Best low spread forex brokers

What each of the top ten is good at

One line each, expanded into a full profile further down.

1. IC Markets - Raw spreads from 0.0 pips. $3.50 per side. Strong platform and execution infrastructure.
2. TabTrade - 0.03-pip recorded EUR/USD average. $3.50 per side. Fast execution from Equinix LD5.
3. XM - Competitive commission-free pricing. Low minimum deposit. No requotes or rejections.
4. FxPro - Raw spreads from 0.0 pips. $3.50 per side. 70+ pairs and extensive platform choice.

The number on the website is not the number you pay

"From 0.0 pips" is a minimum. It means the broker's system has quoted a zero spread at some point under ideal conditions - deepest liquidity, quietest market - and it tells you nothing about the other twenty-three hours of the day.

Two things turn it into a real price. The first is the average: what the spread actually was, measured over weeks rather than at its best moment. The second is the commission, which raw accounts charge precisely because their spread is tight - typically $3.50 per lot per side, which is about 0.7 pips on a standard EUR/USD position before the spread is counted at all.

The table below puts all three next to each other, and the gap between column one and column two is the point of this page.

Advertised, measured, and what it adds up to

Advertised, measured, and what it adds up to

Broker	Advertised from	Recorded average, EUR/USD	Recorded average, GBP/USD	Commission	All-in EUR/USD
IC Markets9.5	0.0 pips	0.1 pips (Raw Spread)	0.4 pips (Raw Spread)	$3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Raw Spread MetaTrader)	Approx. 0.8 pips
TabTrade9.3	0.0 pips	0.03 pips (Edge)	0.04 pips (Edge)	$3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Edge)	Approx. 0.73 pips
XM9.1	0.8 pips	Approx. 0.8 pips	Approx. 1.0 pip	$0 on Standard and Ultra Low accounts	Approx. 0.8 pips
FxPro9.1	0.0 pips	0.43 pips on cTrader	0.70 pips on cTrader	$3.50 per side / $7 round turn	Approx. 1.13 pips

From our broker records. The average columns name the account the figure was recorded on, because a raw account and a standard account at the same broker are different products at different prices - our records are not all on the same account basis, so read the account name before comparing two rows.

Read the first two columns together. Six of these ten advertise 0.0 pips; their recorded averages run from 0.03 pips at TabTrade to 0.43 at FxPro. Same headline, fourteen times the spread.

Then read the last column, which adds the commission back. Once that is done the ten cluster far more tightly than the headlines suggest: most land between 0.7 and 0.8 pips all in, and the differences that remain come from commission rather than spread.

On that measure the cheapest broker on this page is Fusion Markets, at about 0.5 pips all in - not because its spread is the tightest, which it is not, but because it charges $2.25 per side where everyone else charges $3.50. That is a $2.50 saving on every round-turn lot, it applies whatever the spread happens to be doing, and it is the single largest structural cost advantage here. The most expensive is FxPro at about 1.13, despite advertising the same 0.0 pips as the rest.

One warning about comparing the average columns across rows. Our records do not all describe the same account: the figure for Exness is its Standard account and the figure for IC Markets is its Raw account, so the nine-fold gap between them is mostly a comparison of two different products. Each cell names its account for that reason.

Why the minimum is the wrong number

Broker A wins every comparison table that lists minimum spreads. Broker B is roughly 30% cheaper to actually trade with.

This is not hypothetical arithmetic - it is the difference between the two columns in the table above, and it is why this list is not ordered by who advertises the smallest number.

What one third-party measurement found

Comparable average-spread data across brokers is rare, because it requires somebody to record live quotes from many brokers simultaneously over a sustained period. One such comparison exists for five of these ten: measurements taken by Datalyst in April 2026, covering seven major currency pairs.

It should be read with its provenance in mind. The figures were published by TabTrade, which is one of the brokers measured and comes out best in them. That does not make them wrong - Datalyst is a spread-measurement service and the numbers are consistent with our own records - but a scorecard published by a participant is not the same thing as an audit, and we are not going to present it as one.

Datalyst measurement, April 2026

Datalyst measurement, April 2026

Broker	Average, 7 major pairs	EUR/USD average
IC Markets9.5	0.17 pips	0.10 pips
TabTrade9.3	0.04 pips	0.03 pips
XM9.1	0.74 pips	0.18 pips
FxPro9.1	0.49 pips	Not published

Measured by Datalyst over seven major currency pairs in April 2026 and published by TabTrade, one of the brokers measured. Spreads only - commission is not included. Covers five of the ten brokers on this page, and the accounts measured are the brokers' raw-style accounts.

On that measurement TabTrade averaged 0.04 pips across the seven majors, Exness 0.10, IC Markets 0.17, FxPro 0.49 and XM 0.74 - a nineteen-fold spread between the tightest and widest, all of whom describe themselves as competitively priced.

Two caveats beyond the provenance. These are spreads only, so the commission still has to be added, and a broker averaging 0.04 pips with a $7 round turn is not cheaper than one averaging 0.6 pips with no commission. And the measurement is from April: spreads move with liquidity, and five months is a long time in this market.

Raw or standard - which is actually cheaper?

A standard account charges no commission and builds the broker's margin into a wider spread. A raw account quotes tighter and charges commission separately. Neither is inherently cheaper, and the arithmetic is closer than most people expect.

The same trade on both account types

Identical. Which is the usual outcome when both accounts are priced honestly, because the broker is charging for the same service either way.

Raw pricing still earns its place for two reasons that are not about the total. A tighter bid-ask improves the precision of entries and exits, which matters to strategies working in small increments. And commission is a fixed, knowable cost, where spread widening is neither.

Standard accounts win on simplicity: one number, no arithmetic, and no unpleasant surprise when the commission on a busy month is added up.

What a small difference costs at volume

Based on a 0.4-pip difference in all-in cost, or about $4 per standard lot - roughly the gap between the cheapest and dearest accounts on this page.

At ten lots a month it is a rounding error. At five hundred it is a salary. This is the entire reason scalpers and algorithmic traders read spread tables closely and everyone else probably should not.

Cheap is not the same as good

This page ranks on cost, and cost alone is a narrow question. Look at the rating column beside each broker and you will see the list is not in overall-rating order: IC Trading and IUX price extremely well and rate 7.0 and 6.8 overall, because pricing is one of six things we score and regulation is another.

IC Trading operates under a single Mauritius licence and was founded in 2022. IUX holds Mauritius and South African registrations. Fusion Markets and Focus Markets are ASIC-regulated Australian firms. Exness holds eleven licences across as many jurisdictions but no statutory compensation scheme behind the entity most international clients are onboarded to. TabTrade launched in 2026 and, on our record, offers no negative balance protection.

None of that makes them bad choices. It makes them different trades: a tighter spread in exchange for a thinner safety net, which is a reasonable exchange to make deliberately and a poor one to make by accident.

Trust metrics

Trust metrics

Broker	Regulators	Founded	Client money segregated	Negative balance protection	Compensation scheme
IC Markets9.5	ASICCySECFSA (Seychelles)+2	2007	Yes	Yes	ICF up to €20,000 for eligible EU clients; Raw Trading Ltd insolvency insurance up to US$1,000,000
TabTrade9.3	FSC (Mauritius)	2026	Yes	No	No statutory investor compensation scheme
XM9.1	CySECASICDFSA (DIFC)+2	2009	Yes	Yes	ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients
FxPro9.1	FCACySECFSCA (South Africa)+2	1999	Yes	Yes	FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients

From our broker records. Negative balance protection and compensation schemes depend on the entity you are onboarded to and your client classification.

Why execution matters as much as the spread

A 0.1-pip spread is worth nothing if the fill arrives a pip away from the price you clicked. That gap is slippage, and on a high-frequency strategy it can dwarf the spread you chose the broker for.

Say EUR/USD shows 1.16000 / 1.16001 - a tenth of a pip. You buy at 1.16001 and fill at 1.16011. The spread cost you $1 and the slippage cost you $10.

Slippage runs both ways, and market execution can improve your price as easily as worsen it. But it grows with latency, with thin liquidity and with volatility, which is why the server location and execution model below belong on a page about spreads at all.

Execution and automation

Execution and automation

Broker	Execution model	Typical speed	Servers	Expert Advisors	API	Copy trading
IC Markets9.5	Market execution	Approx. 35ms on forex	Equinix NY4, New York; Equinix LD5, London	Yes	Yes	Yes
TabTrade9.3	Market execution / ECN-style institutional execution	Under 30ms	Equinix LD5, London	Yes	Yes	Yes
XM9.1	Market maker / principal	99% of orders executed in under 1 second	London and global data-centre infrastructure	Yes	No	Yes
FxPro9.1	No dealing desk intervention / market execution	Under 8ms	Equinix LD4, London	Yes	Yes	Yes

From our broker records. Brokers measure execution differently and publish under favourable conditions, so treat these as an order of magnitude rather than a stopwatch.

Every broker here permits scalping and, apart from the platform limits noted in the table, automated strategies - which is what you would expect from a group selected for pricing, since raw accounts exist largely for traders who place a lot of orders.

Non-trading fees

Non-trading fees

Broker	Inactivity fee	Currency conversion	Min. withdrawal	Withdrawal time
IC Markets9.5	None on Global; EU: 10 account-currency units/month after 6 months inactivity	Conversion at applicable exchange rate/charges; no fixed percentage published	No minimum	Same-day processing before cutoff; cards typically 3-5 business days; international wire up to 14 days
TabTrade9.3	No inactivity fee	Conversion rate may include a currency conversion fee	No minimum	Typically 1 business day processing; cards 1-3 business days; Skrill/Neteller 1-2 business days; bank transfer 2-5 business days
XM9.1	$10/month after 90 days inactivity	Not on record	$5	Instant/same-day processing where automatically approved; bank wire and cards typically 2-5 business days
FxPro9.1	Not on record	Currency conversion applies where funding/account currencies differ	No minimum	Processed 24/5; typically within 1 business day, plus payment-provider processing time

From our broker records. Banks, card issuers and payment providers can charge on top of anything the broker does or does not charge.

For an active trader these barely register against spreads and commissions. They matter if you deposit and withdraw often, or if you fund an account and then leave it alone.

The top 4, one by one

#1

IC Markets

9.5/10

Recommended for active traders who want tight pricing with an execution record to match.

Overall rating

9.5 / 10

Costs rating

9.8 / 10

Minimum deposit

$200

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Raw Spread MetaTrader)

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.8 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView

Demo account

Yes, expires after 30 days of inactivity

Copy trading

IC Social; cTrader Copy; ZuluTrade; Myfxbook AutoTrade; Signal Start

Support

24/7

Founded

2007

Regulation

ASICCySECFSA (Seychelles)SCB (Bahamas)+1

IC Markets is the highest-rated broker on our table and prices like a specialist: its Raw Spread account records an average of 0.1 pips on EUR/USD and 0.4 on GBP/USD, with $3.50 per side - about 0.8 pips all in.

The April 2026 Datalyst measurement put it at 0.17 pips across seven majors, third of the five brokers measured. Its own recorded EUR/USD average of 0.1 is the more useful number for a EUR/USD trader.

What separates it from the cheaper entries here is everything around the price: MetaTrader 4 and 5, cTrader and TradingView, execution around 35 milliseconds, MetaTrader servers at Equinix NY4 and cTrader in London, low-latency VPS support and a FIX API.

The $200 minimum deposit is the highest on this page, and EU clients pay 10 units of account currency a month after six dormant months, where the Global entity charges nothing.

Open an account with IC MarketsRead our full IC Markets review

#2

TabTrade

9.3/10

Recommended for traders who want the tightest measured spreads here and can accept a young broker.

Overall rating

9.3 / 10

Costs rating

9.8 / 10

Minimum deposit

$0

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn (Edge)

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.73 pips

Maximum leverage

1:1000

Platforms

MetaTrader 5

Demo account

Yes

Copy trading

Yes, TabTrade Social

Support

24/7

Founded

2026

Regulation

FSC (Mauritius)

TabTrade has the tightest measured pricing on this page by a clear margin: 0.03 pips on EUR/USD and 0.04 on GBP/USD on its Edge account, against $3.50 per side - about 0.73 pips all in.

That is also what the Datalyst measurement found, at 0.04 pips across seven majors. It is worth knowing that TabTrade published that measurement, in which it comes first; the figures are consistent with our own records, but a scorecard from a participant deserves reading as such.

Execution averages under 30 milliseconds from MetaTrader 5 at Equinix LD5 in London, and its support scores higher than any broker we rate.

Against that: it launched in 2026, so there is no track record, and it runs on a single Mauritius licence with no statutory compensation scheme and, on our record, no negative balance protection. On a leveraged product bought for its pricing, that last one deserves a deliberate decision rather than a shrug.

Open an account with TabTradeRead our full TabTrade review

#3

XM

9.1/10

Recommended for traders who want competitive spread-only pricing and a $5 entry.

Overall rating

9.1 / 10

Costs rating

9.4 / 10

Minimum deposit

$5

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.8 pips

Commission

$0 on Standard and Ultra Low accounts

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 0.8 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, XM App

Demo account

Yes

Copy trading

Yes, XM Copy Trading

Support

24/7

Founded

2009

Regulation

CySECASICDFSA (DIFC)FSC (Belize)+1

XM is the commission-free entry in this ten. Its Standard and Ultra Low accounts charge no commission and record an average of about 0.8 pips on EUR/USD - which, once the $7 round turn is added to the raw accounts above, is a comparable all-in cost with none of the arithmetic.

The Datalyst measurement put it widest of the five at 0.74 pips across seven majors, but that comparison excludes commission, so it compares XM's total cost against other brokers' partial cost. On an all-in basis it sits mid-table.

The account opens for $5, the lowest non-zero entry here, on MetaTrader 4 and 5 with 55+ pairs and 24/7 support. The broker emphasises an execution model with no requotes or order rejections.

It charges $10 a month after 90 days of inactivity, the shortest dormancy window on this page.

Open an account with XMRead our full XM review

#4

FxPro

9.1/10

Recommended for traders who want the fastest execution here and every major platform.

Overall rating

9.1 / 10

Costs rating

9.1 / 10

Minimum deposit

$0

Minimum trade

0.01 lots

Spread from

0.0 pips

Commission

$3.50 per side / $7 round turn

All-in cost, EUR/USD

Approx. 1.13 pips

Maximum leverage

1:30

Platforms

MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, TradingView, FxPro Trading Platform

Demo account

Yes, 180-day lifespan

Copy trading

Yes, cTrader Copy

Support

24/5

Founded

1999

Regulation

FCACySECFSCA (South Africa)SCB (Bahamas)+1

FxPro is the most expensive broker on this page and the fastest. Its recorded cTrader average is 0.43 pips on EUR/USD and 0.70 on GBP/USD, which with $3.50 per side gives about 1.13 pips all in - the highest here, and the Datalyst measurement agrees at 0.49 across seven majors.

What you get for it is execution under 8 milliseconds from Equinix LD4, four times quicker than anything else on this page, plus MetaTrader 4 and 5, cTrader, TradingView and its own platform, with cTrader Copy and a FIX API.

For a strategy where fill quality dominates, that trade can be worth making - slippage of a pip costs more than the half-pip of extra spread. For anyone else on this page it is the wrong end of the cost table.

Trading since 1999, it is the oldest firm here, holds FCA and CySEC licences among others, and asks no minimum deposit on the Standard account.

Open an account with FxProRead our full FxPro review

How we chose these brokers

This list ranks on our costs score - which weighs spreads, commission and overnight financing together - and prints that score beside every broker. We do not rank a broker higher for advertising 0.0 pips. What we weigh:

• Measured average spreads, where a reliable figure exists
• The advertised minimum, treated as a marketing claim rather than a price
• Commission per lot, per side and round turn
• All-in cost on EUR/USD once spread and commission are combined
• Standard-account pricing for traders who would rather not do arithmetic
• Spread behaviour around news, rollover and thin liquidity
• Execution model, measured speed and server location
• Whether scalping and automated strategies are permitted
• Currency pairs available, so the pricing applies to something you trade
• Non-trading fees, and the regulator behind the entity holding your money

A broker that is cheap and unregulated is not a bargain, which is why this page prints the overall rating beside the cost rating and why the two columns do not agree.