Tickmill review

Our rating

Tickmill scores 7.8 out of 10 on our table. That figure is an average of six things we assess, and it hides the shape of the broker: its strongest area is regulation at 9.3, its weakest is education at 5.6. Whether that gap matters depends entirely on which of the six you were going to use.

In its favour: low commissions on pro accounts, fast execution. Against it: limited range of instruments.

Regulation and safety9.3/10

Tickmill lists its authorisations as FCA (717270); CySEC (278/15); FSCA (49464); Seychelles FSA (SD008); DFSA (F007663, Representative Office). That is a mixed structure, and the mix is the point: it holds at least one tier-one licence alongside offshore entities, and which one takes your account depends on where you live rather than on which you would prefer.

The licence that matters to you is the one held by the entity that opens your account, and at a multi-entity broker that is decided by your country of residence. Its registration can be checked directly on the FCA Financial Services Register, FRN 717270. It is a two-minute check and it is the only way to confirm that the firm taking your deposit is the firm named on the website.

Client money is held separately from the firm's own funds, with major regulated banking institutions - so that if the business fails, client balances are not part of what its creditors can reach. Negative balance protection applies, so a gap through your stop cannot leave you owing the broker money.

On compensation: FSCS up to £85,000 for eligible UK clients; ICF up to €20,000 for eligible CySEC clients. That covers the broker failing, not your trades losing money - the two are frequently confused and only one of them is insured.

Tickmill does not accept clients from United States, Canada, Japan, North Korea, Iran and other sanctioned/restricted jurisdictions. Restriction lists move, so confirm your own country before you spend time on an application.

What it costs to trade9.1/10

Tickmill advertises spreads from 0.0 pips. Commission is $3 per side / $6 round turn, Raw, charged on top of the spread rather than instead of it - which is the normal arrangement on a raw account and the reason its quoted spread can be so low. Put the two together and a EUR/USD round turn works out at approx. 0.7 pips, which is the figure worth comparing against other brokers.

An advertised minimum is the best price a broker has ever quoted, not the price you will get. On our record its measured average on EUR/USD is approx. 0.1 pips, Raw, and approx. 0.3 pips, Raw on GBP/USD. Spreads are variable, so they move with liquidity and widen around releases and the daily rollover.

Positions held overnight accrue a swap, and swap-free accounts are available for clients who need them. Currency conversion applies where your account and the instrument use different currencies, which is a charge worth avoiding by funding in the currency you actually trade.

Platforms and tools8.8/10

Tickmill runs MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Tickmill Trader, TradingView, MetaTrader WebTrader. Both MetaTrader versions are available, which matters more than it sounds: an expert advisor written for MT4 will not run on MT5, so a trader arriving with existing software needs the specific version it was written for. TradingView integration means you can analyse and execute in the same window rather than charting in one tool and trading in another.

Automation is supported: yes. There is API access (yes, institutional/FIX API connectivity) for anyone connecting their own software. Copy trading is available through Yes, Tickmill Social Trading, which is the alternative to writing rules yourself.

Charting runs to 80+ Tickmill Trader WebTrader. Additional tools include TradingView, Acuity Trading, Advanced Trading Toolkit, Signal Centre, VPS. On mobile: both proprietary and third-party.

Markets, leverage and execution7.6/10

Tickmill covers Forex, Stocks, ETFs, Stock Indices, Commodities, Metals, Bonds, Cryptocurrencies. That comes to 600+ instruments in total. On the currency side specifically it lists 62 pairs. Breadth is worth less than depth in the markets you actually trade - a hundred instruments priced well beats a thousand you will never open.

Leverage runs to 1:1000 on the entity that offers most. That does not improve your expected return; it lowers the deposit a given position requires, and shortens the move needed to close you out. Whatever the headline, the number that governs your position is the margin requirement on the specific instrument - it is always lower on shares and crypto than on major currency pairs.

Execution is hybrid market maker / STP, meaning the broker is the counterparty to your trade rather than routing it to an external venue. It is a legitimate and very common model, and it is worth knowing which one you are dealing with. Measured speed is 150ms. Its servers sit in london and other global financial data centres, which is what determines latency more than any software choice.

Order types available: market, limit, stop, stop-limit, stop-loss, take-profit, trailing stop. Stops and limits are table stakes; what separates platforms is whether the ones you rely on are there and how quickly they can be modified once a position is open.

Accounts

Account types run to Raw, Classic, TradingView Raw, Islamic, Demo. The minimum deposit is $100. The smallest position it will take is 0.01 lots, which is what actually governs how precisely you can size risk on a small account.

A demo account is available, which is the cheapest way to find out whether the platform suits you. Swap-free Islamic accounts are offered. Professional classification is available for clients who qualify, which lifts leverage caps and lowers the protections that come with retail status - a trade rather than an upgrade. Opening takes typically a few minutes.

Accounts can be denominated in USD, EUR, GBP, ZAR. Funding in the currency you trade removes a conversion charge from every position, which is a small saving repeated indefinitely.

Deposits and withdrawals

Deposits can be made by Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller, Sticpay, cryptocurrency and regional payment methods. They clear in instant for most cards/e-wallets.

Withdrawals go out by bank transfer, Visa/Mastercard, Skrill, Neteller, Sticpay, crypto and supported regional methods. Expect usually processed within 1 business day. The minimum withdrawal is $25. Check the withdrawal routes rather than the deposit ones. They are frequently not the same list, anti-money-laundering rules usually require funds to return the way they came, and the difference only becomes apparent at the point you want your money back.

Local payment methods include regional bank transfers, mobile/e-wallet services and country-specific payment methods - which matters more than it looks if you are outside the broker's home market, since an international wire is slow and expensive compared with a domestic transfer.

Support and education6.4/10

Support runs 24/5, which covers the trading week but not the weekend - relevant if you hold positions through it, and particularly if you trade crypto. You can reach them by live chat, email, phone, contact form. Live chat typically answers in under 2 minutes. Support is offered in multilingual.

Its education is substantial - webinars, seminars, ebooks, video tutorials, articles, forex glossary, technical and fundamental analysis - which is the difference between a broker that will teach you and one that will simply take the deposit. Research output covers Extensive: Market Insights, Acuity Trading, Signal Centre, technical/fundamental analysis, calculators and market commentary.

The company behind the brand

The company behind the brand is Tickmill Ltd, registered as 8414279-1. It operates from London, United Kingdom. It has been trading since 2014, so there is about 12 years of record to look at.

It sits within Tickmill Group. It is privately held, so its finances are not published the way a listed group's are. Headcount is in the 330+ range.

You may also see it under Tickmill. Brands and legal entities rarely map one to one in this industry, and the name on the website is not always the name on the client agreement.