FOREX.com Review
The ForexBrokers.com Annual Review (3 years running) is among the most cited in the industry. Our Head of Research, Steven Hatzakis, is frequently referenced as a leading analyst covering forex brokers and cryptocurrency. Learn more.
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 caters to over 200,000 retail and institutional clients, and offers 84 currency pairs in foreign exchange markets and over 220 CFDs across major asset classes through its FOREX.com brand.
Review Summary
FOREX.com has plenty of options for Forex and CFD traders across its regulated offerings globally. With full-feature platforms, diverse trading tools, and comprehensive research, FOREX.com caters to traders of all experience levels.
Benefits
- Licensed in highly regulated jurisdictions.
- Advanced charting capabilities in both desktop and web platforms.
- Platforms feature numerous channels of research content and trading ideas.
Considerations
- Customer service is just average.
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Is FOREX.com Safe?
FOREX.com is considered low-risk, with an overall Trust Score of 91 out of 99. FOREX.com is publicly traded, does not operate a bank, and is authorised by six tier-1 regulators (high trust), zero tier-2 regulators (average trust), and zero tier-3 regulators (low trust). City Index is authorised by the following tier-1 regulators: Australian Securities & Investment Commission (ASIC), Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC), Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA), Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Learn more about Trust Score.
Regulations Comparison
| Feature | FOREX.com | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1999 | 1974 | 1992 | 1989 |
| Publicly Traded (Listed) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Bank | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Tier-1 Licenses | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Tier-2 Licenses | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| Tier-3 Licenses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trust Score | 91 | 99 | 98 | 98 |
Commissions & Fees
Overall, FOREX.com’s pricing structure is competitive and easy to understand, helping the broker rank highly in the commissions category.
Benefits
- Typical spreads for MetaTrader platform users was 1.76 pips on the EUR/USD using Q3 2018 data from FOREX.com. The table below shows an average spread of 0.77 pips measured during Q3 2018 for the EUR/USD, applicable to the broker’s non-MT4 platforms.
- 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 $25,000. Spreads are further reduced with each subsequent level as traders surpass specific month-to-date (MTD) trading volume thresholds. For example, level five brings spreads as low as 0.84 pips on a pair for traders who reach higher than $500 million in MTD volume.
- FOREX.com is a market maker. This can be a positive attribute as its ability to execute a trade will not rely on a third party the way an agency broker does, and thus trading with FOREX.com can result in potentially better execution in challenging market conditions.
Considerations
- In 2018, the broker rolled out a new account and execution type for its US offering, as part of its DMA account type, where the execution type is agency and the broker just charges a commission. This account type also provides greater discounts for the most active traders, compared to FOREX.com’s Active Trader program.
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Further Reading
Fees Comparison
| Feature | FOREX.com | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Initial Deposit | $250.00 | £250.00 | $2,000.00 | $0.00 |
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 0.770 | 0.750 | 0.900 | 0.744 |
| All-in Cost EUR/USD - Active | 0.700 | 0.363 | 0.600 | 0.744 |
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commissions & Fees |
Platforms & Tools
Offering three separate trading platforms, FOREX.com provides forex traders everything they need and more to trade effectively.
Benefits
- FOREX.com offers multiple trading platforms including Advanced Trading (previously branded as FOREXtrader PRO), Web Trading, and the popular MetaTrader4 (MT4) platform.
- Advanced Trading is FOREX.com’s flagship platform 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 their own automated trading systems from the Automated Trading Center.
- Overall, the Advanced Trading desktop version is well suited to advanced retail traders, yet also provides less experienced traders with user-friendly and intermediate features to help accelerate the learning process.
- Web Trading, which is FOREX.com’s HTML web platform powered by technology from TradingView, packs watch lists and highly robust charting in an interactive, easy to use interface.
Considerations
- MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is not offered.
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Further Reading
- Best Forex Trading Platforms 2019
- Best FX Brokers for Copy Trading 2019
- Best MetaTrader Brokers 2019
Tools Comparison
| Feature | FOREX.com | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Trading (Demo) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Proprietary Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop Platform (Windows) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Web Platform | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| MetaTrader 4 (MT4) | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| MetaTrader 5 (MT5) | No | No | No | No |
| cTrader | No | No | No | No |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies (Total) | 139 | 22 | 47 | 81 |
| Charting - Drawing Tools (Total) | 22 | 17 | 17 | 24 |
| Charting - Trade From Chart | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watchlists - Total Fields | 11 | 12 | 12 | 8 |
| Order Type - Trailing Stop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Platform & Tools |
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: <2 minutes
- Average Net Promoter Score: 6.3 / 10
- Average Professionalism Score: 4.9 / 10
- Overall Score: 6.0 / 10
- Ranking: 12th (23 brokers)
- View Infographic
Research
FOREX.com does a great job in centralizing its research within the Advanced Trading platform and keeping it well organized for clients to gain easy access from one place.
Benefits
- The majority of research within the platform is available alongside multiple news channels, and integrated next to automated pattern-recognition modules from AutoChartist, which filters emerging and current trade ideas based on technical analysis.
- The broker also offers Trading Central, which provides automated technical analysis, helping to complement its research offering.
- Within the Advanced Trading desktop software, research tools include the Volatility Analysis from Autochartist, Faraday TV, and Faraday Market Movers, as well as Recognia Technical Insight and Analysis Views. The Insights tab provides blog updates from FOREX.com’s global research team.
Considerations
- For traders seeking advanced signals, a premium package with trading signals from Faraday research is made available, which runs £720 per annum.
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Further Reading
Research Comparison
| Feature | FOREX.com | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Market Commentary | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Weekly Webinars | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AutoChartist | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Trading Central (Recognia) | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Delkos Research | Yes | No | No | No |
| Social Trading / Copy-Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Social Sentiment - Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Economic Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research |
Mobile Trading
FOREX.com’s AdvantageFX mobile app ranks highly and competes right alongside the best of the forex industry thanks to clean navigation and a host of trading features.
Benefits
- Several of the highlight features include an economic calendar, alerts for live traders, market updates and news, and an easy way to scroll between prices, charts, and open positions.
- The app also automatically syncs watch lists and includes easy-to-use charts with nearly two dozen indicators and drawing tools. I was also impressed to find that indicators and drawing tools added in landscape mode are automatically saved upon exiting the app.
- Trading and managing positions within the mobile app is easy thanks to its fluid user interface and minimalist design.
- For traders who prefer MetaTrader, the MT4 app is also an option.
Considerations
- None.
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Further Reading
Mobile Apps Comparison
| Feature | FOREX.com | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Android App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apple iOS App | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - Forex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Trading - CFDs | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alerts - Basic Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Watch List Syncing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Indicators / Studies | 13 | 26 | 41 | 23 |
| Charting - Draw Trend Lines | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Trend Lines Moveable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Multiple Time Frames | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Charting - Drawings Autosave | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Forex Calendar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile Trading |
Offering of Investments
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to FOREX.com clients.
Offering Comparison
| Feature | FOREX.com | IG | Saxo Bank | CMC Markets |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forex: Spot Trading | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Currency Pairs (Total Forex pairs) | 84 | 91 | 182 | 183 |
| CFDs - Total Offered | 220 | 15000 | 32999 | 9959 |
| Cryptocurrency traded as actual | No | No | No | No |
| Cryptocurrency traded as CFD | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Offering of Investments |
Other Notes
The City Index brand was acquired by GAIN Capital in 2015, and operates as a separate entity focusing on different regions of the world– even though certain staff at FOREX.com’s UK office cater to clients from both businesses (which share a common office).
In 2017, FOREX.com rolled out cryptocurrency CFDs on bitcoin in the UK, and futures on bitcoin in the US, through its FuturesOnline affiliate, which is wholly owned by its parent company. And in 2018, the broker expanded its crypto CFD offering to include Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Ripple.
Final Thoughts
Overall, 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.
Methodology: For our 2019 Forex Broker Review we assessed, rated, and ranked 28 international forex brokers. Each FX broker was graded on 81 variables. 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.
