Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of Charles Schwab vs Exness, we will compare the trading platforms, mobile apps, range of investments, costs, market research, and more. Let's dive in.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 51% and 89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Charles Schwab, founded in 1971, is a well-established online broker that is publicly traded and even operates as a bank. With a stellar Trust Score of 99 from ForexBrokers.com, Charles Schwab is equipped with five Tier-1 licenses, contributing to its strong reputation in the industry. This high rating places Schwab in the category of highly trusted brokers, indicating a secure and reliable platform for its users.
In comparison, Exness was founded in 2008 and, while not publicly traded or operating as a bank, still holds a respectable Trust Score of 81. This broker features two Tier-1 licenses and three Tier-2 licenses, categorizing it as a trusted broker. While Exness might not have the same level of acclaim as Charles Schwab, it still provides a trustworthy option for online trading, backed by a competent regulatory foundation.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1971 | 2008 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | |
| Bank | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 2 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 3 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 3 |
Charles Schwab and Exness are two online brokers characterized by their unique approaches to commissions and fees. Charles Schwab, with no minimum deposit requirement, offers a low barrier to entry for forex trading via its Schwab One and Schwab Global accounts. Notably, Schwab charges no commissions on forex trades, with costs primarily derived from the bid/ask spread. However, the average spread for popular currency pairs like EUR/USD is slightly higher at 1.35 pips. Schwab does charge conversion fees when trading in international markets, which vary between 0.2% and 1%, contingent on account balances. Schwab is rated 4 out of 5 stars for commissions and fees, ranking #24 out of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com.
Exness distinguishes itself with a variety of account types tailored to different trading needs, including standard and professional options. The commission-based accounts, such as Zero Spread and Raw, offer tighter spreads but include a per-trade fee, while commission-free options have broader spreads. The Zero Spread account charges a commission of $0.05 per trade, whereas the Raw account charges up to $7 per round turn lot. Each account type offers market execution, but the Pro account allows for both market and instant execution. Exness also boasts a 4-star rating, though it is ranked slightly lower than Schwab at #35 on ForexBrokers.com’s list for commissions and fees.
When choosing between Charles Schwab and Exness, consider your trading style and priorities. Schwab’s platform might better suit those who prefer commission-free trading with a focus on U.S. dollar settlements, while Exness could appeal to traders who value a wider selection of account types with varied execution methods. Both brokers are well-regarded, each holding a 4-star rating, indicating solid value in their respective fee structures.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $10 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.35 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.35 | N/A |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | ||
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | ||
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | |
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
When comparing Charles Schwab and Exness, investors will notice significant differences in the range of investments each broker offers. Charles Schwab stands out with an impressive array of 40,000 tradeable symbols, including 73 forex pairs, which embodies its comprehensive approach to investment opportunities. This online broker also provides access to both U.S. and international exchange-traded securities, allowing users to invest in renowned companies like Apple and Vodafone. Additionally, Charles Schwab supports cryptocurrency derivatives, enabling traders to explore crypto markets through non-actual currency purchases.
In contrast, Exness offers a more focused selection, featuring 227 tradeable symbols but surpasses Schwab in its 96 available forex pairs, making it a strong contender for forex traders. However, Exness does not support direct exchange-traded securities on U.S. or international exchanges. It does excel with unique offerings such as copy trading, giving users the ability to replicate the trades of experienced investors. When it comes to cryptocurrency, Exness, like Schwab, allows trading through derivatives. Overall, Charles Schwab receives a higher rating of 5 stars and ranks #5 for range of investments, while Exness earns 3.5 stars and holds the #55 position, showcasing different strengths to meet varying investor needs.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 40000 | 227 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 73 | 96 |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | |
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | ||
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | Yes |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
Charles Schwab and Exness offer a range of features in their trading platforms that appeal to both beginners and seasoned traders. Both brokers provide simulated trading through virtual demo accounts and have developed their proprietary platforms for users. They also support Windows-based desktop platforms and web-based trading. However, while Exness supports copy trading and both MetaTrader 4 and 5, Schwab does not offer these features, focusing instead on its platform's own extensive toolset. Exness comes out ahead with 87 drawing tools, compared to Schwab’s 24, yet Schwab impresses with the ability to customize watchlists with up to 580 fields, in stark contrast to Exness's 7 fields.
In terms of trading from charts, both brokers offer this functionality, adding ease to executing trades directly. Charles Schwab scores higher in user ratings with a full five stars for trading platforms and tools, securing the 5th spot out of 63 brokers evaluated by ForexBrokers.com. Meanwhile, Exness, though highly rated with four stars, ranks 26th in the same category. For those who prioritize a comprehensive trading suite with advanced watchlist customization, Charles Schwab might be more appealing, whereas Exness could attract traders interested in copy trading and the MetaTrader suite.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | |
| DupliTrade | ||
| ZuluTrade | ||
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 374 | 107 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 24 | 87 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 580 | 7 |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
For trading enthusiasts who prioritize mobile accessibility, both Charles Schwab and Exness offer trading apps available on iPhone and Android platforms. These apps provide essential features like stock and forex price alerts and the ability to draw trendlines on charts. Both also present multiple time frame views on stock and forex charts, accommodating different trading strategies. However, a significant advantage with Charles Schwab is its sync feature for watchlists, ensuring that any changes made either online or on the app reflect across the board, while Exness does not offer this functionality. Additionally, Charles Schwab presents an impressive array of 374 technical studies for charting, compared to just 35 available with Exness, providing more analytical depth for its users.
In terms of user experience, Charles Schwab's app demonstrates superiority with features like auto-saving drawings on charts and the option to create watchlists with real-time quotes. These factors contribute to its high rating of 5 out of 5 stars and a commendable sixth place ranking by ForexBrokers.com, showcasing its efficiency and customer satisfaction. Meanwhile, Exness receives a respectable 4-star rating with placement at the 26th position, still reflecting a solid offering but lacking in some of the more enhanced features that Charles Schwab provides.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 374 | 35 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
Charles Schwab and Exness are both prominent online brokers that offer valuable market research tools to their users. Both platforms provide daily market commentary and forex news from top-tier sources like Bloomberg and Reuters, making them reliable choices for staying informed about market trends. While Charles Schwab excels with a five-star rating for research and ranks as the fourth among 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com, Exness offers additional tools. Exness users benefit from technical analysis by Trading Central and a sentiment-based trading tool, providing insights into long and short positions across various instruments. However, Charles Schwab lacks these specific tools but compensates with an excellent overall research service rating.
Moreover, both Charles Schwab and Exness feature comprehensive economic calendars, highlighting global news events and ensuring traders can anticipate market movements effectively. Despite Exness receiving a slightly lower research rating of 3.5 stars and ranking 41st overall, it still delivers a decent range of research tools. Charles Schwab, with its higher ranking and star rating, remains a compelling choice for traders prioritizing thorough market research, but Exness might appeal to those specifically seeking sentiment and technical tools within their trading arsenal.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | ||
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | |
| TipRanks | ||
| Signal Centre (Acuity Trading) | ||
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
Charles Schwab and Exness both provide educational resources for beginners interested in learning about forex and CFDs trading. Both offer a minimum of 10 educational pieces, such as articles, videos, and archived webinars, to help beginners grasp the basics of trading. For those who prefer live learning, Charles Schwab stands out by offering online educational client webinars at least once a month, whereas Exness does not currently offer the same frequency. Both platforms, however, maintain a searchable archive of these webinars for those who want to learn at their own pace.
When it comes to variety, Charles Schwab outshines Exness with a comprehensive collection of beginner and advanced educational videos on trading topics. Additionally, Charles Schwab provides an investor dictionary, offering definitions for over 50 investing terms, matched by Exness in this aspect. Overall, Charles Schwab has received a top-notch rating of 5 stars from ForexBrokers.com for its educational offerings and is ranked 6th out of 63 brokers. In comparison, Exness, rated 3.5 stars, is positioned at 47th, reflecting a more limited scope of educational resources for traders.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Client Webinars | Yes | |
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | |
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that Charles Schwab is better than Exness. Charles Schwab finished with an overall rank of #6, while Exness finished with an overall rank of #43.
Charles Schwab is a highly trusted financial institution and multi-asset broker catering to U.S.-based and international forex traders. Schwab's award-winning thinkorswim platform offers over 70 tradeable currency pairs alongside impressive tools, research, and education. That said, the broker’s forex offering is still largely limited to what is available on thinkorswim.
| Feature |
Charles Schwab
|
Exness
|
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 81 |
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Charles Schwab does not offer the ability to buy actual delivered cryptocurrency, while Exness also does not provide this option, but both platforms enable trading cryptocurrency derivatives, allowing investors to speculate on price movements without owning the asset itself.
Charles Schwab provides ACH or SEPA transfers and bank wires for deposits and withdrawals, whereas Exness supports bank wires, Visa or Mastercard, Skrill, and offers ACH or SEPA transfers as well.
Please note:
We review each broker’s overall global offering – a “Yes” checkmark in our Compare Tool does not guarantee the availability of any specific features in your country of residence. To verify the availability of any features within your country of residence, please contact the broker directly.
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0 of 5| Overall Rating | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 81 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Charles Schwab Review | Exness Review |
| Broker Screenshots | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
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| Regulation | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 99 | 81 | |
| Year Founded | 1971 | 2008 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | ||
| Bank | Yes | ||
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | ||
| Tier-1 Licenses | 5 | 2 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 3 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 0 | 3 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | |||
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | |||
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | |||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | Yes | ||
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | |||
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | |||
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| UAE (DFSA/Central Bank Authorised) | |||
| India (SEBI Authorised) | |||
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) | Yes |
| Investments | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 40000 | 227 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 73 | 96 | |
| U.S. Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | ||
| Int'l Stock Trading (Non CFD) | Yes | ||
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | ||
| Cryptocurrency (Physical) | |||
| Cryptocurrency (Derivative) | Yes | Yes | |
| Disclaimers | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). | Note: Crypto CFDs are not available to retail traders from any broker's U.K. entity, nor to U.K. residents (except to Professional clients). |
| Cost | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1.35 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 1.35 | N/A | |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | |||
| Inactivity Fee | |||
| Execution: Agency Broker | Yes | Yes | |
| Execution: Market Maker | Yes |
| Funding | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $10 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | |||
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | ||
| Visa/Mastercard (Credit/Debit) | Yes | ||
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | Yes | |
| ACH or SEPA Transfers | Yes |
| Trading Platforms | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Social Trading / Copy Trading | Yes | ||
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | ||
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | ||
| cTrader | |||
| DupliTrade | |||
| ZuluTrade |
| Trading Tools | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 580 | 7 | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 374 | 107 | |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 24 | 87 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist | Yes | Yes | |
| Watchlist Syncing | Yes | ||
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 374 | 35 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | ||
| Mobile Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | |||
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | ||
| TipRanks | |||
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | ||
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Education (Forex or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Client Webinars | Yes | ||
| Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | ||
| Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes |
| Major Forex Pairs | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/JPY | Yes | Yes | |
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CAD | Yes | Yes | |
| NZD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| AUD/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| Review | Charles Schwab Review | Exness Review |
| Overall | Charles Schwab | Exness | |
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| Trust Score | 99 | 81 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | Charles Schwab Review | Exness Review |
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