FOREX.com Review
FOREX.com delivers an excellent trading experience for forex and CFDs traders across the globe. With competitive pricing, full-feature trading platforms, comprehensive market research, and a robust mobile app, FOREX.com caters to traders of all experience levels.
Top Takeaways for 2020
After spending five months testing 30 of the best forex brokers for our 4th Annual Review, here are our top findings on FOREX.com:
- FOREX.com is publicly-traded and regulated in four tier-1 jurisdictions, making it a safe broker (low-risk) for forex and CFDs trading.
- FOREX.com earned Best in Class (top 7) awards for numerous categories in 2020, including Offering of Investments, Commissions & Fees, Education, Professional Trading, Crypto Trading, Ease of Use, and Overall. All in all, our testing found FOREX.com to be a great option for all trader types.
- Pricing at FOREX.com is easy to understand, and competitive, thanks to a tiered discounts approach based on your total monthly trading volume. FOREX.com also offers tight spreads on cryptocurrency CFDs.
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Overall Summary
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Overall | |
| Trust Score | 93 |
| Offering of Investments | |
| Commissions & Fees | |
| Platform & Tools | |
| Research | |
| Mobile Trading | |
| Customer Service | |
| Education |
Is FOREX.com Safe?
FOREX.com is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 93 out of 99. FOREX.com is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by four tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulators (average trust), and one tier-3 regulators (low trust). City Index is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learn more about Trust Score.
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1999 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes |
| Bank | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 1 |
| Trust Score | 93 |
Offering of Investments
FOREX.com offers over 4,500 CFD instruments on its flagship platforms, including Web Trading and Advantage Trader web and desktop, alongside over 500 symbols on MetaTrader5 (MT5).
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 91 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 4500 |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes |
Commissions & Fees
Overall, FOREX.com’s pricing structure is competitive and easy to understand, helping the broker rank highly in our assessment.
Spreads comparison: Typical spreads for MetaTrader platform users were 1.3 pips on the EUR/USD using October 2019 data from FOREX.com. The table below shows an average spread of 1 pip measured during Q3 2019 for the EUR/USD, applicable to the broker’s non-MT4 platforms. Average spreads at FOREX.com vary only slightly when comparing the broker's US offering with its pricing available outside the US to the rest of the world.
Active Trader program rebates: For high volume traders, FOREX.com offers an Active Trader program with five tiers of pricing. Level one starts with typical spreads of 1.2 pips on the EUR/USD for traders who have a balance of least $10,000. Spreads are further reduced with each subsequent level as traders surpass specific month-to-date (MTD) trading volume thresholds. For example, level five ($500 million in MTD volume) brings spreads down to as low as 0.84 pips on the EUR/USD pair. Spreads are effective spreads after clients are rebated.
Dealer execution: FOREX.com is a market maker, which means it provides dealer execution, and its ability to execute a trade will not rely on a third party the way an agency broker does. Therefore, trading with FOREX.com can result in potentially better dealer-execution in challenging market conditions, compared to an agency broker. Note: The broker also offers agency execution (see below).
Market execution (In the US only): FOREX.com offers a new Direct Market Access (DMA) account and execution method for its US offering, as well as its CIMA and UK services. As part of this DMA account type, the execution-style is agency-based, and the broker only charges a commission. This account type also provides greater discounts for the most active traders, compared to FOREX.com’s Active Trader program.
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $100.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1 (as of Q3 19) |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.7 (as of Q3 18) |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes |
Platforms & Tools
FOREX.com provides forex traders everything they need, and more, to trade effectively.
Advanced Trading: FOREX.com’s flagship platform, Advanced Trading, is best suited for seasoned traders and comes with a robust charting package loaded with a large selection of technical indicators (139 total) and drawing tools. Technical Analysis tools include automated technical analysis from Autochartist, which scans the markets for completed and emerging patterns and trade ideas. Also, more advanced traders can develop automated trading systems from the Automated Trading Center.
Web trading: Best suited for casual traders, FOREX.com’s Web Trading platform makes it easy to browse through markets, conduct research, analyze charts via Trading Central, and place trades. FOREX.com’s alternative web platform is a white-labeled version of TradingView, a popular charting web app for technical analysis, which comes with 67 indicators. While TradingView shines if you are focused solely on charting, the Web Trading platform would be my preferred choice between the two browser-based platforms at FOREX.com.
MetaTrader: While Forex.com's platform suite is already robust and finished Best in Class (top 7) in our testing, the broker also offers the complete MetaTrader suite, including both MT4 and MT5.
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Research
FOREX.com does a great job in centralizing its research within the Advanced Trading platform and keeping it well organized for traders to access easily. Multiple news channels, automated pattern-recognition modules from Trading Central, real-time trade signals and analysis tools from Autochartist and Recognia and blog updates from FOREX.com’s global research team are all available. Furthermore, FOREX.com offers a premium package with trading signals from Faraday research, which runs £720 per annum.
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Mobile Trading
FOREX.com’s AdvantageFX mobile app ranks highly compared to the best mobile apps in the forex industry thanks to clean navigation and a host of trading features.
Mobile research: Several of the highlight features include an economic calendar, integrated research, and signals from Trading Central, alerts, market updates, and news, and an easy way to scroll between prices, charts, and open positions. Trading and managing positions within the mobile app are straightforward thanks to its fluid user interface and minimalist design.
Mobile charting: The app also automatically syncs watch lists and includes easy-to-use charts despite having only seven indicators and ten drawing tools. Nonetheless, I was glad to find that indicators and drawing tools added in landscape mode save upon exiting the app.
MetaTrader: For traders who prefer MetaTrader, the MT4 and MT5 apps are also available.
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Customer Service
To score Customer Service, ForexBrokers.com partnered with customer experience research group Customerwise to conduct phone tests from locations throughout the UK. For our 2019 Review, 229 customer service tests were conducted over six weeks.
Results
- Average Connection Time: 1 - 2 minutes
- Average Net Promoter Score: 7.2 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 7.4 / 10
- Overall Score: 7.60 / 10
- Ranking: 14 th (22 brokers)
Final Thoughts
FOREX.com is a trusted forex broker that shines thanks to its excellent offering of platforms, tools, research, and competitive pricing. While customer service isn’t award-winning, FOREX.com delivers a great experience to forex traders of all experience levels. FOREX.com finished Best in Class across seven key categories, including Overall in 2020.
About FOREX.com
Founded in 1999, FOREX.com is part of GAIN Capital Holdings (NYSE: GCAP), which through its trading names and subsidiaries, including the City Index brand, today operates in multiple countries and with licenses in several major regulatory hubs, including the US, UK, Canada, Japan, and Australia.
Through its international offices, the GAIN Capital group employs over 800 staff and caters to over 200,000 retail and institutional clients. As an early pioneer in offering online forex trading in the US, today, FOREX.com is one of the largest retail FX brokers globally, with over $1.3 billion in assets as of Q2 2019, and over 71,000 active clients as of August 2019. Read more on Wikipedia about FOREX.com.
FOREX.com Trading Features
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | No |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | Yes |
| cTrader | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 139 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 25 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 18 |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes |
FOREX.com Research Features
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | Yes |
| AutoChartist | Yes |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes |
| Delkos Research | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes |
FOREX.com Mobile App Features
| Feature | FOREX.com |
|---|---|
| Android App | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes |
| Trading - Forex | Yes |
| Trading - CFDs | Yes |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 7 |
| Charting - Draw Trend Lines | Yes |
| Charting - Trend Lines Moveable | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes |
| Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes |
| Forex Calendar | Yes |
2020 Review Methodology
For our 2020 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 30 international forex brokers over a five month time period. Each broker was graded on 105 different variables and, in total, over 50,000 words of research were produced.
While encouraged, broker participation was optional. Each broker had the opportunity to complete an in-depth data profile and provide executive time (live in person or over the web) for an annual update meeting.
All data submitted by brokers is hand-checked for accuracy. Ultimately, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than 1% each year, providing site visitors 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." Learn more.
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.
