteria. 

How often a brokerage company trades against me?

It’s the wrong question. The broker will be trading against you only if you’re willing it choosing a brokerage company with Market Maker type. If you’re not okay with that, ask the broker’s support to know what kind of the brokerage company they really are.

Where is a broker’s profit?

How we told before Market Makers get money trading against you. If we talk about all trading companies in general, all brokerage company makes money from the difference between buying and selling prices, as well as, for charging fees and commissions.

May I deposit my account by Bitcoin?

Brokerage companies are interested in providing various payment methods for their customers. Usually, Bitcoins are acceptable, but other cryptocurrencies are not. Don’t forget most of the brokerage companies allow withdraw only by the payment method you fund the account for avoiding money laundering.