Top picks for the best forex brokers
Best overall broker for 2024 – IG
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Minimum Deposit |
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
 IG
|
 |
£250.00 |
0.98 info |
Regulated and trusted across the globe, IG offers traders the ultimate package – excellent forex trading platforms, research tools, industry-leading education, comprehensive market research, and an extensive list of tradeable products. This fantastic all-round experience has earned IG my top ranking across dozens of brokers for over six years. Simply put, IG is the best overall forex broker for traders around the world in 2024.
- Trust: Founded in 1974, IG is publicly traded (LON: IGG) and regulated in eight Tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a Highly Trusted broker for forex and CFDs trading. All jurisdictions considered, we ranked IG as the most trusted forex and CFDs broker for our 2024 Annual Awards.
- Commissions: IG uses its size to provide consistent pricing for forex trades across the board — regardless of the product you trade — and shines for its active trader pricing available through its Forex Direct accounts.
- Forex trading platforms: While IG also offers MetaTrader and premium MT4 add-ons from FX Blue, only 76 tradeable instruments are available. There's no question; IG's flagship platform is the better choice between the two, and offers an extensive range of tradeable markets.
travel_exploreAttention U.S. forex traders:
Check out IG's highly rated offering for US forex traders, now under its new tastyfx brand. Traders at tastyfx gain access to the same platforms and forex trading experience that has made IG my favorite broker for 6 years and counting.
Best broker for professional traders – Interactive Brokers
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Minimum Deposit |
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
 Interactive Brokers
|
|
$0 |
0.59 info |
Interactive Brokers is a highly trusted multi-asset broker with an extensive offering of tradeable global markets. It delivers competitive fees and high-quality research and education, as well as a modern, institutional-grade trading platform suite.
- Trust: Founded in 1977, Interactive Brokers is publicly traded (NASDAQ: IBKR) and regulated in nine Tier-1 jurisdictions. Interactive Brokers is well-capitalized with USD 373.8 billion of ending client equity and USD 10.01 billion of equity capital.
- Commissions: Interactive Brokers offers competitive pricing, aggregating prices from 17 of the world's largest interbank forex dealers. Instead of marking up spreads, Interactive Brokers charges a commission for all forex trades, which ranges from $16 to $40 per million round turn ($8 to $20 per side).
- Forex trading platforms: Interactive Brokers stands out for its trading platforms, which include its flagship desktop software – Trader Workstation (TWS) – and mobile trading app – IBKR Mobile – both of which provide access to advanced trading tools and global financial markets (including forex and CFDs).
Award-winning trading platform – Saxo
| Company |
Overall Rating |
Minimum Deposit |
Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard |
 Saxo
|
|
$0 |
1.1 info |
Saxo has recently lowered the minimum deposit requirement for its entry-level Classic account to $0, making it easier for a wider range of traders to access its excellent forex trading platforms, phenomenal research, and 70,000+ tradeable instruments.
- Trust: Founded in 1992, Saxo operates multiple regulated banks and is licensed in seven Tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a safe broker (low-risk) for CFDs and forex trades.
- Commissions: Saxo provides traders with excellent all-around pricing. For active traders (and those with large forex account balances), Saxo offers competitive pricing in its Platinum and VIP accounts, which require a $200,000 and $1 million balance, respectively.
- Forex trading platforms: The entire Saxo client experience is absolutely brilliant. Alongside access to 70,000 tradeable instruments, Saxo's flagship SaxoTraderGo platform is terrific and includes everything traders require to navigate the market. Saxo also offers third-party trading platforms such as TradingView, the globally popular platform with advanced forex charting capabilities. Learn more by checking out our TradingView guide.
FAQs
What does a forex broker do?
A forex broker is a company that is licensed (or considered exempt) by a national regulator to grant you — as a retail or professional client — the ability to place forex trades (buy or sell foreign currencies), by way of an online trading platform or over the phone (known in the industry as voice broking). An online broker may offer you the underlying currency, or a non-deliverable spot contract or derivative such as a contract for difference (CFD) depending on any relevant country-specific regulatory restrictions. It's important to only use brokers that are properly regulated to reduce your risk of falling victim to a forex scam.
Do I need a broker for forex?
Yes, to trade forex you'll need to use a forex broker. You'll need to open a forex account with an online broker and deposit funds (in the form of margin) to enable you to place orders with your broker.
The forex broker's job is to execute your orders — either internally by acting as the principal to your trade (market maker execution) or by sending your orders to another market, thus acting as your agent (agency execution).
Your broker should be regulated and properly licensed in your country of residence (or in a major financial center). We’ve included a few important questions that are worth asking to help determine if your forex broker is trustworthy:
- Does the broker have adequate financial operating capital?
- How long has the broker been in operation?
- Does the online broker hold regulatory licenses in the countries where it operates, and is it in compliance with local laws?
securityFind a trustworthy broker:
ForexBroker.com’s proprietary Trust Score ranks forex brokers based on their reliability and overall trust. We evaluate and track dozens international regulatory agencies; click here to learn more about Trust Score.
How much money do you need to start trading forex?
Beginner forex traders might start trading forex with as little as $100, while it’s not uncommon for professional day traders to have six or even seven-figure trading accounts. The specific amount of money you’ll need for online forex trading will depend on multiple factors, such as your personal financial situation, your trading goals, and your tolerance (or appetite) for risk.
If you are a beginner, you’ll need to determine if online forex trading is suitable for you. Check out my guide to forex trading for beginners to learn more about the basics of forex trading and to find out what beginner tradres should be looking for in a broker.
The next step will be deciding on your trading budget. This is especially important given the risks involved in trading forex from a margin account with leverage. Forex brokers typically offer a range of contract sizes so you can fine-tune the size of your forex trade – which will determine how much risk you are taking for a given profit target.
A micro account with a low margin requirement would make it possible to place forex trades and test a trading strategy with as little as $100 of risk capital. In this case, your potential risk will be limited – but so will your potential rewards. Trading forex with a small amount of risk capital can let you test a new investment methodology, or allow beginner traders who are new to forex trading to learn by trial and error without “breaking the bank.”
Regardless of your trading budget, you'll need to choose a dependable method for depositing and withdrawing funds for your forex account. PayPal has grown in popularity as a way to fund forex trading accounts, due to its extensive international presence and wide range of supported currencies. Head over to our guide to the best PayPal forex brokers to learn more about using PayPal to fund your account, and to see our list of the best forex brokers that accept PayPal.
percentPro tip:
For most beginners, trading forex with an amount of capital that you can afford to lose can be a great way to learn with less risk, and can be of value if you focus on the percentage returns rather than their dollar value.
Which broker is the best for forex?
IG took first place for our 2024 Annual Awards as the best overall forex broker, with 100 available currency pairs and the ability to trade CFDs and forex options, traders have plenty of choices. IG holds nearly a dozen regulatory licenses (and holds the distinction of being the only forex broker regulated in both Switzerland and the U.S.); simply put, IG is one of the most trusted brokers in the industry.
Best forex trading platforms
In my two-plus decades as a forex trader, I've placed forex trades on the best trading platforms in the industry. Below you'll find my picks for the best forex trading platforms of 2024:
- Saxo – The SaxoTraderGO platform suite is a favorite of mine, featuring a unified experience across web and mobile – great for trading on multiple devices.
- IG – IG’s industry-leading web platform is fantastic and features powerful tools well-suited for all experience levels, including beginner traders (it also has a standalone education app for new traders).
- CMC Markets – CMC Markets’ Next Generation platform delivers nearly 12,000 tradeable instruments and a range of advanced order types for precise control over your forex trades.
- Interactive Brokers - Interactive Brokers’ Trader Workstation (TWS) desktop platform is the gold standard for professional traders – though it may be too complicated for more inexperienced traders.
- Charles Schwab -- Schwab's thinkorswim platform stands out for its robust and versatile charting application which enables powerful technical analysis. I've been a fan of thinkorswim for many years.
- FXCM – An excellent choice for algorithmic traders, FXCM offers its proprietary Trading Station platform as well as MetaTrader 4 and TradingView – all of which support algorithmic trading.
- FOREX.com – The PlayMaker module, part of FOREX.com's Trading Analytics suite of tools stands out for its innovative approach to helping traders manage their risk, and helped FOREX.com win our award for #1 Risk Management Tool in 2024.
Who is the biggest forex broker in the world?
IC Markets is the largest forex broker by trading volume, with over $774 billion in forex trading volume in the third quarter of 2021 alone, according to data compiled by Finance Magnates. IC Markets is also well-known as an excellent option for algo trading due to its great pricing and execution. Check out myIC Markets review, and algo traders (or traders who want to learn about HFT systems) can check out my popular guide to the best brokers for high-frequency trading.
expand What does it mean to be the biggest forex broker?
What can be considered the largest forex broker may vary depending on the time period used to measure size. Important factors to consider when gauging the size of a forex broker are the assets under management, number of clients, and market capitalization (valuation for public companies).
What are the top 10 forex brokers?
Here is a list of the top 10 brokers by forex and CFD trading volume according to data compiled by Finance Magnates during the third quarter of 2021 (data excludes Japan due to the abnormally high trading volumes known to come from Japanese brokers):
Which forex broker has the best trading platform?
Saxo has the best forex trading platform in 2024. I've been reviewing Saxo's trading platform suite for over seven years – it's no coincidence that they've ranked at or near the top of my rankings for the best forex trading platforms in the industry. The broker's flagship platform, SaxoTraderGo, includes everything that traders might need to navigate the market. Traders gain access to a range of complex orders types and account protection features that can assist traders of all experience levels to manage risk.
One of my favorite things about Saxo's platform suite is how effectively it unifies the platform experience across devices. The SaxoTraderGO web platform is expertly mirrored onto the broker's mobile app of the same name. Simply put, Saxo’s SaxoTraderGO mobile app is a favorite of mine, and competes with some of the best forex brokers for mobile, like IG ReviewIG, CMC Markets, and Charles Schwab.
The intuitive design of the SaxoTraderGO platform makes it easy for traders to make clear-headed decisions when assessing markets and managing trading positions. Saxo is a true leader in this category. Learn more by reading my Saxo review.
Saxo's mobile app
Saxo's trading platforms and tools
smartphone Mobile forex trading
If you're a fan of mobile platforms – or trading forex on the go – see my picks the best forex trading apps.
Best forex brokers for different styles of trading
What do you value most in a forex broker? Maybe you want to trade forex on the go. You might be looking for the most cost-effective forex brokers. Or maybe you are a beginner forex trader who is just getting started.
With a wide range of forex brokers comes a wide variety of features, specialties, and forex trading platforms. To help you find the best forex broker for what you’re looking for, we’ve listed our top picks for some of the most sought-after features in the forex industry.
- menu_book Great for beginners - IG’s vast selection of educational materials (it even has a mobile app dedicated to trader education, called IG Academy) makes it our top choice for beginner traders. Check out our full guide on the best forex brokers for beginners here.
- smartphone Excellent trading app - Saxo’s SaxoTraderGO mobile app boasts an impressive, intelligent design, paired with an abundance of useful information that makes it easy for traders to make clear-headed decisions, making it our top trading app. Check out our full guide to the best forex trading apps here.
- groups Social copy trading - Interested in following the trades of expert forex traders? eToro deftly merges self-directed trading and copy trading into a sleek, unified trading experience. Copy traders can read our full social copy trading guide here.
- euro Low costs - Of Tickmill’s three accounts (Classic, Pro, and VIP), it was the competitive commission-based pricing for professionals available through its VIP and PRO accounts that helped Tickmill finish 1st overall for Commissions and Fees. Take a look at our full guide dedicated to low-cost and zero spread brokers here.
- app_shortcut MetaTrader - IC Markets’ MetaTrader offering includes an impressive range of third-party research and trading tool plugins, which helped IC Markets earn our pick for the best MetaTrader broker. Read our full MetaTrader guide, and learn more about the newest version of MetaTrader with our guide to the Best MetaTrader 5 Brokers.
- currency_bitcoin Crypto trading - eToro’s large number of available crypto assets helped make it our top broker for crypto trading for our 2024 Annual Awards. Check out my guide that covers crypto trading and the best bitcoin brokers here, or read my guide to the Best Bitcoin ETF brokers.
- laptop_mac Mac Compatible Brokers - Saxo - Streamlined designs and robust trading tools make Saxo’s desktop platform, SaxoTraderPRO, a winner. Mac users should take a look at our guide to the best forex trading platforms for Mac devices.
Which forex broker offers the most CFDs?
Saxo offers the most tradeable CFDs in the industry, with a staggering 60,000+ tradeable symbols available. CFDs, or "contracts for difference," enable traders to speculate whether the price of a stock, forex pair, market index, or commodity will go up or down without taking ownership of the underlying asset. If you’d like to learn more about how CFDs work (and to see our picks for the best CFD trading platforms), check out my full-length guide to the Best CFD Brokers and Trading Platforms.
Which forex broker offers the most currency pairs?
Alongside nearly 10,000 CFDs, CMC Markets offers the most tradeable currency pairs, with 158 pairs that can be quoted both ways (i.e. EUR/USD or USD/EUR), which comes to a total of 316 pairs. CMC Markets won the ForexBrokers.com 2024 Annual Award for #1 Most Currency Pairs (CMC has held a three-year streak for this Annual Award).
Which forex broker is best for professionals?
As a highly-trusted and regulated global brand, Interactive Brokers (IBKR) provides everything professional traders might need, from advanced trading tools and platform features to competitive pricing across a wide variety of markets, as well as connectivity to over 130 global exchanges. In addition to competitive spreads and low commission-based pricing for forex, Interactive Brokers provides more third-party research than any other broker.
Interactive Brokers continues to innovate its forex trading platform offering with its Impact app for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, alongside the related Impact dashboard available in its Trader Workstation (TWS) desktop and WebTrader platforms.
Professional client status: In today's highly regulated forex world, traders who want to maximize their margin leverage must apply and obtain ESMA's professional client status with their broker. Traders designated as Professionals in the EU do not receive negative balance protection and other consumer safety mechanisms such as eligibility for compensation schemes in the event of a broker's insolvency.
biotech Methodology:
To determine a list of the best forex brokers for professional traders, we broke down each broker's active trading program, and compared all available rebates, tiers, and all-in costs. Trading platforms were then tested for the quality and availability of advanced trading tools frequently used by professionals.
How do I choose a forex broker?
Here is a list of three of the most important factors to keep in mind when choosing an online broker for forex trading.
- First, make sure your broker is properly licensed and regulated. The safety of your deposit is always the top priority.
- Next, compare the account offerings, trading platforms, tools, and investment research provided by each broker.
- Finally, read detailed forex broker reviews to compare pricing and product offerings (e.g., number of forex pairs and CFDs available to trade) to find what is most important to your forex trading and investment needs.
compare_arrowsCompare and choose:
Not sure how to go about choosing a forex broker? Check out our Forex Broker Compare Tool to compare dozens of the biggest forex brokers in the industry and analyze their top tools and features. Our Compare Tool is fed by data gathered by our expert researchers for our forex broker reviews, so you can feel confident you have the most up-to-date information at your fingertips.
How do I know if my forex broker is regulated?
It’s important to make sure that your forex broker is highly trusted and properly regulated in order to avoid forex scams. To see an intuitive, comprehensive directory of highly regarded regulatory agencies, check out our Trust Score page. Also, be sure to check out our in-depth reviews of forex brokers – we detail the regulatory status of each individual forex broker across the international forex landscape.
We’ve also put together a step-by-step guide to help you determine if your forex broker is well-regulated:
- Find its license number: Identify the online broker’s registration number from the disclosure text at the bottom of the broker's homepage.
- Confirm the broker’s public profile: Look up the entity name (i.e. the legal company or brand name) on the regulator's website to validate the registration number.
- Confirm regulatory status: We track, rate, and rank forex brokers across over 20 international regulators, and you can find the official websites of the biggest, most important international regulators on our Trust Score page.
- Global availability: Confirm that the broker can accept clients in your country of residence. If the broker lacks regulation in your home country, it’s still worth checking to see if they can legally accept clients from your country (for example, if the broker is regulated in an alternate jurisdiction that is deemed acceptable).
- Verification: Call the phone number or contact the email address listed on the regulators’ forex broker directory if you have any doubts as to the legitimacy of a website or brand purporting to be regulated.
Our testing
Why you should trust us
Steven Hatzakis is a well-known finance writer, with 25+ years of experience in the foreign exchange and financial markets. He is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for Reink Media Group, leading research efforts for ForexBrokers.com since 2016. Steven is an expert writer and researcher who has published over 1,000 articles covering the foreign exchange markets and cryptocurrency industries. He has served as a registered commodity futures representative for domestic and internationally-regulated brokerages. Steven holds a Series III license in the US as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
All content on ForexBrokers.com is handwritten by a writer, fact-checked by a member of our research team, and edited and published by an editor. Our ratings, rankings, and opinions are entirely our own, and the result of our extensive research and decades of collective experience covering the forex industry.
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. Click here to learn more about how we test.
How we tested
At ForexBrokers.com, our online broker reviews are based on our collected quantitative data as well as the observations and qualified opinions of our expert researchers. Each year we publish tens of thousands of words of research on the top forex brokers and monitor dozens of international regulator agencies (read more about how we calculate Trust Score here).
Mobile testing is conducted on modern devices that run the most up-to-date operating systems available:
- For Apple, we use MacBook Pro laptops running macOS 14.5, and the iPhone XS running iOS 17.6.
- For Android, we use the Samsung Galaxy S9+ and Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra devices running Android OS 14.
All websites and web-based platforms are tested using the latest version of the Google Chrome browser.
Our researchers thoroughly test a wide range of key features, such as the availability and quality of watch lists, mobile charting, real-time and streaming quotes, and educational resources – among other important variables. We also evaluate the overall design of the mobile experience, and look for a fluid user experience moving between mobile and desktop platforms.
IG
CMC Markets
FOREX.com
XTB
eToro
AvaTrade
Plus500
Tickmill
FP Markets
Pepperstone
CMC Markets
FOREX.com
Charles Schwab
City Index
XTB
eToro
Capital.com
Swissquote
AvaTrade
Plus500
FXCM
OANDA
Pepperstone
XM Group
Admirals
FP Markets
Tickmill
IC Markets
FxPro
Markets.com
FinecoBank
BlackBull Markets
Vantage
ThinkMarkets
HYCM (Henyep Capital Markets)
HFM
DooPrime
Questrade
ActivTrades
Trading 212
BDSwiss
Trade Nation
TMGM
Eightcap
Moneta Markets
Spreadex
MultiBank
Exness
ACY Securities
easyMarkets
RoboForex
VT Markets
Octa
IronFX
IFC Markets
Trade360
Axi
TeleTrade
iFOREX
FXOpen
FXPrimus
Xtrade
Forex4you
GBE brokers
Alpari
TopFX
Libertex (Forex Club)
LegacyFX
FXGT.com
ATFX
