Our Pick Of The Best Forex Brokers (2024)

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76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Best Forex Brokers

We researched a range of forex brokers (as at January 2023) and have listed our findings below, together with the methodology explaining how we arrived at our rankings.

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BEST ALL-ROUNDER

Capital.com

5.0

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.6

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.3

Number of currency pairs

135+

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.6

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.3

Number of currency pairs

135+

Why We Picked It

Capital.com is a privately-owned fintech company with over 500,000 account holders. In addition to forex, the company offers trading in shares, indices and commodities.

Offers choice of spread betting or CFDs for forex trades. Both options can be traded online or by app, in addition to the TradingView platform.

Claims that 97.42% of trades are executed successfully with an average execution speed of 0.02 seconds.

No commission charged on spread bets or CFDs. No charge for depositing or withdrawing funds. No inactivity fees.

Solid educational offering, with trading guides, videos and educational content on its InvestMate app.

Extensive support available, including a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service by email, live chat and social messenger services.

Overall, Capital.com is an excellent all-rounder, offering competitive spreads and a wide choice of pairs.

Pros & Cons

One of lower minimum spreads
One of lower spreads on GBP/USD
Highest execution speed
Offers third party platforms
7-day-a-week customer support

One of lower execution rates

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BEST FOR ADVANCED TRADERS

IG

5.0

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.6

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.8

Number of currency pairs

100+

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 70% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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On IG's Website

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.6

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.8

Number of currency pairs

100+

Why We Picked It

IG is a FTSE 250 company with over 310,000 clients. In addition to forex, the company offers trading in shares, ETFs, indices and commodities.

Offers choice of spread betting or CFDs for forex trades. Both options can be traded online or by app, in addition to the MetaTrader 4 and ProRealTime platforms.

Claims that 97.3% of trades are executed successfully with an average execution speed of 0.01 seconds.

No commission charged on spread bets or CFDs. No charge for depositing or withdrawing funds in the base currency. Inactivity fee of £12 per month if no trades for 24 months.

Good research and educational offering, with courses and live sessions run by the IG Academy.

Extensive support available, with a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week service (excluding overnight on Fridays) by telephone and email.

Overall, IG may appeal to advanced forex traders, with competitive spreads, a good range of pairs and a choice of third party platforms.

Pros & Cons

One of lower minimum spreads
Highest execution speed
Offers third party platforms
Extensive educational offering
7-day-a-week customer support

High average spread on GBP/USD
One of lower execution rates

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BEST FOR CHOICE

CMC Markets

5.0

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.7

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

0.9

Number of currency pairs

330+

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Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.7

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

0.9

Number of currency pairs

330+

Why We Picked It

CMC Markets is a FTSE 250 company with over 300,000 clients. In addition to forex, the company offers trading in shares, ETFs, indices, bonds and commodities.

Offers choice of spread betting or CFDs for forex trades. Both options can be traded online or by app, in addition to the MetaTrader 4 platform.

Claims that 99.7% of trades are executed successfully, information on average execution speed was not provided.

No commission charged on spread bets or CFDs. No charge for depositing or withdrawing funds. Inactivity fee of £10 per month if no trades for 12 months.

Decent research and educational offering, with video trading guides and webinars.

Good support available, with a 24-hour, 5-day-a-week service by telephone and email.

Overall, CMC offers the widest choice of currency pairs by some margin, along with one of the lower average spreads on GBP/USD.

Pros & Cons

Highest number of currency pairs
One of lower average spreads on GBP/USD
Offers third party platforms
Extensive educational offering

One of higher minimum spreads
No support at weekends

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City Index

4.5

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.5

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.8

Number of currency pairs

84+

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Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.5

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.8

Number of currency pairs

84+

Pepperstone

4.5

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.7

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.4

Number of currency pairs

100+

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Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.7

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

1.4

Number of currency pairs

100+

Why We Picked It

Pepperstone is a privately-owned Australian company with over 300,000 clients. In addition to forex, the company offers trading in shares, ETFs, indices and commodities.

Offers choice of spread betting or CFDs for forex trades. Both options can be traded online or by app, in addition to third party platforms including MetaTrader 4 and 5, TradingView and cTrader.

Claims that 99.2% of trades are executed successfully with an average execution speed of 0.03 seconds.

No commission charged on spread bets or CFDs. No charge for depositing or withdrawing funds. No inactivity fees.

Also offers a ‘Razor’ account with the option of lower spreads (for example, minimum spread of 0.1 pips on EUR/USD) and a fixed commission for forex trades.

Decent research and educational offering, with video trading guides and webinars.

Extensive support available, including a 24 hour, 7-day-a-week service by telephone and email.

Overall, Pepperstone offers an excellent choice of third party platforms, along with low spreads for Razor account holders.

Pros & Cons

Competitive spreads
Wide choice of third party platforms
7-day-a-week customer support

One of higher minimum spreads
No proprietary platform

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Interactive Brokers

4.5

Our ratings take into account a product's rewards, fees, rates and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.1

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

0.7

Number of currency pairs

100+

Learn More

Minimum spread (pips, EUR/USD)

0.1

Average spread (pips, GBP/USD)

0.7

Number of currency pairs

100+

Why We Picked It

Interactive Brokers is a Nasdaq-listed company with over 2 million clients. In addition to forex, the company offers trading in shares, ETFs, funds, bonds and commodities.

Offers CFDs for forex trades. Can trade online or by app, with the choice of IKBR platforms.

Claims that 98-99% of trades are executed successfully, average execution speed not provided.

Charges a commission of 0.20% per trade (depending on the total value of monthly trades), subject to a minimum of $2.

No charge for depositing funds. Customers can make one free withdrawal per calendar month, above which there is a fee of £1 for a BACS withdrawal. Accounts can be held in GBP.

Good research and educational offering, with online courses run by the Traders’ Academy, in addition to webinars and other resources.

Extensive support available, including a 24-hour, 5-day-a-week service by telephone, live chat and email.

Overall, Interactive Brokers is likely to appeal to investors willing to pay a commission on trades to access smaller spreads.

Pros & Cons

Lowest minimum spreads
Lowest spread on GBP/USD
Good range of currency pairs
Extensive educational offering

Charges commission on trades
Does not offer spread betting
Does not offer third party platforms
No support at weekends

Methodology

To come up with our list of best forex brokers, we applied three main criteria. Our focus was on whether brokers:

offered a wide choice of forex pairs
charged competitive spreads
charged a low (or zero) commission.

We also considered other features such as the choice of spread betting and contracts for difference (CFDs) for forex trading and the option of trading on third party platforms (such as MetaTrader and TradingView).

We also researched the level of customer support provided, educational resources, other fees charged and key metrics including average execution speed and success rate.

In addition, we checked whether the broker was authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s financial watchdog. Using FCA data, we also reviewed customer complaints levels.

Combining the above with editorial judgement, we arrived at our Forbes Advisor star ratings.

What is forex trading?

Foreign exchange (also known as ‘forex’ or ‘fx’) is the buying and selling of currencies, similar to trading in shares or other assets.

Put simply, investors hope to make a profit from selling a foreign currency at a higher price than they paid for it. Currencies are traded in pairs (for example, the pound to the US dollar) so the profit (or loss) will depend on the movement in the exchange rate of the two currencies.

Forex trading is carried out electronically, also known as ‘over the counter’ (OTC), meaning that physical currency is not exchanged. With the advent of online forex brokers, investors can now place their own trades directly via online trading platforms.

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eToro

Explore a wide variety of currency investment opportunities on eToro

Trade in some of the largest currencies including the GBP, USD & EUR

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Start Today

On eToro’s Website

Trade 100+ currency pairs

One of lower minimum spreads and highest execution speed

No commission charged on spread bets or CFDs

Start Investing

On IG’s Website

Why is forex traded?

Exchange rates are influenced by a range of factors, including inflation, interest rates, political events and natural disasters.

Forecasting the timing and impact of these factors creates an opportunity for forex investors to make money if exchange rates move in their favour. Forex trading is carried out by private investors, as well as investment and commercial banks, fund managers and hedge funds.

Forex can also help to diversify an investment portfolio by spreading it across a range of assets beyond equities, bonds and commodities.

On the corporate side, multinational companies may enter into forex trades to ‘hedge’ or protect against unfavourable movements in exchange rates.

For example, a UK business with significant operations in the US may take out a forex hedge to reduce the risk of the pound strengthening against the dollar (meaning that US revenues are worth less in sterling).

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are currency pairs?

Currencies are traded in ‘pairs’, for example, if an investor was carrying out a pound to US dollar trade, they would be buying US dollars and selling pounds.

Each currency has a three-letter code, for example, British pound (GBP), US dollar (USD), euro (EUR) and Japanese Yen (JPY).

Although there are more than 180 different currencies across the world, forex brokers do not offer the option to trade in all of these.

The traditional ‘four majors’ are EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD and USD/CHF, with the other ‘majors’ being AUD/USD, USD/CAD and NZD/USD. The most-traded pair is the EUR/USD followed by USD/JPY and GBP/USD.

‘Minor’ pairs relate to other combinations of the larger currencies, such as GBP/EUR, while ‘exotics’ include emerging market currencies.

The first currency in the pair is the ‘base’ currency and is always set to 1. The second is the ‘quote’ currency. For example, GBP/USD of 1.23 means that £1 is worth $1.23.

As with shares, the ‘ask’ price is the price to buy the currency and the ‘bid’ is the price investors would receive if they’re selling the currency.

What is the ‘spread’?

The forex spread is the difference between the broker’s ‘ask’ (or buy) price, and their ‘bid’ (or sell) price. Spreads can vary depending on the currency and time of day, and represent the profit margin of the broker.

Spreads are measured in ‘pips’ which is the fourth decimal place for all currency pairs (excluding the Japanese yen).

For example, if an investor was trading in GBP/USD at 1.2030/1.2032, the spread would be 1.2032 less 1.2030, which is 0.0002 (2 ‘pips’).

As a wider spread decreases the potential profit from a forex trade, brokers compete by offering competitive spreads on the major currency pairs.

What are ‘lots’?

A standard lot is equal to 100,000 currency units and is the standard unit for forex trades.

For example, if the GBP/USD exchange rate was $1.20, one lot would be 120,000 units, meaning that investors would need 120,000 units of the quote currency (USD) to purchase 100,000 units of the base currency (GBP).

However, investors also have the option of trading in ‘mini’ lots (10,000 currency units) and ‘micro’ lots (1,000 currency units).

What’s the difference between forex spread betting and forex CFDs?

Most of the brokers in our pick of the best offer the option of forex trading via spread betting or contracts for difference (CFDs).

These are the similarities between the two products:

Investors can go ‘long’ or ‘short’ with both types of product, depending on whether they believe the currency will increase in value (‘going long’) or decrease in value (‘going short’).
Depending on the broker, both products may offer the option to trade in forex ‘spots’ (based on current exchange rates) or ‘futures’ (based on future exchange rates).
Both of these products offer the option of leveraged trading, where investors can borrow money from their broker to increase the value of their trade. This can help to increase the size of gains, but also the size of losses.

However, there are also differences:

Spread betting speculates on whether an asset’s price will increase or decrease, and investors place a stake per point of movement. Although there is a bid and ask price, brokers do not charge a commission on the trade.
A CFD is a financial derivative whereby the buyer has to pay the seller the difference between the opening and closing price of an asset. If the closing price is higher than the opening price, the buyer will make a profit. Some brokers charge a commission on CFDs.
Spread bets are free from capital gains tax (CGT), while profits from CFDs are subject to CGT although investors can offset any losses against profits.

When is the forex market open for trading?

The forex market is open for trading 24 hours a day from 5pm on Sunday to 4pm on Friday, due to the different time zones.

The three major sessions are:

Tokyo (Asian session)
London (European session)
New York (North American session)

The London forex market typically offers lower spreads due to the high volumes traded, and certain periods have higher volatility, for example, the 8am to midday overlap of the New York and London markets.

Why does execution speed matter?

Execution speed is the time it takes between the placing and execution of an order.

Any difference between the price at the time of order and execution is known as ‘slippage’. Slippage is most likely to occur in highly volatile markets.

Slippage can cause an issue if the price changes between the time the trade is placed and executed. For example, if a GBP/USD trade is placed at 1.237 but executed at 1.236, there is a difference of 0.1% in the actual price paid.

Forex brokers may have different policies around slippage, for example, rejecting orders outside a given tolerance level, so it’s worth checking the details. Investors can also use advanced tools such as stops and limits to reduce their exposure.

Information provided on Forbes Advisor is for educational purposes only. Your financial situation is unique and the products and services we review may not be right for your circ*mstances. We do not offer financial advice, advisory or brokerage services, nor do we recommend or advise individuals or to buy or sell particular stocks or securities. Performance information may have changed since the time of publication. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

Forbes adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. To the best of our knowledge, all content is accurate as of the date posted, though offers contained herein may no longer be available. The opinions expressed are the author’s alone and have not been provided, approved, or otherwise endorsed by ourpartners.

Jo GrovesForbes Staff

Having worked in investment banking for over 20 years, I have turned my skills and experience to writing about all areas of personal finance. My aim is to help people develop the confidence and knowledge to take control of their own finances.