- Min. Deposit: $100
- Max. Leverage: 1:400
- Headquarter: Warren, New Jersey
- Product: Forex, Indices, Stocks, Cryptocurrency, Commodities
73-77% of retail CFD accounts lose money
Our Take on FOREX.com
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).
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 73-77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
The products and services available to you at FOREX.com will depend on your location and on which of its regulated entities holds your account
FOREX.com Pros and Cons
Pros
✅ Wide range of product offerings
✅ Rebates for high-volume traders
✅ Diverse technical research tools
Cons
❌ High stock CFD fees
❌ Desktop platform not user-friendly
FOREX.com Highlights for 2024
- FOREX.com stood out as a highly stable broker. Various regulators, including multiple top-tier authorities, oversee its subsidiaries. In addition, FOREX.com is a part of New York-based StoneX, a company with 2020 revenues of over $54 billion.
- FOREX.com provides a robust proprietary platform and an impressive range of tools, such as Trading Central and Trading Performance Analytics.
- Research and education materials at FOREX.com are first class, better than the average for the industry.
- Flexible account types enable FOREX.com to cater to both beginners and advanced traders.
- Tight spreads, fast execution, and a range of powerful platforms and tools make this broker appealing to advanced traders.
- Beginners can benefit from in-depth educational courses, live webinars, and reliable customer support.
What Sets FOREX.com Apart?
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.
Forex.com Main Features
| ☑️ Regulations | FCA (United Kingdom), NFA (United States), CIMA (Cayman Islands), CySEC (Cyprus), CIRO (Canada) |
| 🗺 Supported Languages | English, Russian, French, Polish, Arabic, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, German |
| 💰 Products | Forex, Stocks, Crypto, Indices, Commodities |
| 💵 Min Deposit | $100 |
| 💹 Max Leverage | 1:30 (FCA), 1:30 (ASIC), 1:20 (MAS), 1:400 (CIMA), 1:30 (CySEC), 1:50 (IIROC) |
| 📊 Trading Platforms | MT4, MT5, WebTrader, Mobile App |
| 💳 Deposit Options | Debit/Credit Card, Bank transfer, Skrill, Neteller |
| 🤴 Demo Account | Yes |
Trust
Entities of FOREX.com are regulated by the following authorities:
- StoneX Financial Ltd. is authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), with FCA Register Number: 446717. We rate FCA as a Tier 1 regulator.
- StoneX Europe Ltd. is authorized and regulated by the Cyprus Securities & Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license number 400/21. We rate CySEC as a Tier 1 regulator.
- FOREX.com Canada Ltd. is a member of the Canadian Investment Regulatory Organization (CIRO) and a member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.
- GAIN Capital Group LLC (DBA FOREX.com) is a registered FCM and RFED with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and a member of the National Futures Association (NFA # 0339826). We rate the CFTC and NFA as Tier 1 regulators.
- GAIN Global Markets Inc. is authorized and regulated by the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) with license number 25033. We rate CIMA as a Tier 3 regulator.
Fees
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.
Fees Overview
| Average Spread EUR/USD - Standard | 1 pip |
|---|---|
| Active Trader or VIP Discounts | Yes, as much as 15% for the most active traders. The discount is scaled based on volume, starting at just $10 million in volume per month; this appears to be lower than a previous threshold of $50 million in monthly trading volume |
| Inactivity Fee | $15 per month after 12 months of inactivity |
| Withdrawal Fees | Sources of funds are first returned to their original source of deposit. Excess funds can be withdrawn by bank transfer or wire transfer, although there is a limit of $25,000 per transaction for bank transfers. There are also outgoing wire fees, as outlined below. |
| Wire Fees | Outgoing wire fee is $25 for U.S. wires; $40 outside U.S., including Canada. $100 minimum (or €100 /£100 for accounts in those denominations) for outgoing wires, unless account balance is less than $100 |
| Overnight Financing Costs | Varies by market |
Tradable Instruments
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:
- 80+ Currency Pairs. A currency pair combines two different currencies, with the value of one currency quoted against the other. For example, EUR/USD, which reflects the value of the euro measured in dollars.
- 10+ Commodity CFDs. Commodities are raw products, such as gold and oil.
- 5,500 Global Stock CFDs. A stock is a security that represents partial ownership of a corporation. Keep in mind that when trading stock CFDs, you are speculating on the price of a stock without actually taking ownership of the underlying company.
- 15+ Index CFDs. An index is a basket of trading instruments used to gauge a market sector, stocks within an exchange, or a country’s economy.
- 12 Cryptocurrency CFDs. Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are digital currencies secured by cryptography.
Customer Support
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.
Account Types and Terms
FOREX.com offers three main account types to cater to different trader profiles: the Standard Account, MetaTrader Account, and Raw Spreads account. Spreads are the same between Standard and MT4 accounts.
- Standard: A traditional foreign exchange trading account where there is no trading cost other than the variable bid/offer spread, which can be as low as 1 pip.
- RAW pricing: Offers reduced spreads, which can be as low as 0.0 on EUR/USD, in exchange for a fixed commission of $5 per $100,000 of currency traded.
- MetaTrader: MetaTrader is a popular third-party trading platform, priced the same as traditional foreign exchange accounts, where the spread is the cost to the trader. Users can use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 platforms.
Research
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:
- Technical Insight provides actionable technical analysis, educational guidance, and customizable alerts.
- Market Buzz helps traders see what is driving markets with compelling data visualizations.
- Analyst Views combines proprietary pattern recognition with the expertise of senior market analysts.
We rate Trading Central as a valuable tool with plenty of actionable ideas for traders to draw from.
Education
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.
The Bottom Line
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.