How Much Does CFD Trading Really Cost in Australia? Every Fee Explained

In this article, I break down and explain each of these costs (including the hidden ones), so you won’t get taken by surprise. To help you understand the broader Australian CFD market, I use Pepperstone as a practical case study because it performed very well in our fee test, and I compare its costs against FXEmpire’s industry benchmark for 50+ global brokers we reviewed in 2026.

Check out our full Pepperstone review.

What does CFD trading actually cost in Australia?

In Australia and most other countries, there are four layers of CFD trading costs to consider. These are the spread between bid and offer prices, any commission charged to open and close a trade, overnight financing on positions held after rollover, and several invisible costs.

In this article, I used the round-turn cost as the main measure of trading expenses. This reflects the total cost of opening and closing a position, including the spread and any commissions.

What are the typical spreads and commissions for Australian CFD traders?

Typical trading costs vary widely by instrument, account type, and broker. FXEmpire’s industry benchmarks show an average EUR/USD spread of 1.2 pips for Standard accounts and 0.1 pips for raw spread accounts before commissions. Raw accounts often offer lower total costs for active forex and metals traders, but this is not always the case across other assets. In my September 2026 tests, Pepperstone delivered better-than-average spreads across all the assets I tested.

Industry benchmarks in 2026: what counts as cheap, average, and expensive

At FXEmpire, we maintain a database of hundreds of brokers and conduct hands-on tests to measure trading costs under real market conditions. In the table below, you can see the benchmarks based on the brokers’ spreads we recorded during our recent live tests.

So if you open a trade and see the EUR/USD spread of 1.5 pips, it is more expensive than most brokers charge on this instrument. On the contrary, in my latest test of Pepperstone, I recorded 1 pip on EUR/USD, which is better than the benchmark.

Spread-only vs. raw spread + commission: which pricing model costs less for your trading style?

Australian CFD brokers typically offer both Standard and Raw Spread accounts. Spread-only accounts (usually called Standard or Classic accounts) include the broker’s cost in the spread. The simplicity of spreads-only accounts makes them a good place for beginners and casual traders to start.

Raw Spread accounts offer tighter pricing, sometimes starting at 0.0 pips, but include a separate commission on each side of the trade. Since the trading costs are usually lower and the pricing model is more complicated, raw spreads accounts are a natural choice for active, experienced traders.

In the table below, I compare the cost of a round-turn trade for 1 full-sized lot of EUR/USD for the Pepperstone Standard account and their Razor (raw spreads) account:

In the example above, the Razor (Raw Spreads) account is $3 cheaper, or 30% less than the Standard account. This difference can add up to be substantial. For example, a trader completing 100 standard-lot round-turn trades results in a difference of $300.

While raw spreads accounts are usually more cost-effective, they are not automatically cheaper for every instrument. Often, raw spreads are limited to forex and popular commodities like gold rather than extending across other assets like indices, shares, and crypto. And the minimum deposit is typically higher for raw spreads accounts.

Check out our list of Best brokers with the lowest spreads.

What we measured on Pepperstone: Standard vs. Razor, instrument by instrument, session by session

To put the industry benchmarks into perspective, I tested Pepperstone’s Standard and Razor accounts across a variety of popular CFD instruments.

I recorded spreads during the New York session on 30 September and compared the results against FXEmpire’s industry averages.

My tests show that the Pepperstone Razor (raw-spread account) offers significant savings over the Standard account with tighter spreads in EUR/USD, GBP/JPY, and gold. But Pepperstone is an example of a broker where raw spreads do not extend across all asset classes, so spreads on stocks, some commodities (like WTI crude oil), indices, and crypto are the same as on a Standard account.

Pepperstone matched or beat the benchmarks on every instrument tested, by wide margins on stocks and gold via both the Standard and Razor accounts.

How much does one complete trade really cost?

The cost of a complete CFD trade is the spread converted into a monetary amount, plus any opening and closing commissions. This excludes overnight financing, slippage, and currency conversion, which can increase the final expense.

Opening and closing a gold CFD trade: every cost itemized, cent by cent

In my September tests, Pepperstone’s Standard account averaged a spread of 20 cents for gold. In the following table, I’ll calculate the cost of opening and closing one full-sized lot:

This means gold must move 0.20 in your favor to recover the initial cost of entering the trade. By comparison, the FXEmpire industry average for the equivalent standard-account gold trade was $34, or 70% more expensive.

The same math on EUR/USD and the ASX 200

The same approach applies to forex and index CFDs. For EUR/USD, 1 standard lot represents €100,000, with a pip value of $10.

Using the Pepperstone Standard account, the average spread is measured at 1 pip:

1 pip x $10 = $10

For the Razor account, the average spread was 0.0 pips, with commissions of $3.50 per side:

$0 + $3.50 + $3.50 = $7

For the ASX200, assume the index is at 8,700, and the spread is 2 basis points (what I recorded in my Pepperstone Standard account tests). That is 0.02% of 8,700, or 1.74 index points. At Pepperstone, 1 standard lot of ASX200 is worth A$1 per point, so the spread would cost A$1.74 for 1 lot.

How to calculate your own round-turn cost

A complete round-turn on one standard lot of EUR/USD cost us $7 on Pepperstone’s Razor account and $10 on the Standard account. Here is the formula we use:

For example, one standard (full-sized) lot of EUR/USD has a pip value of $10. Via the Pepperstone Standard account, I recorded average spreads of 1 pip. So in this case, the total round-turn cost is:

1 x $10 = $10

Via the Razor (raw spreads) account, the average spread was 0.0 pips. Commissions are $3.50 per side, so here the round-turn cost is:

$3.50 + $3.50 = $7

Now, let’s take another popular instrument, gold, as an example. In my most recent tests, the Pepperstone Standard account spread for gold was $0.20 per ounce. Since one Standard lot of gold represents 100 ounces, the round-turn cost is:

$0.20 x 100 = $20

How are overnight swap and financing fees calculated?

If you hold a CFD position beyond the broker’s daily rollover time, it may incur an overnight financing charge, also known as a swap fee. At Pepperstone, rollover takes place at 5:00 p.m. New York time. The adjustment can be either a fee or a credit, depending on the instrument and the long/short direction of your trade.

Swap fees accumulate for every day the position remains open. So if you hold a position for days or weeks, it could substantially reduce your profits or add to your losses.

How to calculate a swap fee

A swap fee reflects the cost of financing your leveraged overnight exposure to the market. The fee depends on the instrument, position size, whether you are long or short, current interest rates, and the broker’s financing charge.

For example, here is Pepperstone’s daily financing calculation for CFDs on forex:

Daily swap charge/credit = one point x (trade size [or notional amount] x tom-next)

Tom-next (Tomorrow-Next) reflects the interest rate difference between the two currencies, adjusted by the broker’s markup.

What we were actually charged: overnight and over a weekend on Pepperstone

I recorded the Pepperstone swap rates for one full-sized contract on 15 September:

Note: Swap rates can change daily.

The table shows a mixed picture. Swap fees for EUR/USD were 8% below average, but the swap credit was 23% lower than average. And the gold swap fee was a substantial 24% higher than average.

Weekend financing is normally not charged separately on Saturday and Sunday. For most forex pairs, which settle on a T+2 basis, a triple swap is normally applied at the Wednesday rollover, at 5:00 p.m. New York time, to cover the weekend settlement period. But for other instruments like cash indices, shares, and crude oil, the weekend financing is normally applied at the Friday rollover (5:00 p.m. New York time). It is triple because it spans Friday to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday, and Sunday to Monday.

Using the EUR/USD long swap rate I recorded, one day of financing cost $7.01. Three days at the same rate would amount to:

$7.01 x 3 = $21.03

For gold, the $81.53 long rate I recorded would amount to:

$81.53 x 3 = $244.59

These figures show the potential impact of a three-day financing charge, but keep in mind that swap rates can change daily. So if you are planning to hold a position overnight or for several days, it’s worth checking the current rate shown in the platform before entering a trade.

The break-even: when holding costs overtake spread costs

Swap fees can quickly overtake the initial cost of spreads and commission. While intraday traders do not need to worry about them, swing traders, who hold positions for days and weeks, do.

Let’s consider our 1 lot EUR/USD Standard account long position. The round-turn spread cost was $10, and the swap fee I recorded was $7.01.

So from the table above, we can see that swap fees can add up fast, and after holding for 3 nights, the cost is triple what your intraday cost would be in this case.

What hidden costs should I watch for when trading CFDs?

While costs like spreads, commissions, and swap fees are more obvious, there are other costs that you should be aware of as a CFD trader in Australia. Slippage, currency conversion fees, withdrawal fees, and spread widening can also come into play and affect your account balance.

Slippage — the cost that appears on no fee schedule

Slippage is the difference between the price at which you expected your order to be executed and the price that you actually get. Slippage can be positive or negative and is most often experienced during major news and economic data releases.

Imagine you have placed a sell stop loss order ahead of the non-farm payrolls release at 1.1536, but after the release, it gets filled at 1.1533 amid the volatility after the data is announced. This difference of three pips represents:

3 pips x $10 = $30

Slippage is especially difficult to measure as it varies from trade to trade. For scalpers, news traders, and other traders who use stop-loss or market orders in fast-moving markets, it can make a major difference in performance. So it’s important to find a broker with minimal slippage.

Currency conversion on non-AUD instruments

Australian traders can also rack up costs when money has to be converted between different currencies. If your account is denominated in AUD, but profits, losses, and transfers involve different currencies, you will likely incur conversion fees.

For example, Pepperstone supports multiple base currencies, which can help Australian traders reduce unnecessary conversions. But its Australian terms allow a currency conversion fee of up to 1% when funds are transferred between Pepperstone trading accounts denominated in different currencies.

For example: A$10,000 x 1% = A$100

Realized profits and losses on instruments denominated in other currencies may also need to be converted into the account’s base currency. So, in addition to spreads, commissions, and swap fees, Australian traders who rely on trading international markets should keep in mind conversion fees as well.

Inactivity, withdrawal, and data fees: Pepperstone vs. the industry

Pepperstone does not charge any account maintenance or inactivity fees. Withdrawals are free, except for international bank wires, which carry a fee of $20. This makes the broker relatively competitive, as some brokers charge an inactivity fee after a set period and also charge for all withdrawals via bank wire.

Spread widening during volatility and rollover windows

The spread a broker advertises is not necessarily the spread you will get. Spreads often widen when volatility increases or when liquidity dries up. In my experience, this most commonly happens during major economic releases, market openings, unexpected news, and the daily rollover period. With this in mind, you can see that the minimum spread figure is less valuable than typical or average spreads.

For example, Pepperstone advertises raw spreads from 0.0 pips via the Razor account. But in my tests, I saw instances where spreads were greater than 0 pips.

Is the cheapest broker always the better choice?

The answer is no. A broker providing the lowest advertised spread can end up costing more when you factor in commissions, swap fees, slippage, and currency conversion fees.

The most cost-efficient broker for you may depend on your trading style. For example, the cheapest broker for an intraday forex scalper may not be the cheapest for someone swing trading commodities over days and weeks.

Also, it’s quite common to see a broker with a very tight spread for a popular instrument like EUR/USD, but with unfavorable spreads in other instruments. So it’s best to find a broker that offers low costs for both the instruments and the trading style that you use.

When execution quality outweighs a headline spread

Poor execution quality can eclipse any advantage from a tighter spread. This is especially important for short-term traders, where small losses from hundreds or thousands of trades will add up to become a substantial disadvantage.

For example, imagine that for EUR/USD, Broker A offers spreads of 0.7 pips and Broker B offers spreads of 0.8 pips. Broker A appears to be cheaper. But if it offers execution that causes a loss of 0.2 pips on a 1 lot trade, the cost now effectively becomes 0.9 pips ($9). It is now more expensive than Broker B, with a spread of 0.8 pips ($8 for a 1 lot trade) and steady execution.

Cost red flags: when “zero commission” ends up costing more

Zero commission does not mean zero cost. In fact, most Standard accounts with no commissions are typically more costly than the ‘raw spread plus commissions’ account counterparts.

The cost of 1 lot of EUR/USD at Pepperstone is a typical example:

• The Standard account charged no separate commission, but the 1 pip average spread reflected a round-turn cost of $10.
• The Razor account had a 0.0 spread plus a $7 round trip commission, resulting in a round-turn cost of $7.

So in this case, the commission-free Standard account trade was $3 more, 42% more expensive than the Razor account, which features raw spreads plus commissions.

Do volume rebates change the math for active traders?

Volume rebates can put a major dent in your trading costs, but the qualifying thresholds can be high enough to exclude many retail traders. For example, Pepperstone’s Active Trader Program offers rebates to clients who meet certain monthly trading volume requirements. While these incentives can generate meaningful savings for high-volume traders, the benefits may be out of reach for those trading less.

How Pepperstone’s Active Trader program works and who actually qualifies

Pepperstone’s Active Trader program is available to Australian clients and rewards high-volume traders with cash rebates on trading costs automatically credited back to their trading accounts. Traders must be designated as professionals to participate. The rebates start at 10% and rise to 30% at the highest tier. FX, commodities, and indices have different volume thresholds.

The break-even volume: at what monthly volume rebates become meaningful

At Pepperstone, the volume rebates are, in my view, substantial from the entry point of 200 FX lots per month. If we take a Razor account spread of 0.0 pips plus the $7 commission as an example, we can see in the table below how much trading costs are offset in dollar terms at each tier.

The highest tier, where your cost per lot would be $4.90, would require a monthly volume of 1,500 lots. This threshold is set high, as it represents €150 million in monthly trading volume.

FAQ

What is the minimum deposit to start CFD trading in Australia?

The minimum deposit varies by payment method. For Pepperstone clients in Australia, bank wire, PayID / Zepto, and PayPal have no minimum, while credit and debit cards have a minimum of AUD 10. Competing Australian brokers typically have similar account minimums.

Do I pay tax on CFD trading profits in Australia?

CFD profits can be assessable income in Australia, and losses may be deductible depending on the circumstances and purpose of the trading activity. The ATO addresses the tax treatment of CFDs in Taxation Ruling TR 2005/15. Consult a registered tax agent for details.

How do I calculate the lot size for a gold CFD trade?

You can start by deciding your profit target and maximum loss. One Standard gold lot represents 100 ounces, so a $1 move in the price of gold changes the value of a one-lot gold position by $100. For example, a $3 move in gold represents a profit or loss of $300, excluding trading costs and any slippage.

Is Pepperstone an ECN broker or a market maker?

Pepperstone is a market maker, meaning it is the counterparty to all client trades and may manage risk internally. It is an ECN broker in the sense that it may hedge its risk externally with liquidity providers.

Does negative balance protection cost anything?

No. Pepperstone provides negative balance protection to Australian retail clients at no cost. Clients can lose their entire balance, but their balance cannot fall below zero. But note that clients designated as professionals may not receive the same protection.