Introduction
The international market of foreign exchange is the biggest and most active financial market across the globe. It is important to explore the key features and assess the benefits of the forex broker before registering with it. The chief aspects of being noted include the extension of trading experience of the forex broker, the depth and breadth of the product offerings that include CFDs, cryptocurrencies, spread betting, commodities, indices, currencies, and other financial instruments, the amount of fees charged by the forex broker that includes commissions and spreads.
This also includes the nature of the platform itself, whether it is a downloadable app, or web-based forum, or third-party platforms, or a mobile charting application, the availability of customer support service, the accessibility to education and research content, and last but not least, the reliability and trustworthiness of the platform.
Given the myriad of factors, it is a Herculean task indeed, to select the best forex broker for successful and lucrative trading in foreign exchange. It takes in-depth research and thorough analytical work to enlist the top fifteen best overall forex brokers of the world. Check out the top fifteen best forex brokers of the world given below:
Saxo Bank
CMC Markets
TD Ameritrade FX
City Index
FOREX.com
XTB X-TRADE BROKERS
FXCM
Oanda
ATC Broker
IQ Option
AxiTrader
market.com
etoro
Pepperstone
Best Forex Broker Platforms of the World
1. IG
Established in 1974 in the UK, IG is one of the best forex broker platforms across the globe. The platform of IG is subject to the regulations of the FCA and the BaFin and is listed at the London Stock Exchange. IG is the best forex broker as top-tier regulators supervise it, and it discloses its financial transactions as well in order to maintain transparency.
At IG, the registered trader can deal in stock, CFDs, cryptocurrencies, equities, options, and ETF. It is to be noted that user accounts lose money while investing with CFDs, although it is highly profitable. These opportunities are only available to UK clients. The platform also offers Robo-advisory services in the UK that help a lot in case the user accounts lose money. The pros and cons are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
2. Saxo Bank
Established in 1992, Saxo Bank Group of Denmark is one of the best Fintech broker specialists that focuses on multiple financial assets and also delivers “Banking-as-a-Service” to the wholesale clients of the Bank, all rights reserved. Since the nineties through Saxo Capital Markets U.K. Ltd, Saxo Bank launched one of the first platforms for online trading in 1998 and the platform has been in operation in the UK since the nineties.
The forex broker platform of Saxo Bank is a web-based application called SaxoTraderPro. It boasts of the best user-friendly interface that is equipped with third-party tools and APIs that promise a dynamic experience. The broker platform offers a wide variety of services to highly active forex traders, professionals, investors, and financial institutions.
The catalog of products of Saxo Bank includes the following financial instruments:
- Forex
- Commodities
- Shares
- Futures
- Bonds
- Options, and
- Indices
All of these products can be sold or purchased through CFDs, direct ownership, and forward contracts. The forex spreads of Saxo Bank are highly competitive, and as such, only suitable for sophisticated traders.
The pros and cons of Saxo Bank are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
3. CMC Markets
Founded in 1989, CMC is one of the best online brokers of the UK, that is listed at London Stock Exchange as CMCX. Like several online brokers of the UK, CMC Markets is also inaccessible in the United States, all rights reserved. The best part about CMC Markets is that this forex broker platform is suited to every trader’s preferences. The platform is especially beneficial for beginners who seek to explore the arenas of foreign exchange, spread betting, and CFDs. The advanced traders also feel at home at the CMC Markets platform because of the impressive array of financial products in CMC catalog.
CMC is the best feature-rich web-based platform that is linked with a highly functional mobile application as well as with MT4. Apart from offering the best spread betting limits and CFDs across multiple asset classes, CMC Markets also offers an overwhelming roster of products that includes 14 cryptocurrency assets, individual shares, indices, commodities, forex, and an extensive government bond listing for vesting the forex traders and investors with a host of lucrative opportunities.
It should be noted that there is a high risk of losing at CFD, although traders seek to take the high risk, to rake in huge profits. However, take the high risk only when you can afford to take the responsibility of losing your money. Consider whether you can afford losing your money and then take the high risk of losing it. Do not forget that it is normal to lose money when trading. Be prepared to lose money when trading but make sure that you do not resort to the high risk of losing for extra profits.
The pros and cons are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
4. TD Ameritrade FX
Founded in 1975, TD Ameritrade is one of the best forex broker platforms of the US. The platform is known for offering the registered users with opportunities to trade in more than eighty different currency pairs with the help of the most state-of-the-art tools and streamlined research content.
The forex broker platform offers the best schemes in stock indices, livestock futures contracts, soft commodities, energy resources, precious metals, grains, and interest rates. The pros and cons of TD Ameritrade FX are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
5. City Index
Regulated in eight different jurisdictions of the world, the forex broker platform City Index is one of the most trusted and well-established forex brokerages of today. The platform is highly secure, and even more so, because of the segregation of client’s money and provision of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme of up to about $85,000 for the registered traders. In association with MT4, City Index offers highly competitive and low spreads of around 1.0 points in indices and 0.5 pips in EUR/USD.
At City Index, the trader can conduct trading and investment in 12,000 assets classified into nine asset classes, which makes it one of the best trading platforms. The forex traders at City Index participate in trading in 84 currency pairs, commodities, CFDs, and primary cryptocurrencies. Apart from the core markets, traders can also access the secondary markets for trading and investment. The pros and cons of City Index are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
6. FOREX.com
Forex.com is excellent for active traders because of the low trading costs. The platform is especially known for its lowest commissions and impressive array of tools for trading and research. In fact, it is one of the best trading platforms because of its low commissions.
Forex.com is one of the best forex brokers because of its low commissions and allows trading in 4000 different financial instruments, including cryptocurrencies, indices, commodities, equities, and foreign exchange. The pros and cons are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
7. XTB X-Trade Brokers- XTB Online Trading
Since its foundation in 2002, XTB is the first leveraged forex brokerage house of Poland. XTB became X-Trade Brokers in compliance with the newly introduced regulations in Poland. In the year 2009, XTB acquired its current form, that is XTB Online Trading, attained a public stature, and got listed at Warsaw Stock Exchange in 2016 as XTB. Traders who prefer to venture into the forex market with a modest capital stock find it highly suitable to conduct trading and investment through the XTB Online Trading platform.
The platform offers a leverage of up to 500:1 for non-UK clients and up to 30:1 for leverage clients. XTB focuses on premium education and research in foreign exchange and offers access to markets of different asset classes like forex, stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities, precious metals, and indices. XTB Online Trading platform is coupled with MT4 and is duly regulated by the Polish Financial Supervision Authority and the FCA. The pros and cons of XTB are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
8. FXCM
The FXCM platform offers trading opportunities in forex, CFDs, commodities, stock, and cryptocurrencies. Listed at New York Stock Exchange, FXCM boasts of a clean track record as well. The platform provides several technical indicators that help to analyze the market and make trading and investment more profitable. The pros and cons of the forex broker platform of FXCM are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
9. Oanda
Oanda’s best forex platform is renowned in the industry, not only because of its user-friendly interface and low trading fees but also because the platform is par excellence when it comes to transparency of financial transactions and premium quality of service. The catalog list of Oanda constitutes an extensive variety of products for trading and investment that include index instruments, commodities, precious metals, bonds, forex, and currencies.
Even though the platform does not offer sufficient protection in the case of additional deposits and slippage, it is trusted by every experienced trader because of its fair pricing, regulatory security, platform technology, and transparency. The platform also provides a wide array of research tools like historical trend graphs, pattern matching engines, and more. The pros and cons are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
10. ATC Brokers
ATC Brokers is a forex brokerage platform that is famous for its transparency and long product catalog. The platform operates in the form of an agency model with competitive pricing and ECN aggregation through the industry’s top-tier banks. The traders at ATC Brokers can conduct trading and investment of narrow spreads in forex, precious metals, and CFDs.
At ATC Brokers, the traders can employ a variety of trading tools with the Multi-Account Manager’s help and access a wide range of solutions for institutional trading, provision of liquidity, and other trading purposes. The pros and cons of ATC Brokers platform are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
11. IQ Option
The online trading platform of IQ Option enables trading in a wide range of financial instruments that include binary options, cryptocurrencies, digital options, commodities, ETFs, foreign exchange, and stocks. With more than 48,00,000 registered traders, IQ Option is vested with multiple features that include multi-chart layouts, economic calendars, stock screeners, market updates, volatility alerts, historical quotes, technical analysis, and more.
As for being one of the best forex brokers, IQ Option offers broad 50 forex currency pairs and highly competitive spreads. Equipped with 15 technical indicators, it is remarkably lucrative to conduct trading at IQ Option, one of the best forex brokers. The pros and cons of trading at IQ Option are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
12. AxiTrader
Based in Australia, AxiTrader was founded in 2007. The platform is subject to the regulations of FCA, DFSA, and ASIC. AxiTrader is linked with MT Mobile Forex Currency and MetaTrader4 trading platforms. The platform provides the opportunity of dealing in 85 currency pairs, cryptocurrencies, indices, CFDs, oil, silver, and gold. Powered by MT4, the platform of AxiTrader offers automated trade facilities to the users via Expert Advisers.
AxiTrader also provides a range of extensions for improved connectivity and trade-related signals that allow traders to make the right move at the right time in the different markets. AxiTrader also provides the tools Authochartist and PsyQuotation for the development of styles and strategies of the user. The pros and cons of AxTrader are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
13. markets.com
Since 2008, Markets.com has been in operation subject to the regulation of five jurisdictions under the name of GFC Markets. Markets.com offers four different brokers through which the registered users can access more than 2200 assets of different asset classes. The traders get the opportunity of trading in 67 currency pairs, six cryptocurrencies, 26 commodities, 42 index CFDs, 21 Blends, and 59 ETFs, and so, markets.com is one of the best in the industry.
The brokers of markets.com are associated with MT4. The association enables the traders to employ a variety of 14 tools that include Hedge funds investment choice, advanced charting, Thomson Reuters stock report, trading signals, and more. The pros and cons of markets.com are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
14. Etoro
eToro is a renowned fin-tech startup firm of forex brokering and social trading based in Israel and established in 2007. eToro is perfectly safe for trading as it is duly regulated by the top-tier financial authorities of Australia and the UK. The graphics-intensive forex broker platform of eToro enables the registered users to conduct trading in stocks, 47 currency pairs, 1700 equities, and 20 CFDs. Traders can also execute copy trading and employ the tools of charting and technical analysis to rake in good profits.
The pros and cons of eToro are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
15. Pepperstone
Since its establishment in 2010, the Australia-based forex broker, Pepperstone Group, is a top-notch platform for forex trading and investment. It offers a feature-rich trading and investment portal that is equipped to deal with foreign exchange, cryptocurrencies, commodities, precious metals, indices, and shares.
Pepperstone is inaccessible in the US and is regulated by the FCA as well as by the ASIC. The platform specializes in tight spreads, a product catalog that meets the industry standards, first-class educational resources, and several account types that offer a highly professional trading experience. If your accounts lose money too much, then opt for the trading platforms that offer tight spreads. The pros and cons of Pepperstone are tabulated below:
Pros | Cons |
Conclusion
It is never a prudent move to hurry through the decision-making process and settle for a random forex broker platform. The market abounds with scams and predators, which makes it difficult to select the best forex broker in the industry. If you are a forex trading enthusiast, then you must assess the best forex broker platforms before making the best overall choice. Conduct demo trading before investing in a specific forex broker firm that seems best overall. Begin with low investments at the broker platform. Consider whether you can afford to take the risk before making any investment and not be afraid to lose money. It is okay if your accounts lose money because you will make profits at the end of the day.
FAQs
1. Is forex trading legit?
Ans. Being a broker for forex is a legitimate profession. The brokers for forex trading are subject to regional and international regulations that make forex trading and investment a safe and secure endeavor. The top-ranking regulatory bodies that render forex brokers with a legitimate status include Commodities Futures Trade Commission (CFTC), National Futures Association (NFA), Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK, and more.
2. What is a forex broker?
Ans. Forex brokers are firms that offer traders the opportunity to buy and sell in cryptocurrencies through the forex broker company’s platform. At the forex market, the transactions are always between a pair of different international currencies. The forex brokers extract their profits from the trade through the implementation of a favorable bid-ask spread.
3. What are forex brokers?
Ans. Forex brokers are trading platforms that provide traders all around the world with access to different currency pairs like EUR/USD, USD/CHF, USD/JPY, and GBP/USD, and the other g10 currencies. Additionally, forex brokers also facilitate trading in the emerging currencies of the market.