Best Forex Brokers for Beginners in 2022
The ForexBrokers.com annual forex broker review (six years running) is the most cited in the industry. With over 50,000 words of research across the site, we spend hundreds of hours testing forex brokers each year. Here's how we test.
The best forex brokers for beginners all share three essential qualities.
The first and most important quality is the broker's status as a well-regulated and highly trusted brand. Second is the provision of a user-friendly web-based platform with a strong variety of educational resources. Third is access to quality and actionable market research.
In our 6th annual review of forex and contract for difference (CFD) brokers, we spent endless hours opening demo accounts, navigating various forex platforms and mobile apps, conducting market research, testing website usability, and watching educational videos and webinars.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 65% and 82% 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.
What is forex trading?
Forex trading is the process of exchanging one currency for another — known as buying or selling currency pairs — based on prevailing exchange rates from the forex market. The forex market is the largest global market, with nearly $6.59 trillion in currency traded on average per day.
What is a forex broker?
When trading foreign currencies, you use a forex broker (also known as a currency trading broker) to place your trades. When you trade forex, you buy or sell in currency pairs, such as the "EUR / USD" (euro / U.S. dollar). You open an account, deposit funds, then use the broker's trading platform to buy and sell currency using margin. The forex markets are open 24 hours a day, five days a week.
To learn more about the basics of trading forex, we recommendwe recommend the School of Pipsology alongside the NFA's Trading Forex booklet.
The Best Forex Brokers for Beginners

Here's a summary of the best forex brokers for beginner forex traders.
- IG - Best for education, most trusted
- AvaTrade - Excellent educational resources
- Capital.com - Innovative educational app
- eToro - Best copy trading platform
- Plus500 - Overall winner for ease of use
- CMC Markets - Best web trading platform
- TMGM - Comprehensive educational courses
Best for education, most trusted
Minimum Deposit | £250.00 |
Trust Score | 99 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 19537 |
IG offers a vast selection of educational material in a variety of formats, as well as a dedicated mobile app for education called IG Academy. IG is not just for beginners – it ranked as the best overall broker for our 2022 annual review. Read full review
Pros
- Outstanding platforms and tools
- Over 19,000 tradeable instruments
- Competitive pricing
Cons
- No predefined layouts on the flagship web platform
- Limited product range on MT4
Trade FX on even lower spreads (75% of retail investor accounts lose money)
Excellent educational resources
Minimum Deposit | $100.00 |
Trust Score | 93 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1260 |
AvaTrade is a trusted global brand that offers an extensive selection of trading platforms for forex and CFD traders, as well as exceptional educational content that helped it nab our Best in Class rating for Beginners for our 2022 annual review. Read full review
Pros
- AvaOptions app is an excellent forex options mobile trading platform
- Offers 44 forex options and over 1,200 CFDs
Cons
- Pricing for retail accounts is average, but trails industry leaders
- Desktop platform is slow to load, has outdated design
Innovative educational app
Minimum Deposit | $20.00 |
Trust Score | 77 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | Over 6,000 |
Capital.com has a solid array of educational materials that includes articles, videos, and a comprehensive lesson program. It also has a dedicated mobile app for education called Investmate, as well as dozens of educational videos on its YouTube channel. Read full review
Pros
- High-quality educational articles and courses
- Newsroom-grade research articles
- Offers over 400 crypto CFDs
Cons
- MetaTrader 5 not available
- Respectable range of tradeable symbols, but fewer than industry leaders
Best copy trading platform
Minimum Deposit | $10-$200 |
Trust Score | 93 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 3056 |
eToro offers a comprehensive trading experience with over 3,000 tradeable symbols, and a Learning Academy that features videos, articles, and weekly webinars. eToro’s user-friendly web platform and eToro mobile app are great for casual and beginner investors. Read full review
Pros
- Large number of investors to copy
- Extensive range of markets to trade
- User-friendly platforms and app
Cons
- No automated trading strategies
- Stops, limits mandatory on trades
- Research trails competitors
Overall winner for ease of use
Minimum Deposit | €100 |
Trust Score | 99 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 1896 |
Plus500 is a trusted global brand that offers access to share trading and a thorough selection of CFDs. Plus500’s simplified trading platform attracts beginners looking for a user-friendly experience, and helped Plus500 earn our top award for Ease of Use in our 2022 annual review. Read full review
Pros
- Beginner-friendly web trading platform
- Broad selection of CFDs
Cons
- Few advanced tools for more active traders
- Research and education resources are lacking
Best web trading platform
Minimum Deposit | $0.00 |
Trust Score | 99 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 11927 |
CMC Markets delivers a terrific user experience, comprehensive market research, and an excellent mobile app. CMC Markets provides a wealth of educational material for beginners in a variety of formats, including written articles, video updates, podcasts, and live webinars. Read full review
Pros
- Low trading costs
- Excellent web and mobile platforms
- Robust research materials
Cons
- Educational offering could be improved
- MT4 offering limited to 62 symbols
Comprehensive educational courses
Minimum Deposit | $100 |
Trust Score | 79 |
Tradeable Symbols (Total) | 12000 |
TMGM delivers an impressive educational toolset, with its TMGM Academy standing out for its quizzes and interactive content which we found to be excellent for beginners. TMGM’s educational content also pays close attention to the finer details, such as tracking and offering feedback on your progress. Read full review
Pros
- Competitive commission rates on Edge account
- Minimum deposit starts at $100 for spread-only or commission-based accounts
- TMGM Academy is an impressive educational tool
Cons
- MetaTrader 5 (MT5) has not yet launched
- Majority of available symbols are segmented on the IRESS platform and not optimized for forex trading
Forex trading platforms education comparison
Taken from our forex broker comparison tool, here's a comparison of the education features for the best forex brokers for beginners.
Feature |
IG
Visit Site |
AvaTrade | Capital.com |
Has Education - Forex or CFDs | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Client Webinars | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Client Webinars (Archived) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Videos - Beginner Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Videos - Advanced Trading Videos | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Investor Dictionary (Glossary) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Is forex trading good for beginners?
Forex trading can be complex and may not be suitable for everyone. Whether forex is good for you will depend on your financial condition, your goals, and how much investing experience you already have as a beginner.
Overall, beginners must exercise caution, especially as the majority of forex traders lose money. Also, leveraged forex trading — whether as a CFD or otherwise — is traded from a margin account, which means it is possible for you to incur a negative balance and lose more than you invest.
Note: If you're a beginner, start by learning the risks associated with forex trading. Read all the educational materials that online forex brokers provide before trading with live funds.
A free demo account allows you to learn the software. Many beginners start with a small amount of money they can afford to lose, with the goal of establishing a consistent trading record.
Can I teach myself forex trading?
Yes, and the best forex brokers offer a variety of educational materials, such as articles and videos, that make it possible to teach yourself forex trading. While studying up doesn't guarantee success, it's an important first step.
Plus500's simple platform design makes it a good one for learning the fundamentals. Some brokers, like IG, even offer progress tracking and quizzes at the end of each course to test your knowledge as you move through the material.
How do I start trading forex?
Before depositing real money, open a free demo account that lets you use the trading platform and learn how it works. After you learn the software and practice using the virtual account, you can open a live forex trading account and begin with an amount of capital that you can afford to lose.
Forex trading step by step
- Choose only regulated brokers to open a live account.
- Study free educational material.
- Open a free demo account and practice.
- Learn to use the trading software.
- Develop a trading strategy.
- Deposit a small amount of risk capital.
- Focus on managing percentage returns.
- Only scale when you have a consistent track record.
Is forex trading profitable?
The majority of traders lose money. Therefore, to beat the odds and make money trading forex, you must have a trading strategy that focuses not only on identifying trading opportunities (i.e., signals when to buy or sell) but also calculates the optimum trade size relative to your balance. In addition, the target risk and profit levels should be determined in advance using a stop-loss order and limit.
This way, you have a plan on when to exit a trade, whether at a loss or profit. Because, to be successful in trading, you just need to keep your average losses smaller than your average profit. That's harder than it sounds, but is the secret to making money trading forex.
How do I choose a forex broker?
It's crucial to use a forex broker that holds the necessary licenses. Choosing a regulated broker that is permitted to offer services in your country helps you avoid potential scams. Also, by selecting a trusted forex broker that is well-capitalized, you reduce the risk of the broker going bankrupt and losing your deposit.
To select a forex broker, start by looking for brokers that are regulated in your country and any available consumer compensation funds provided as protection against bankruptcy. Next, read full-length forex reviews. Finally, compare your top two choices side by side to decide on a winner.
Pro tip: In addition to trust, other factors to consider include trading costs, range of markets, available platforms, mobile trading apps (see our top picks for forex trading apps), market research and news sources, educational articles, and the quality of customer service that the forex broker provides.
What is the best forex broker for beginners?
If you're a beginner looking for a thorough selection of educational materials, then IG is the best choice among forex brokers. We've also written an extensive guide for the best forex brokers in the U.S. for beginners, in addition to the brokers that support international traders.
Also noteworthy is Plus500 for its trading platform, which is great for beginners thanks to a simple layout that is easy to learn.
How much money do you need to trade forex?
The amount of money you will need to trade forex depends on several factors, including your expected trade sizes, risk threshold per trade, the available margin requirements from the broker (i.e., leverage), and any minimum deposit requirement to open your account.
For example: If you plan to trade one mini lot (10,000 units) worth of the euro currency at a time, and the forex broker offers a maximum of 20:1 leverage, that means you will need at least 5% of the trade value just for the margin, and another 1 euro for every pip you plan on risking when the market moves against your position. (Note: In this case 1 pip is 0.0001 euro worth of currency.)
So in the above example, one standard lot of 10,000 EUR/USD would require at least 500 euros in margin, and if you wanted to risk no more than 200 pips per trade, another 200 euros would need to be available. That means you would need a starting balance of 700 euros to trade forex.
Can I trade forex with $10?
Generally no, because even with the ability to trade micro-lots at most forex brokers, $10 would barely be enough for the margin requirement alone, even if you had access to the highest leverage. The best forex broker for small accounts will offer micro contracts, as well as a low minimum deposit. That said, you still need to consider having enough margin available to open each trade.
For example, with at least $300, a trader could open one micro lot at a time and still have enough available for higher margin requirements, such as in Europe or the U.S. With a single micro-lot, each pip is worth around 10 cents for every $1,000 of currency you trade.
Which forex broker has the lowest minimum deposit?
There are several forex brokers, such as CMC Markets (which is also our pick for the best forex trading platform technology), that advertise a $0.00 minimum deposit, which means you can open a live account and deposit whatever amount you like to start trading.
Note: When deciding how much to start with, keep extra costs in mind, such as wire transfer fees and other transfer-related costs that will depend on your chosen payment method — as well as the collateral (margin) you plan to use for your expected trade sizes.
What are the most popular currency pairs?
The most heavily traded currency pairs by volume all include the U.S. dollar (USD), followed by the euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), Great British Pound (GBP), Australian dollar (AUD), Canadian dollar (CAD), and Swiss Franc (CHF). This is according to the latest Triennial Survey by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which found that approximately 88% of all forex trades include the U.S. dollar.
Note: The resulting pairs from these popular currencies are known as the "major pairs" and include the EUR/USD, USD/JPY, GBP/USD, AUD/USD, CAD/USD, CHF/USD, and followed by the Chinese renminbi (CNY), which is the eighth most traded currency, but seventh most traded currency pair when combined with the U.S. dollar (CNY/USD).
Can I get rich by trading forex?
While possible, getting rich by trading forex is rare. Practice and skill are required to make money trading forex. Successful traders strive to make trades that, on average, return larger profits (winners) than losses (losers) over time. Historically speaking, several hedge fund managers have been able to get rich trading forex. For example, George Soros made over £1 billion in profit by short selling the British pound in 1992, in what can be described, if one is prone to understatement, as a large bet.
Which forex brokers accept U.S. or non-U.S. clients?
Forex brokers who hold regulatory status in the U.S. can accept U.S.-based clients. Meanwhile, forex brokers who accept non-U.S. clients will usually need to hold licenses in the countries where their clients reside.
For example, if you reside within the European Union, you will be able to open an account with an EU-regulated broker. If you live in a U.S. state, you will need to open an account with a U.S.-regulated broker. If you're interested specifically in stock trading, read our guide to best U.S. trading platforms for beginners.
The Best Forex Trading Platforms for Beginners
- IG - IG web platform
- AvaTrade - AvaTrade WebTrader
- Capital.com - Capital.com web platform
- eToro - eToro CopyTrader
- Plus500 - WebTrader
- CMC Markets - Next Generation
- TMGM - MetaTrader 4
ForexBrokers.com 2022 Overall Ranking
Here are the Overall rankings for the 39 online brokers who participated in our 2022 Annual Review, sorted by Overall ranking.
Brokers | Commissions & Fees | Offering of Investments | Platforms & Tools | Research | Mobile Trading Apps | Education | Overall Ranking | Trust Score | Visit Site |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IG | 99 | Visit Site | |||||||
Saxo Bank | 99 | ||||||||
CMC Markets | 99 | ||||||||
Interactive Brokers | 99 | Visit Site | |||||||
TD Ameritrade | 99 | ||||||||
FOREX.com | 99 | Visit Site | |||||||
XTB | 95 | ||||||||
City Index | 99 | ||||||||
Swissquote | 99 | ||||||||
eToro | 93 | ||||||||
AvaTrade | 93 | ||||||||
FXCM | 96 | ||||||||
Plus500 | 99 | ||||||||
OANDA | 92 | ||||||||
Admiral Markets | 84 | ||||||||
IC Markets | 86 | ||||||||
Capital.com | 77 | ||||||||
Markets.com | 98 | ||||||||
XM Group | 90 | ||||||||
Pepperstone | 93 | ||||||||
FP Markets | 82 | ||||||||
FxPro | 90 | ||||||||
Tickmill | 82 | ||||||||
Fineco | 92 | ||||||||
HYCM | 86 | ||||||||
DooPrime | 80 | ||||||||
HFM (HF Markets) | 85 | ||||||||
BDSwiss | 83 | ||||||||
Vantage | 83 | ||||||||
TMGM | 79 | ||||||||
Trading 212 | 77 | ||||||||
Moneta Markets | 83 | ||||||||
BlackBull Markets | 74 | ||||||||
Trade Nation | 80 | ||||||||
ACY Securities | 74 | ||||||||
Eightcap | 87 | ||||||||
ThinkMarkets | 86 | ||||||||
VT Markets | 83 | ||||||||
easyMarkets | 84 | ||||||||
Exness | 74 | ||||||||
Spreadex | 69 | ||||||||
IronFX | 80 | ||||||||
RoboMarkets (RoboForex) | 66 | ||||||||
Trade360 | 75 | ||||||||
AxiTrader | 81 | ||||||||
GKFX | 65 | ||||||||
Vestle | 77 | ||||||||
FXOpen | 79 | ||||||||
TeleTrade | 66 | ||||||||
OctaFX | 67 | ||||||||
Forex4you | 62 | ||||||||
LegacyFx | 75 | ||||||||
FXPRIMUS | 66 | ||||||||
Alpari | 67 | ||||||||
GBE brokers | 68 | ||||||||
TopFX | 67 | ||||||||
ATFX | 69 | ||||||||
UFX | 66 | ||||||||
Forex Club | 66 | ||||||||
Xtrade | 79 | ||||||||
Tradeo | 66 |
Read Next
- Best Forex Brokers
- Best FX Brokers for Copy Trading
- Best MetaTrader Brokers
- How to Avoid Forex Scams
- Compare Forex Brokers
Also explore educational content for various topics at our sister sites :
- 10 Great Ways to Learn Stock Trading - StockTrader.com
- Top U.S. Financial Advisor Firms - Investor.com
- Best Stockbrokers for Beginners - StockBrokers.com
Methodology
For our 2022 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 39 international forex brokers over a three-month time period resulting in over 50,000 words of published research.
Each broker was graded on 113 different variables, including our proprietary Trust Score algorithm. This innovative scoring system ranks the level of trustworthiness for each broker based on factors such as licenses, regulation and corporate structure. Read more about Trust Score here.
As part of our annual review process, all brokers had the opportunity to provide updates and key milestones and complete an in-depth data profile, which we hand-checked for accuracy.
Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than .1% each year, providing site visitors with quality data they can trust. Learn more about how we test.
Forex Risk Disclaimer
There is a very high degree of risk involved in trading securities. With respect to margin-based foreign exchange trading, off-exchange derivatives, and cryptocurrencies, there is considerable exposure to risk, including but not limited to, leverage, creditworthiness, limited regulatory protection and market volatility that may substantially affect the price, or liquidity of a currency or related instrument. It should not be assumed that the methods, techniques, or indicators presented in these products will be profitable, or that they will not result in losses.Read more on forex trading risks.
About the Author

Steven Hatzakis Steven Hatzakis is the Global Director of Research for ForexBrokers.com. Steven previously served as an Editor for Finance Magnates, where he authored over 1,000 published articles about the online finance industry. Steven is an active fintech and crypto industry researcher and advises blockchain companies at the board level. Over the past 20 years, Steven has held numerous positions within the international forex markets, from writing to consulting to serving as a registered commodity futures representative.

Blain Reinkensmeyer As Head of Research, Blain Reinkensmeyer has 18 years of trading experience with over 1,000 trades placed during that time. Referenced as a leading expert on the US online brokerage industry, Blain has been quoted in The New York Times, Forbes, and the Chicago Tribune, among others.