Established in 2008, Exness is a forex and CFD broker that offers access to trading in currencies, cryptocurrencies, stocks, indices, and commodities. Based in Limassol, Cyprus, the broker boasts an active client base of over 400,000 and more than 2,000 employees across Asia and Europe. Regulated in multiple jurisdictions around the world, Exness provides a high level of safety and transparency. I found Exness to be a well-rounded broker, with its fast execution speeds, range of user-friendly platforms, and multilayered protections, making it suitable for all kinds of traders.
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Exness has some positive features that differ from the norm. For example, there are no inactivity fees, no deposit or withdrawal fees, and instant withdrawals in many cases. Exness has a transparent price history by providing tick-level data across all instruments. Free VPS hosting is available for advanced traders and those using automated trading strategies. Social trading adds another dimension by allowing Exness clients to invest in other traders’ strategies or earn money by sharing their own.
Exness is a well-rounded broker that can cater to new and experienced traders. The proprietary Trading Terminal platform is intuitive and a good starting point for new traders. Moreover, Exness provides a wide range of educational content, including articles, videos, and courses. Advanced traders can access the MetaTrader platform and sophisticated trading tools, and take advantage of extremely high leverage with an offshore entity regulated by FSA Seychelles.
In our review of Exness, we focused on the services provided by Exness (SC) Ltd., authorized by the Seychelles Financial Services Authority (FSA). We conducted our tests using a Standard account and the Exness Terminal platform. Some of the features and services will vary depending on where you live.
☑️ Regulations | FSA (Seychelles), FSCA (South Africa), BVI FSC (Virgin Islands, British), FSCM (Mauritius), CMA (Kenya), FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC (Cyprus) |
🗺 Supported Languages | Korean, English, Urdu, Russian, Hindi, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, Arabic, Spanish, Bengali, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese |
💰 Products | Currencies, Stocks, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
💵 Min Deposit | $0 |
💹 Max Leverage | 1:500 (FSA), 1:500 (FSCA), 1:1000 (BVI FSC), 1:499 (FSCM), 1:2000 (CMA), 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (CySEC ) |
🖥 Trading Desk Type | Market Maker, No dealing desk |
📊 Trading Platforms | MT5, Proprietary, MT4 |
💳 Deposit Options | QIWI, Webmoney, Cryptocurrencies, PerfectMoney, Wire Transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Credit Card |
💳 Withdrawal Options | Cryptocurrencies, Neteller, Webmoney, Skrill, QIWI, Credit Card, PerfectMoney |
🤴 Demo Account | Yes |
🗓 Foundation Year | 2008 |
🌎 Headquarters Country | Cyprus |
Exness has 15 years of operating history and is regulated by multiple authorities, including top-tier CySEC and the UK FCA. However, the broker does not accept retail clients in Europe or the UK. Retail customers are assigned to entities regulated offshore, offering few protections.
In our trust category, we place the most importance on how a broker is regulated. Here we cover how the different entities of Exness across the globe are regulated and how this impacts you. We rate regulators on a scale of 1 to 3, with 1 reflecting the highest level of protection.
Entities of Exness are regulated by the following authorities:
Different regulators provide different levels of protection. For example, Exness clients in the United Kingdom benefit from the oversight of the FCA. The FCA requires that clients have negative balance protection, which means they cannot lose more than their deposit. Client funds must be held in segregated accounts, which are protected in case a broker goes bankrupt.
In addition, when trading with a broker authorized by the FCA, client funds are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS protects investments of up to £85,000 if a firm becomes insolvent. By contrast, a trader working with a broker entity regulated offshore would not have these benefits guaranteed to them.
Offshore clients of Exness have access to compensation via the Financial Commission, an international organization engaged in the resolution of disputes in the financial services industry for the forex market. The Compensation Fund will only cover judgments made by the Financial Commission of up to €20,000 per client.
The table below breaks down the mandated protections and benefits by entity, regulator, and region.
Entity | Exness (UK) Ltd. | Exness (Cy) Ltd. | Exness ZA (PTY) Ltd. | Exness (SC) Ltd. | Exness B.V. | Exness (VG) Ltd. | Exness (MU) Ltd. |
Country/Region | United Kingdom | Europe | South Africa | Seychelles | Curaçao and Sint Maarten | British Virgin Islands | Mauritius |
Regulation | FCA | CySEC | FSCA | FSA | CBC | FSC | FSC |
Segregated Funds | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Compensation Scheme | FSCS Up to £85,000 | ICF Up to €20,000 | Financial Commission, up to €20,000 per client | Financial Commission, up to €20,000 per client | Financial Commission, up to €20,000 per client | Financial Commission, up to €20,000 per client | Financial Commission, up to €20,000 per client |
Standard Leverage | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:400 | 1:2000 | 1:500 | 1:500 | 1:500 |
Regulatory requirements are subject to change. The data listed above was gathered in February 2023.
In our tests for the Trust category, we also cover factors relating to stability and transparency. Here, we focus on how long the broker has been in business, how big the company is, and how transparent it is in terms of information being readily available.
Exness has a substantial operating history of 15 years. According to their LinkedIn page, the company is headquartered in Limassol, Cyprus, and has over 2,000 employees in offices located in Asia and Europe.
In our research, Exness showed an average level of transparency in their regulatory status, with a listing of all their entities and their regulators on their Regulation page. However, with so many offshore entities it is not clear which entity you would be assigned to if you open an account. Trading costs are covered in detail on the Fees page.
We would have liked to see more information on the background and history of the company on the website, as there is no page dedicated to this. The Client Agreement document is available on the Legal Documents page.
Exness offers fairly competitive spreads in their standard account, and even tighter spreads are available via their professional accounts. Swap fees and non-trading related fees are minimal at this broker.
In the Standard Account, Exness earns money mainly from spreads (the gap between the bid and offer prices of an asset).
Spreads at Exness are variable, meaning that they fluctuate slightly. The spread’s size depends on the market’s level of liquidity. Liquidity describes how much an instrument can be bought and sold quickly without moving the market. Traders typically experience tighter spreads when there is greater liquidity in the market.
Using the Web Trader platform, we measured the spreads at Exness across different asset classes in a Standard account. We tested at 8:00 a.m. GMT and 3:00 p.m. GMT on 13 February 2023. 8:00 a.m. GMT is the London open when there is high liquidity in the forex market and tighter spreads in currency pairs. 3:00 p.m. GMT is a quieter time, shortly before the opening of the New York stock exchange.
Instrument | Spread AM | Spread PM |
EUR/USD | 1 Pip | 0.8 Pip |
GBP/JPY | 2 Pips | 2 Pips |
Gold | 20 Pips | 20 Pips |
WTI Oil | 6.2 Pips | 6.2 Pips |
Apple | n/a | 9 Pips |
Tesla | n/a | 11 Pips |
Dow 30 | 7.2 | 6.4 |
Dax 30 | 5.8 Pips | 5.2 Pips |
Our research showed that spreads in forex, stocks, and commodities are competitive within the industry. However, the spreads in indices are relatively wide.
Exness does not charge swap fees for stocks, crypto, indices, gold, and some popular currencies, depending on your account settings.
Exness has two swap-free levels: Extended and Standard. The difference is in the number of instruments you can keep overnight without being charged.
With the standard swap-free level, Exness does not charge swap fees for XAU/USD, indices, cryptocurrencies, or stocks. Swaps are charged for all other instruments.
With the extended swap-free level, no swap fees are charged for AUD/NZD, AUD/USD, EUR/CHF, EUR/USD, GBP/JPY, GBP/USD, NZD/USD, USD/CAD, USD/CHF, USD/JPY, USOIL, AUD/CHF, AUD/JPY, EUR/AUD, EUR/CAD, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, EUR/NZD, GBP/CHF, GBP/NZD, NZD/JPY, NZD/CAD, XAU/USD, indices, cryptocurrencies, and stocks. Swap fees are charged for all other metals, minor pairs, exotic pairs, and UKOIL.
To get the extended swap-free level, you must trade mostly within the day and keep a small number of overnight positions.
We measured the cost of swaps in EUR/USD and GBP/JPY and recorded the overnight charges/credits.
Instrument | Swap Long | Swap Short |
EUR/USD | Charge of $7.69 | Credit of $0 |
GBP/JPY | Charge of $0 | Charge of $18.91 |
The data above was recorded on 13 February 2023.
Exness does not charge an inactivity fee, and there are no deposit or withdrawal fees.
Fees at Exness are mostly competitive, and this broker deserves credit for keeping swaps and non-trading fees to a minimum. Spreads in forex pairs such as EUR/USD and GBP/JPY are better than the industry average.
The Exness Terminal has an intuitive interface and popular features such as watchlists, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart. The platform also has unique features such as a sentiment indicator which tells you the percentage of buy and sell orders recently opened by traders.
Available order types include market orders and pending orders (buy limit, buy stop, sell limit, sell stop, buy stop limit, sell stop limit, take profit, and stop loss). Trailing stop and time-in-force orders (such as GTC) are unavailable.
Advanced charts from TradingView are built into the Exness Terminal platform. The robust charting software includes:
Available for iOS and Android, the Exness Trade app provides access to over 200 instruments. The app has a user-friendly interface designed specifically for beginners. Instant deposits and withdrawals and 24/7 customer support are available via the app.
Charting within the app features two chart types (line and candle), seven timeframes (M1, M5, M15, M30, H1, H4, D1), and classic indicators such as Moving averages, Bollinger Bands, and Parabolic SAR. Order types within the app include market orders and pending orders, such as limit orders and stop loss orders. The Exness Trade app also features an economic calendar, market news, and trade ideas from Trading Central.
Exness offers the popular MetaTrader 4 and MetaTrader 5 platforms for desktop, which include advanced functions such as copy trading and automated trading.
MetaTrader 4 is available in 39 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese. The platform provides popular features such as:
MetaTrader also delivers when it comes to the range of available order types. The platform offers the following order types:
Charting features are robust. MetaTrader 4 offers:
MetaTrader is also popular due to its copy trading and automated trading features.
The MetaTrader 4 desktop platform is one of the most feature-rich and popular trading platforms. It does not have the most beautiful interface and requires some time and effort to learn, but that is typical of advanced platforms.
MT4 account holders can also access the MetaTrader 4 Web Platform – a slightly stripped-down version of the desktop platform. It allows you to trade without additional software, only an internet connection is required. The Web Platform allows users to trade directly from any browser and operating system.
Popular features include:
Copy and automated trading are also available only on the MT4 desktop platform.
Exness also offers MT4 account holders access to the Android MetaTrader 4 app. It offers popular features such as alerts, 1-click trading, and trading from the chart. The MetaTrader 4 mobile app also provides various order types, including pending and stop orders. However, trailing stop-loss orders are only available from the desktop. To change the language of the MT4 app, you must change the language for your entire phone. As with desktop and web, the interface could be more intuitive, but the MT4 app offers an above-average range of features.
In the case of Standard and Standard Cent accounts, Exness is a market maker broker, meaning that they set the bid (buy) and offer (sell) prices internally and automatically take the other side of a client’s trade.
Exness has a good range of instruments available for trading, including forex and CFDs on commodities, stocks, indices, and cryptocurrencies.
CFDs (Contracts for Differences) are financial derivative products that allow traders to speculate in various markets without owning the underlying assets. Tradable instruments at Exness include the following assets:
In the tables below, you can see a selection highlighting the variety of instruments available at Exness:
Forex Major | Forex Minor |
EUR/USD | GBP/USD | USD/JPY | EUR/CHF | CAD/JPY | GBP/AUD |
Stock CFDs | Cryptocurrencies |
Apple | Tesla | Amazon | Bitcoin | Litecoin | Ripple |
Indices | Commodity CFDs |
Dax 30 | Hong Kong 50 | US Tech 100 | Palladium | WTI Crude Oil | Silver |
Disclaimer: CFDs are complex instruments with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
In the category of Tradable Instruments, Exness is strongest in forex, commodities, and indices and has a relatively sparse offering in stocks.
Multi-lingual support is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Traders can reach the team via email, chat, and phone.
Chat support at Exness begins with a bot. You are assigned to a live representative if the bot cannot answer your question. Live support was helpful, and the wait times were usually less than a minute. For email inquiries, it took several days to receive a response.
Over the phone, we received a fast response via the international support line in Cyprus (+35725030959). The agent was helpful and gave a thorough answer.
We tested support with a variety of questions. These ranged from the basic, for example, ‘what is the maximum leverage available’, to more complex inquiries, such as ‘how are orders executed at Exness?’. Overall we received good-quality responses.
Customer Support Languages |
English | Chinese | Thai | Vietnamese | Swahili | Indonesian | Arabic | Hindi | Urdu | Bengali | Japanese | Korean | French | Spanish | Portuguese | Russian |
Exness shines in deposits and withdrawals, with many available methods and instant processing time in many cases.
Deposit methods at Exness range from bank transfers to credit cards, cryptocurrency, and digital wallets.
Deposit Method | Minimum Deposit | Processing Time |
Bitcoin | $10 | up to 3 days |
Bank Card | $10 | up to 5 days |
Internet Banking | $10 | up to 7 days |
Skrill | $10 | within 5 hours |
Neteller | $10 | within 1 hour |
Perfect Money | $50 | up to 5 days |
USD Coin (USDC ERC20) | $10 | up to 3 days |
Tether (USDT ERC20) | $10 | up to 3 days |
Wire Transfer | $10000 | up to 3 days |
Bank Transfer | $10 | within 24 hours |
Mybux | $10 | up to 2 days |
Ozow | $10 | within 1 hour |
* Bank transfer deposits are not available in all countries.
Various withdrawal methods are available, including credit cards, cryptocurrency, and digital wallets. Exness carries out many withdrawals with no manual processing, including on weekends.
Withdrawal Method | Minimum Deposit | Processing Time |
Bitcoin | $10 | up to 3 days |
Bank Card | $10 | up to 10 days |
Internet Banking | $4 | up to 7 days |
Skrill | $10 | up to 2 days |
Neteller | $4 | up to 5 days |
Perfect Money | $2 | up to 3 days |
USD Coin (USDC ERC20) | $100 | up to 3 days |
Tether (USDT ERC20) | $100 | up to 3 days |
Webmoney | $1 | within 8 hours |
Mybux | $10 | up to 7 days |
The account opening process at Exness is fully digital and can be completed via the company website within a matter of minutes.
At Exness, there are two Standard Accounts available: Standard and Standard Cent (designed for new traders, this account is denominated in cents). The table below covers key account features.
Feature | Standard | Standard Cent |
Minimum deposit | From $10 (Depends on payment system) | From $10 (Depends on payment system) |
Spread | From 0.3 | From 0.3 |
Commission | No commission | No commission |
Instruments | Forex, metals, cryptocurrencies, energies, stocks, indices | Forex, metals |
Minimum lot size | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Maximum lot size | 200 (7:00 – 20:59 GMT+0), 20 (21:00 – 6:59 GMT+0) | 200 (7:00 – 20:59 GMT+0), 20 (21:00 – 6:59 GMT+0) |
Maximum number of positions | Unlimited | 1000 |
Professional Accounts (Raw Spread, Zero, and Pro) are designed for experienced traders, including scalpers, day traders, and algorithmic traders.
Feature | Raw Spread | Zero | Pro |
Minimum deposit | $200 | $200 | $200 |
Spread | From 0.0 | From 0.0 | From 0.0 |
Commission | Up to $3.50 each side per lot | From $0.1 each side per lot | No commission |
Maximum leverage | 1:Unlimited | 1:Unlimited | 1:Unlimited |
Instruments | Forex, metals, cryptoсurrencies, energies, stocks, indices | Forex, metals, cryptoсurrencies, energies, stocks, indices | Forex, metals, cryptoсurrencies, energies, stocks, indices |
Minimum lot size | 0.01 | 0.01 | 0.01 |
Maximum lot size | 200 (7:00 – 20:59 GMT+0), 20 (21:00 – 6:59 GMT+0) | 200 (7:00 – 20:59 GMT+0), 20 (21:00 – 6:59 GMT+0) | 200 (7:00 – 20:59 GMT+0), 20 (21:00 – 6:59 GMT+0) |
Maximum number of positions | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Accounts can be denominated in 45 different base currencies.
Base currencies |
AED | ARS | AUD | AZN | BDT | BHD | BND | BRL | CAD | CHF | CNY | EGP | EUR | GBP | GHS | HKD | HUF | IDR | INR | JOD | JPY | KES | KRW | KWD | KZT | MAD | MXN | MYR | NGN | NZD | OMR | PHP | PKR | QAR | RUB | SAR | SGD | THB | UAH | UGX | USD | UZS | VND | XOF | ZAR |
The Standard account application process is very simple and consists of entering the following data:
One of the reasons that traders are attracted to the forex and CFD markets is the high degree of available leverage. Leverage is using borrowed funds to increase the size of your trading positions beyond what would be possible using only the cash in your account.
The default leverage at Exness is 1:2000. This is a very high available leverage level. It means that with an account of $1,000, you can control up to $2000,000 worth of positions in the market. Leverage is often described as a ‘double-edged sword’ as it can hurt you as much as it helps you. Traders must remember that it can amplify both their profits and their losses.
In some instances, Exness offers unlimited leverage. A trading account must have equity of less than $1,000. In addition, the trader must have closed at least ten positions (excluding pending orders) and five lots (or 500-cent lots) across all real accounts.
Exness offers demo accounts for both the Trading Terminal platform and MetaTrader. Demo accounts enable traders to practice their strategies and get comfortable with the platform without risking real money.
The demo account features live quotes and mirrors live market conditions in assets such as forex and CFDs on commodities, indices, and stocks. Once traders have gotten up to speed on a demo account, they can easily switch to a live version.
Exness does offer swap-free Islamic accounts but only for residents of Islamic countries.
In mainland Europe and the UK, Exness focuses on B2B financial services exclusively offered to Professional institutions. Exness accepts retail clients from the majority of countries outside Europe.
The broker does not accept clients from the United States of America, American insular areas (American Samoa, Baker Island, Guam, Howland Island, Kingman Reef, Northern Mariana Islands, Midway Islands, Wake Island, Palmyra Atoll, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Navassa Island, United States Minor Outlying Islands), Vatican City, Puerto Rico, Marshall Islands, US Virgin Islands).
Exness also does not accept residents of the following countries: New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Vanuatu, Seychelles, Russia, Israel, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestinian Territory, Iran, North Korea, Malaysia, all EU countries, Gibraltar, Curacao, the United Kingdom, and others. However, nationals of these countries are accepted if they live in any allowed country.
Exness offers a broad range of research materials both in the Exness Terminal platform and the Exness Trader App.
Traders can stay on top of key economic events with the economic calendar on the Exness website. The calendar shows the expected impact of the economic release, the actual figure, the analyst forecast, and the figure from the prior release.
Trading Central WebTV is also available via the Exness website. Daily videos provide commentary, trading ideas, and news coming directly from the New York Stock Exchange floor.
Trading signals by Trading Central are also available within the personal area in a section called Analyst Views. You can select the market you want to view, including forex, stocks, indices, and commodities. The analysis draws from technical data such as ‘The MACD is below its signal line and positive’. Along with this, clear-cut forecasts are given, for example, ‘USD/ZAR may rise 1214–1674 pips’. Traders can filter these ideas to cover short-term (intraday) or longer-term time frames, such as daily and weekly.
Educational materials at Exness include courses, articles, and a range of video content. These materials are in-depth and can cater to beginners and experienced traders.
The Exness Academy offers 3 courses:
There is a quiz at the end of each course to test your understanding of the material.
The Knowledge Base section has over 30 in-depth articles covering subjects such as stochastic oscillators and strategy trading. The section also includes videos covering basic topics such as pips and points. We rated the educational content at Exness as better than average.
Exness is a large, well-established forex and CFD broker with a unique offering. Thanks to the intuitive platform and strong education and research materials, we judged it to be a good broker for beginners. Meanwhile, the availability of massive leverage, tight spreads, and advanced tools may appeal to advanced traders. Minimal swap fees and social trading capabilities are also a bonus for traders. Clients should know that retail accounts are offshore and have limited regulatory oversight.
Headquarters Country | Cyprus |
Foundation Year | 2008 |
Regulations | FSA (Seychelles), FSCA (South Africa), BVI FSC (Virgin Islands, British), FSCM (Mauritius), CMA (Kenya), FCA (United Kingdom), CySEC (Cyprus) |
Publicly Traded | No |
Number Of Employees | 2000 |
Trading Desk Type | Market Maker, No dealing desk |
Trading Platforms | MT5, Proprietary, MT4 |
Restricted Countries | Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Ireland, South Sudan, Spain, Sudan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, American Samoa, Marshall Islands, Samoa, San Marino, Austria, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, North Korea, Latvia, Malaysia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Monaco, New Zealand, Hungary, Norway, Iceland, Poland, Romania, Gibraltar, Iran, Greece, Iraq, Curacao, Guam, Vatican City, United States, Slovakia, Australia, United Kingdom, Andorra, Kosovo, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, Sweden, Slovenia, Belgium, Russian Federation, Uruguay, Switzerland, Yemen, Syria, Seychelles, Denmark, Vanuatu, Israel, Singapore |
Supported Languages | Korean, English, Urdu, Russian, Hindi, French, Indonesian, Portuguese, Thai, Arabic, Spanish, Bengali, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese |
Min Deposit | $0 |
Max Leverage | 1:500 (FSA), 1:500 (FSCA), 1:1000 (BVI FSC), 1:499 (FSCM), 1:2000 (CMA), 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (CySEC ) |
Deposit Options | QIWI, Webmoney, Cryptocurrencies, PerfectMoney, Wire Transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Credit Card |
Withdrawal Options | Cryptocurrencies, Neteller, Webmoney, Skrill, QIWI, Credit Card, PerfectMoney |
Time to Withdrawal | 4 |
Time to Open an Account | 5 |
Crypto | Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum |
Products | Currencies, Stocks, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
Demo Account | Yes |
OCO Orders | No |
Offers Hedging | No |
Automated Trading | Yes |
API Trading | No |
Guaranteed Stop Loss | Yes |
Guaranteed Limit Orders | Yes |
Guaranteed Fills / Liquidity | Yes |
Economic calendar | Yes |
Trading From Chart | Yes |
One-Click Trading | Yes |
Expert Advisor | Yes |
Social Trading | Yes |
Autochartist | No |
Trading Signals | Yes |
Platform Languages | Chinese, Thai, English |
24 Hours Support | Yes |
Support During Weekends | Yes |
Live Chat | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Webinars | Yes |
Deposit Fee | No |
Withdrawal Fee | No |
Inactivity Fee | No |
Dan Blystone began his career in the trading industry in 1998 on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Later Dan gained insight into the forex industry during his time as a Series 3 licenced futures and forex broker. He also traded at a couple of different prop trading firms in Chicago. Dan is well-equipped to recommend the best forex brokers due to his extensive experience and understanding of the brokerage industry.
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