Written by ForexBrokers.com
In this head to head comparison of HFM vs FXOpen, 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.
HFM, founded in 2010, and FXOpen, established in 2003, are both online brokers offering trading services, yet they differ significantly when it comes to trust ratings and regulatory licenses. While neither company is publicly traded or operates as a bank, they each hold two highly trusted Tier-1 licenses, underscoring their commitment to safety. However, HFM further distinguishes itself by holding three additional trusted Tier-2 licenses, whereas FXOpen holds none.
This difference is reflected in their Trust Scores as rated by ForexBrokers.com, where HFM earns a score of 86, positioning it within the "trusted" category. In contrast, FXOpen scores a 76, placing it in the "average risk" range. Both brokers maintain a presence in the trading industry, yet HFM emerges as more reliable according to these metrics.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 2010 | 2003 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No |
| Bank | No | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 2 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 3 | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 0 |
Comparing commissions and fees at HFM and FXOpen, HFM provides more specifics but still leaves some gaps, while FXOpen offers limited transparency. HFM says its trading costs run slightly above the industry average. FXOpen does not publish average spread data, which makes it harder to estimate typical costs.
At HFM, the Standard account lists a typical spread of 1.2 pips, though no date range is provided, so the true average could be higher. The Zero account advertises an effective spread of 0.7 pips after commission, but this figure is also not an average. For commissions and fees, HFM earns 4 out of 5 stars and is ranked #32 out of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com.
FXOpen does not provide average spread figures, limiting direct cost comparisons. Even so, FXOpen receives 4 out of 5 stars for commissions and fees and is ranked #45 out of 63 brokers by ForexBrokers.com. If you value published spread data, HFM offers more detail than FXOpen, though both brokers share the same star rating in this category.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $100 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 1.2 | N/A |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.7 | N/A |
| Non-wire bank transfer | No | No |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | |
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | |
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Low Spread Forex Brokers.
Comparing HFM vs FXOpen for range of investments: HFM lists 500 tradeable symbols with 102 forex pairs, while FXOpen offers 87 symbols and 25 forex pairs. Both brokers support forex trading (CFD or spot). Neither lets you buy exchange-traded shares on U.S. or international stock exchanges. Both offer copy trading. For crypto, neither broker sells actual coins, but each provides cryptocurrency CFDs.
Based on the Range of Investments category from ForexBrokers.com, HFM is rated 4 stars and ranks #37 out of 63 brokers, reflecting a broader selection. FXOpen is rated 3 stars and ranks #63 out of 63, indicating a more limited lineup compared to HFM.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 500 | 87 |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 102 | 25 |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No | No |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | No | No |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | 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). |
Dive deeper: Best Copy Trading Platforms.
HFM vs FXOpen: both provide free demo (paper) trading accounts, Windows desktop and web platforms, MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5), copy trading, and the ability to place orders directly from charts. A key difference is that HFM also offers its own proprietary platform, while FXOpen sticks to third-party options. That makes HFM the more flexible pick if you want to try an in-house platform alongside MetaTrader.
For Trading Platforms and Tools, both brokers earn 4 stars from ForexBrokers.com. However, HFM ranks higher (#43 out of 63) than FXOpen (#54 out of 63). This data set does not specify how many technical indicators or watchlist fields each broker provides, so consider checking those in a demo first. If you just need MT4/MT5 with web and desktop access plus copy trading, both will fit; choose HFM if a proprietary platform matters to you.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | No |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 15 | 30 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best MetaTrader 4 Brokers, Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
HFM and FXOpen both deliver mobile trading apps for iPhone and Android, so you can trade on the go no matter your device. Each app supports stock or forex price alerts, offers 30 technical studies for charting, and lets you draw trendlines. One shared drawback is that neither broker syncs watchlists between the mobile app and your online account, so changes in one place won’t appear in the other.
Where they differ: HFM’s app auto-saves your chart drawings, while FXOpen’s does not—useful if you rely on annotations during analysis. Both brokers earn 4 stars for Mobile Trading Apps, but ForexBrokers.com ranks HFM at #40 versus FXOpen at #55 out of 63, giving HFM a slight edge in this HFM vs FXOpen mobile app comparison.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | No | No |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | No |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Trading Apps.
HFM vs FXOpen research comparison: Both brokers publish daily market commentary, deliver forex news from leading sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Dow Jones, and include an economic calendar. HFM goes further with Autochartist tools for spotting technical setups and a sentiment indicator that shows long/short positioning—features FXOpen does not provide. Neither broker offers Trading Central. FXOpen’s access to TipRanks or Acuity (Signal Centre) isn’t specified.
If research depth matters, HFM stands out: it’s rated 4 stars for Research and ranked 20th by ForexBrokers.com. FXOpen covers the basics but is rated 3 stars and ranked 64th. Traders who want added screening and sentiment insights may prefer HFM, while those who only need daily commentary, premium news, and a calendar might find FXOpen sufficient.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes |
| Autochartist | Yes | No |
| Trading Central | No | No |
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No |
| TipRanks | No | |
| Acuity Trading | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
Dive deeper: Best Brokers for Forex Research.
For beginner traders comparing HFM vs FXOpen education, HFM clearly offers more to get you started. HFM runs online client webinars at least once a month and provides at least 10 beginner videos plus 10 advanced videos, giving you a clear path from basics to more detailed trading topics. FXOpen does not host monthly educational webinars and does not offer at least 10 beginner or 10 advanced videos, which can make structured self-learning harder if you’re new to forex and CFDs.
Reflecting these differences, HFM is rated 4 out of 5 stars for Education and ranks 37th out of 63 brokers on ForexBrokers.com, while FXOpen holds 3 out of 5 stars and ranks 59th out of 63. If you want accessible forex and CFD education with regular webinars and a deeper video library, HFM edges out FXOpen for beginners.
| Feature |
HFM
|
FXOpen
|
|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | No |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
Dive deeper: Best Forex Brokers for Beginners.
After testing 63 of the best forex brokers, our research and account testing finds that HFM is better than FXOpen. HFM finished with an overall rank of #30, while FXOpen finished with an overall rank of #54.
Alongside its enhanced MetaTrader offering and quality research, HFM (HF Markets), previously known as HotForex, offers a proprietary copy trading platform, HFcopy, a proprietary HF mobile app, and a decent selection of over 1,000 CFDs and 47 forex pairs. Still, trading costs at HFM are slightly above the industry average.
| Feature |
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FXOpen
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| Trust Score | 86 | 76 |
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HFM vs FXOpen: neither broker lets you buy actual (delivered) cryptocurrencies, but both offer the ability to buy and trade cryptocurrency CFDs.
Comparing online brokers HFM and FXOpen for deposit and withdrawal methods: both do not offer ACH/SEPA transfers; HFM supports Skrill and bank wire funding but not PayPal, while FXOpen’s support for PayPal, Skrill, Visa/Mastercard, and bank wires is not specified here.
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 | HFM | FXOpen | |
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| Trust Score | 86 | 76 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | HFM Review |
| Broker Screenshots | HFM | FXOpen | |
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| Broker Gallery (click to expand) |
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| Regulation | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trust Score | 86 | 76 | |
| Year Founded | 2010 | 2003 | |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | No | No | |
| Bank | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes | |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 2 | 2 | |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 3 | 0 | |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | |
| Tier-4 Licenses | 2 | 0 |
| Tier-1 Licenses (Highly Trusted) | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia (ASIC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Canada (CIRO Authorised) | No | No | |
| Hong Kong (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Japan (SFC Authorised) | No | No | |
| Singapore (MAS Authorised) | No | No | |
| Switzerland (FINMA Authorised) | |||
| United Kingdom (U.K.) (FCA Authorised) | Yes | Yes | |
| USA (CFTC Authorized) | No | No | |
| New Zealand (FMA Authorised) | No | No | |
| Regulated in one or more EU or EEA countries (MiFID). | Yes | Yes |
| Tier-2 Licenses (Trusted) | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenya (CMA Authorised) | Yes | ||
| Israel (ISA Authorised) | No | No | |
| South Africa (FSCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| UAE (DFSA, FSRA, or SCA Authorised) | Yes | No | |
| India (SEBI Authorised) | No | No | |
| Jordan (JSC Authorised) |
| Investments | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Forex Trading (Spot or CFDs) | Yes | Yes | |
| Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 500 | 87 | |
| Forex Pairs (Total) | 102 | 25 | |
| U.S. Stocks (Shares) | No | No | |
| Global Stocks (Non-U.S. Shares) | No | No | |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| Cryptocurrency (Underlying) | No | No | |
| Cryptocurrency (CFDs) | 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). |
| Cost | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average spread (EUR/USD) - Standard account | 1.2 | N/A | |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.7 | N/A | |
| Inactivity Fee | Yes | Yes | |
| Order execution: Agency | No | Yes | |
| Order execution: Market Maker | Yes | Yes |
| Funding | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Deposit | $0 | $100 | |
| PayPal (Deposit/Withdraw) | No | ||
| Skrill (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | ||
| Bank Wire (Deposit/Withdraw) | Yes | ||
| Non-wire bank transfer | No | No |
| Trading Platforms | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proprietary Desktop Trading Platform | Yes | No | |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | |
| Copy Trading | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes | Yes | |
| cTrader | No | No |
| Trading Tools | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | |
| Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 15 | 30 | |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | |
| Charts can be saved | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Price Alerts | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Watchlist [DELETED] | |||
| Mobile Watchlists - Syncing | No | No | |
| Mobile Charting - Indicators / Studies | 30 | 30 | |
| Mobile Charting - Draw Trendlines | Yes | Yes | |
| Mobile Charting - Trendlines Autosave | Yes | No | |
| Mobile Research - Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Research | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary (Articles) | Yes | Yes | |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | |
| Autochartist | Yes | No | |
| Trading Central | No | No | |
| TipRanks | No | ||
| Client sentiment data | Yes | No | |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes |
| Education | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Webinars | Yes | No | |
| Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | No | |
| Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | No |
| Major Forex Pairs | HFM | FXOpen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GBP/USD [DELETED] | |||
| USD/JPY [DELETED] | |||
| EUR/USD | Yes | Yes | |
| USD/CHF [DELETED] | |||
| USD/CAD [DELETED] | |||
| NZD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| AUD/USD [DELETED] | |||
| Review | HFM Review |
| Overall | HFM | FXOpen | |
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| Trust Score | 86 | 76 | |
| Winner | check_circle | ||
| Review | HFM Review |
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