FOREX.com is an award-winning broker founded in 2001. The Bedminster, New Jersey-based firm provides access to trading in over 5,500 trading instruments.
Clients can trade CFDs on forex, commodities, stocks, indices, and cryptocurrencies via the proprietary Web Trader platform, MetaTrader 4, or the FOREX.com mobile app.
FOREX.com is owned by financial services giant StoneX, a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: SNEX) with assets of $10.9 billion. The UK entity of FOREX.com is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).
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FOREX.com distinguishes itself among competitors in several areas. Our assessment showed that in trustworthiness, platforms, tradable instruments, research, and educational materials, FOREX.com comfortably beats the industry average. It has also gone the extra mile to provide clients with tools that can help give them an edge in the markets. With over 20 years of experience providing forex and CFD brokerage services, FOREX.com is a well-rounded broker with a compelling offering.
Clients new to the markets can take advantage of a 30-day free demo account, excellent educational resources, and solid customer support. Experienced traders have access to advanced tools, a choice of platforms, and competitive trading conditions via the Direct Market Access (DMA) account type. UK traders who are designated as professionals have the benefit of access to greater leverage (1:400).
We used a Standard Account opened with the StoneX Financial Ltd. entity for this review. Tests were conducted using the FOREX.com Web Trader platform. Some features and services may vary depending on where you reside.
☑️ Regulations | FCA (United Kingdom), ASIC (Australia), NFA (United States), JFSA (Japan), MAS (Singapore), SFC (Hong Kong), CIMA (Cayman Islands), CySEC (Cyprus), IIROC (Canada) |
🗺 Supported Languages | English, Russian, French, Polish, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German |
💰 Products | Currencies, Stocks, ETFs, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
💵 Min Deposit | $100 |
💹 Max Leverage | 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (ASIC), 1:50 (NFA), 1:25 (JFSA), 1:20 (MAS), 1:20 (SFC), 1:250 (CIMA), 1:30 (CySEC), 1:45 (IIROC) |
🖥 Trading Desk Type | Market Maker |
📊 Trading Platforms | MT4, WebTrader |
💳 Deposit Options | PayPal, Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Visa, Mastercard |
💳 Withdrawal Options | Wire Transfer, Credit Card, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard |
🤴 Demo Account | Yes |
🗓 Foundation Year | 2001 |
🌎 Headquarters Country | Cyprus |
FOREX.com is one of the most extensively regulated CFD brokers in the world. Regulators of its subsidiaries include the top-tier FCA, CySEC, and ASIC. FOREX.com is owned by NASDAQ-listed StoneX Group Inc.
In our trust category, we place the most importance on how a broker is regulated. Here we’ll cover how the different entities of FOREX.com 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 trust.
Entities of FOREX.com are regulated by the following authorities:
Different regulators provide different levels of protection. For example, FOREX.com 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.
In the table below we break down the protections and benefits by the entity.
Entity | StoneX Financial Ltd. | StoneX Europe Ltd. | StoneX Financial Pty Ltd. | GAIN Capital Group LLC | FOREX.com Canada Ltd. | StoneX Financial Pte. Ltd. | StoneX Securities Co. Ltd. | StoneX Financial (HK) Ltd. | GAIN Global Markets Inc. |
Country/Region | United Kingdom | Europe | Australia | United States | Canada | Singapore | Japan | Hong Kong | Global |
Regulation | FCA | CySEC | ASIC | CFTC, NFA | IIROC | MAS | FSA | SFC | CIMA |
Segregated Funds | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Compensation Scheme | FSCS Up to £85,000 | ICF Up to €20,000 | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Standard Leverage | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:30 | 1:50 | 1:33 | 1:20 | 1:25 | 1:20 | 1:400 |
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.
Founded in 2001, FOREX.com is a pioneer in retail forex brokerage. FOREX.com is part of StoneX, a NASDAQ-listed company with assets of $10.9 billion that provides institutional-grade financial services networks. StoneX must disclose financial reports as a publicly traded company, allowing for greater insight into the company’s stability.
In our research, FOREX.com showed good transparency in regulatory status, fees, and background information. Information and materials are available on the website. The company’s history, background, and regulatory status are covered on the Why Us page. Traders can stay on top of costs by looking at the Pricing page, which covers spreads, commissions, and swap fees. The important Terms & Policies documents, including the Client Agreement and Order Execution Policy, are linked to the website’s footer.
In summary, we rated FOREX.com as having an above-average level of trust and stability due to the following factors:
Trading costs at FOREX.com vary according to account type. The Standard and MT4 accounts have spreads and swap fees that are average for the industry. More competitive pricing is available via the DMA account type.
Spreads at Forex.com 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 FOREX.com across different asset classes in a Standard account. We tested at 8:00 a.m. GMT and 3:00 p.m. GMT on 3 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 | 1.4 Pips | 1.2 Pips |
GBP/JPY | 4.5 Pips | 5.8 Pips |
Gold | 75 Pips | 85 Pips |
Light Crude Oil | 2.5 Pips | 2.5 Pips |
Apple | n/a | 2 cents |
Tesla | n/a | 10 cents |
Dow 30 | 3.5 Pips | 2 Pips |
Dax 40 | 1.2 Pips | 1.2 Pips |
Shares are the only asset class where clients must pay a commission. Shares CFD commissions vary by market; for UK and most European and Asian shares, the charge is 0.08% of the consideration. For most US Shares, it is 1.8 cents per share. The minimum commission rates are £10, $10, €10, or 10 SGD.
Swap fees (the cost of holding a position overnight) were about average at FOREX.com.
In the table below, you can see the Swap Long (the cost/credit of holding a buy position overnight) and the Swap Short (the cost/credit of holding a sell position overnight) for one full-sized contract. A full-sized contract is 100,000 units of the base currency (the first currency quoted in the pair). We recorded the data on 2 February 2023.
Instrument | Swap Long | Swap Short |
EUR/USD | Charge of GBP 7.20 | Credit of GBP 5.60 |
GBP/JPY | Credit of GBP 9.50 | Charge of GBP 12.70 |
FOREX.com charges an inactivity fee of £12 (or currency equivalent) per month if there is no trading activity or open positions for 12 months or more.
We judged that the spreads in the standard account are mixed with some instruments such as the Dow 30 Index having competitive spreads, while others such as crude oil are less competitive. Our assessment showed that overnight swap fees are roughly average for the industry.
FOREX.com provides a robust selection of platforms and tools. The flagship Web Trader platform is feature-rich, highly customizable, and includes advanced charts from TradingView. MetaTrader 4 is also available, providing traders with the option of automated trading.
Traders can elect how they want to use the following components to customize their workspace:
In addition, traders can set up multiple workspaces and toggle them between using tabs. Day traders and scalpers can switch to 1-click trading to execute their trades as fast as possible.
All basic order types, such as market, limit, and stop loss, are available. Traders can apply time-in-force conditions such as Good ‘Til Canceled (GTC) to pending orders. Trailing stop orders and guaranteed stop loss orders are also available. Guaranteed stops can protect traders from black swan events and unexpected market swings, but they incur an additional cost.
Advanced charts from TradingView are built into the Web Trader platform. Key features include:
The FOREX.com mobile app is intuitive and feature-rich, allowing traders to trade effectively while on the go. The app enables traders to:
Via the MT4 account type, FOREX.com offers MetaTrader 4 for desktop, which includes 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.
FOREX.com 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 a Standard account, FOREX.com 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. In the case of a DMA account, clients pay a standard commission, and FOREX.com routes trades directly to liquidity providers.
FOREX.com excels in tradable instruments, and only a handful of CFD brokers can compare with the scope offered.
Clients can access trading in CFDs on forex, commodities, indices, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. FOREX.com goes above and beyond by offering CFDs in ETFs, bonds, sectors, and thematic indices.
CFDs (Contract for Difference) are financial derivative products that allow traders to speculate in various markets without owning the underlying assets. Tradable instruments at FOREX.com include the following:
Note: The UK FCA banned the sale of crypto derivatives to retail clients in 2021. Retail clients in the UK cannot trade cryptocurrency CFDs, but the market is open to clients classified as professionals.
Below is a sampling of instruments across the various asset categories.
Major Forex CFDs | Minor Forex CFDs |
USD/JPY | EUR/USD | USD/CHF | EUR/GBP | AUD/JPY | GBP/CHF |
Exotic Forex CFDs | Commodity CFDs |
USD/THB | USD/TRY | EUR/HUF | Heating Oil | Gold | Coffee |
Cryptocurrency CFDs | Index CFDs |
Dogecoin | Solana | Cardano | Green Index | UK 100 | India 50 |
Share CFDs | ETF CFDs |
Rolls Royce | Adidas | Intel | SPDR Gold Trust | ARK Innovation ETF | iPath S&P 500 VIX B Series |
Bond CFDs | Sector CFDs |
Euro Bund | US Ten Year T-Note | BTP Italian Bonds | UK Finance Sector | UK Utilities Sector | UK Energy Sector |
Overall, we judged that FOREX.com has an impressive range of tradable instruments, well above average for the industry.
FOREX.com offers 24/5 support via live chat, phone, and email. In our tests, we experienced high-quality support, with short wait times and helpful agents.
When contacting support via chat, users must first navigate questions from a chatbot, but if it cannot address their concerns, they are transferred to a live agent. We experienced short wait times, and support took care to answer queries thoroughly.
By phone, again, there are some automated questions that clients must answer before reaching a live agent. Operators could answer complex inquiries relating to regulation in different countries. Finally, we received fast and satisfactory responses via email, sometimes on the same day.
Overall, our assessment reflected that FOREX.com has better customer support than the average for the industry.
Customer Support Languages |
Chinese | Japanese | English | Spanish | Polish | Arabic | German | Russian | French |
FOREX.com offers a solid range of deposit and withdrawal methods. Processing times are fast, and the broker does not charge any deposit or withdrawal fees.
FOREX.com clients can make deposits and withdrawals via bank wire, credit/debit cards, or PayPal.
Deposits are typically available instantly, except for bank wire. Bank wires can take up to 1-2 days to be processed.
Method | Minimum Transaction | Maximum Transaction | Accepted Currencies | Typical Processing Time | Fees |
Credit or Debit Card | £100 (or currency equivalent) | £99,999 (or currency equivalent) | USD, EUR, CAD, JPY, CHF, AUD, GBP | Immediate | 0% |
PayPal | £100 (or currency equivalent) | £50,000 (or currency equivalent) | EUR, GBP, USD | Immediate | 0% |
Wire Transfer | None | None | USD, EUR, CAD, JPY, CHF, AUD, GBP | Up to 1-2 business days | 0% |
Note: FOREX.com does not charge any fees for incoming card deposits. Your card-issuing bank may charge you a cash transaction fee if it treats your transaction as a cash transaction. FOREX.com does not charge incoming wire fees. However, your bank may charge a service fee.
Withdrawals via credit/debit card and PayPal are immediate. Bank wires take 1-2 business days to process.
Method | Minimum Transaction | Maximum Transaction | Typical Processing Time | Fees |
Credit or Debit Card | £100 (or currency equivalent) | £100,000 (or currency equivalent) | Immediate | 0% |
PayPal | £100 (or currency equivalent) | £20,000 (or currency equivalent) | Immediate | 0% |
Wire Transfer | £100 (or currency equivalent) | None | Up to 1-2 business days | 0% |
Note: The normal processing time is typically up to 1-2 business days. However, if further information is required, the processing time may be extended. Also, keep in mind that your bank may take additional time to credit the funds to your account.
FOREX.com offers three main account types to cater to different trader profiles: the Standard Account, MT4 Account, and DMA account. Spreads are the same between Standard and MT4 accounts, and more competitive spreads are available via the DMA account.
The Standard Account uses the proprietary Web Trader platform and FOREX.com mobile app. Tools such as Trading Central and Performance Analytics are available via the Standard account.
When opening a Standard Account, clients must provide the following information:
This account provides clients with access to the popular MetaTrader 4 platform. Reuters news and Trading Central are integrated. Traders can use Expert Advisors (EAs) – programs to automate trading and analysis. Free VPS hosting is also an option for qualifying clients. MT4 account holders can also access over 20 apps with custom indicators, Expert Advisors, and chart-in chart view via FX Blue. Trading in micro-lots is available, allowing new traders to start trading small and minimize their risk.
Note: CFDs on shares are not available on the MT4 account.
The DMA (Direct Market Access) account is designed for advanced, high-volume FX traders seeking direct pricing from top-tier liquidity providers. It gives traders access to multiple levels of liquidity displayed in real-time. Clients can trade on prices sourced from global banks and top-tier liquidity providers. Traders pay a commission and can earn discounted commissions based on their trading volume. The DMA account uses the Web Trader platform.
FOREX.com offers corporate accounts that enable multiple authorized traders for one account.
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.
A standard account offers a maximum of 1:30 leverage. An account funded with $1,000 and 1:30 leverage allows traders to control up to $30,000 worth of positions in the market. Traders can apply for a professional account, which offers higher leverage, but the costs and platform are the same.
Investors with a professional account can trade with a maximum leverage of 1:400. With this degree of leverage, you can control up to $400,000 worth of positions in the market with just $1,000. To qualify for a professional account, traders must show a financial portfolio of over €500,000 and relevant financial experience.
Leverage is often described as a ‘double-edged sword’ because it can amplify your profits and losses. Leveraged trading comes with a high level of risk and can often result in significant losses.
A free 30-day demo account allows you to hone your skills without risking any money.
FOREX.com also offers a swap-free Islamic account that adheres to the principles of Sharia law.
FOREX.com accepts clients from the majority of countries globally. However, residents of Belgium, France, Czech Republic are restricted. FOREX.com also does not take clients from FATF (Financial Action Task Force) countries North Korea and Iran.
FOREX.com provides market analysis, trade ideas, and webinars from a seasoned group of in-house contributors. Award-winning third-party research materials are also available from Trading Central.
FOREX.com provides high-quality research covering major news stories and market themes. Coverage is mainly from a fundamental perspective, but the analysis also touches on technical levels and chart patterns. The ‘Week Ahead’ report is a valuable reference, keeping clients updated on key upcoming events and how they may impact the markets. The analysis is in-depth and insightful, and we judged that it is better than average.
Analysis from Trading Central, within the Web Trader platform, has three major categories:
We rate Trading Central as a valuable tool with plenty of actionable ideas for traders to draw from.
FOREX.com provides interactive courses within its Trading Academy that cater to beginners and advanced traders. The Trading Academy also features platform tutorial videos, individual lessons, and webinars.
Courses within the FOREX.com Academy are broken down by experience level: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The courses are accessible via the website, and Progress tracking and test questions are built in. Material ranges from the basics of CFD trading to advanced topics within technical analysis. Course material combines text and video, and we judged the quality to be very good overall.
The video-based platform tutorial section is an excellent resource for guiding clients through making the most of the Web Trader platform, MetaTrader 4, and the FOREX.com mobile app. Live webinars round out the educational offerings with presentations covering dynamic topics like trading the Non-farm Payrolls economic release.
If you’re looking for a solid all-around broker that can cater to various trader profiles, FOREX.com might be for you. Very few forex and CFD brokers can compare to its level of stability, platforms, instruments, and educational and research resources. The range of additional tools, such as Trading Central, FX Blue, and Trading Analytics, is also impressive.
Nevertheless, we judged that there is room for improvement in two areas. Firstly, the spreads in the Standard account are not highly competitive in some cases (for example, an average spread of over five pips in GBP/JPY in our tests). Secondly, while the Web Trader platform is robust and feature-rich, its design could be more intuitive and user-friendly to accommodate casual traders or beginners better. Overall, we rate FOREX.com as a strong broker, with an offering that reflects the wealth of experience it has gained from over two decades in the industry.
Headquarters Country | Cyprus |
Foundation Year | 2001 |
Regulations | FCA (United Kingdom), ASIC (Australia), NFA (United States), JFSA (Japan), MAS (Singapore), SFC (Hong Kong), CIMA (Cayman Islands), CySEC (Cyprus), IIROC (Canada) |
Publicly Traded | Yes |
Number Of Employees | 501 |
Trading Desk Type | Market Maker |
Trading Platforms | MT4, WebTrader |
Restricted Countries | Czech Republic, France, Belgium, North Korea, Iran |
Supported Languages | English, Russian, French, Polish, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German |
Min Deposit | $100 |
Max Leverage | 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (ASIC), 1:50 (NFA), 1:25 (JFSA), 1:20 (MAS), 1:20 (SFC), 1:250 (CIMA), 1:30 (CySEC), 1:45 (IIROC) |
Deposit Options | PayPal, Wire Transfer, Credit Card, Visa, Mastercard |
Withdrawal Options | Wire Transfer, Credit Card, PayPal, Visa, Mastercard |
Time to Withdrawal | 1 |
Time to Open an Account | 8 |
Crypto | Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ripple, Ethereum |
Products | Currencies, Stocks, ETFs, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
Demo Account | Yes |
OCO Orders | No |
Offers Hedging | Yes |
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 | English |
24 Hours Support | Yes |
Support During Weekends | No |
Live Chat | Yes |
Daily Market Commentary | Yes |
News (Top-Tier Sources) | Yes |
Webinars | Yes |
Deposit Fee | No |
Withdrawal Fee | No |
Inactivity Fee | Yes |
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.
At FXEmpire, we strive to provide unbiased, thorough and accurate broker reviews by industry experts to help our users make smarter financial decisions.