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FX fee calculator

What one round-turn forex trade costs at each broker, with the spread, the commission and the conversion fee added up rather than quoted separately.

Brokers advertise one number and charge three. A raw-spread account quoting 0.0 pips takes its money in commission; a zero-commission account takes it in the spread. Neither figure is comparable to the other on its own.

Pick a broker and this adds up all three from what that broker publishes, and converts the total back into pips so two different pricing models can be held against each other.

lots

One standard lot is 100,000 units of the base currency.

account ccy

About $10 for a dollar-quoted pair in a dollar account. Work it out on the pip value calculator.

account ccy

Only if your profit is in a different currency from your account. Leave at zero if they match.

Total round-turn cost$7.00
Spread
$2.00
Commission
$5.00
Conversion fee
$0.00
Only where the broker publishes a percentage.
All-in cost, in pips
0.7
The figure that compares two pricing models.

Spread and commission are the selected broker's own published figures.

A model, not a quote. Every figure here comes from what a broker publishes or what you type, and real fills, spreads and rates move.

The formula

Spread cost
spread in pips × pip value per lot × lots
Commission
round-turn commission per lot × lots
Conversion
amount converted × conversion fee %
All-in, in pips
total cost ÷ (pip value per lot × lots)

How to use it

  1. Choose the brokerThe spread, commission and conversion fee are filled in from that broker's published figures. Where a broker describes its conversion fee in words rather than as a percentage, the field is left out and the page says so.
  2. Set the trade size in lotsCosts scale linearly with size, so the interesting comparison is usually at the size you actually trade rather than at one lot.
  3. Set the pip valueRoughly 10 units of account currency per standard lot on a pair quoted in your account currency. If that is not your situation, the pip value calculator gives the exact figure.
  4. Add the converted amount, if anyTrade a pair that settles in a currency your account is not denominated in and the broker converts the result. That conversion has a cost, and it is the one nobody includes.
  5. Read the all-in figure in pipsThis is the number that lets you compare a commission-free account against a raw-spread one. Everything else on the page is working.

One lot of EUR/USD, two pricing models

A raw-spread account quotes 0.1 pips and charges $7 round turn. One standard lot with a $10 pip value costs $1 in spread and $7 in commission: $8 all in, or 0.8 pips.

A commission-free account quoting 1.2 pips costs $12 and nothing else: 1.2 pips all in. The account advertising zero commission is half as expensive again.

Reverse it at ten lots and nothing changes, because both scale together. What does change the answer is a conversion fee, which scales with the amount converted rather than with the number of lots.

Published spreads are averages, not quotes

Every spread here is the broker's own published average. Real spreads widen around economic releases, at the session rollover and whenever liquidity thins, and none of that is in the figure.

Treat the result as a comparison between brokers under similar conditions, not as a prediction of what your next fill will cost.

Common questions

Why is the total shown in pips as well as money?

Because it is the only way to compare a commission-based account with a spread-based one. Money answers what this trade costs; pips answer which broker is cheaper.

Is commission per side or round turn?

Round turn: the full cost of opening and closing. Where a broker publishes only a per-side figure it is doubled, and where it publishes both the explicit round-turn number is used.

Why do some brokers have no conversion fee shown?

Because they describe it in prose rather than as a percentage. Of the brokers with usable cost data, only a minority publish a figure you can calculate with. That absence is itself worth knowing.

Does this include swap or overnight financing?

No. This is the cost of opening and closing. Financing accrues per night held and is a separate calculation entirely.

Why are some brokers missing from the list?

Because they publish their spread as "variable" or their commission as "account-dependent". A calculator that filled those in with a plausible number would be inventing data.

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