Our Take

FOREX.com is a well-ꦜestablished retail foreign exchange๊ broker that has several major licenses from highly regarded regulators in the U.S., U.K., Japan, Canada, and Australia. It offers very fast trade execution, along with good charting, news from Reuters, and proprietary research.

Further, in addition to FOREX.com’s desktop, web, and mobile apps, customers can also use MetaTrader platforms, whichℱ provide a high level of customization, including the ability to build sophisticated trading algorithms. These features will appeal to more experienced traders, but newer traders who want exposure to foreign exch꧋ange markets would also benefit from the easy-to-use platforms and better-than-average educational materials.

Finally, highe﷽r-volume, higher-balance customers can earn interest on unused cash balances and receive rebates on their trading costs based on volume. 

Pros & Cons

Pros Explained 

• Good trade execution and solid platforms: FOREX.com offers clients multiple platform options that are powerful, easy to use, and provide excellent trade execution.
• Access to over 80 currency pairs for U.S. traders: U.S. traders have access to over 80 spot currency pairs. International customers also have multiple contracts for differences (CFDs) available to trade.
• Proprietary research for clients: FOREX.com conducts its own proprietary research that it makes available to its clients to help generate trading ideas.
• Performance Analytics to help traders improve: FOREX.com’s Performance Analytics (formerly known as Chasing Returns; FOREX.com acquired the former in 2021) uses artificial intelligence to scrutinize an individual trader’s trading compared to their trading plan and provides insights about good and bad trading habits that can help improve the customer’s trading.

Cons Explained 

• No account protection for U.S. clients: FOREX.com customers in the U.S. are not protected against their accounts going negative, where the customer will have to pay the additional capital to meet their trading obligations. This is in contrast to FOREX.com customers in the U.K. and other countries, where customer losses are limited to the account’s capital.
• High balance needed for interest on unused cash: You need to be a VIP client to qualify for interest on unused cash balances. This requires at least $10 million in monthly trading, an initial account deposit of at least $10,000, or an average monthly balance of at least $25,000 to qualify for interest on unused cash.  
• High trading volume required for discounts: Traders need to trade at least $10 million in currencies per month to begin receiving high trading volume discounts.
• No guaranteed stop-loss orders for U.S. clients: Overseas customers of FOREX.com have access to guaranteed stop-loss orders, where they pay an additional fee if their orders are executed. Guaranteed stop-loss orders are not available to FOREX.com’s U.S. customers.
• Product offerings for U.S. clients are limited to spot forex trades: Spot currencies are the only product available to U.S. customers, and there is no access to cryptocurrencies, futures, fixed income instruments, or other markets on the FOREX.com platform.

Introduction

FOREX.com was established in 2004 by Gain Capital, which was subsequently taken over in 2020 by StoneX, a NASDAQ company that trades under the symbol SNEX with a market capitalization of nearly $2.5 billion. StoneX and FOREX.com are headquartered in New York City. Prior to its purchase by StoneX, Gain Capital acquired Fortune Capital in 2008 in Japan, where it launched FOREX.com. FOREX.com launched in the U.K. in 2009. Gain Capital made other acquisitions as well, including Open ECry in 2012, FX Solutions and GFT in 2013, CityIndex in 2014, and foreign exchange broker FXCM in 2017. 

Today, FOREX.com is one of the most 🅷popular retail foreign exchange brokers, with more than 450,000 customers across 21 countries and more than 4,300 employees, including analyticꦅs and research teams. FOREX.com operates globally, with strict licenses from the U.K., U.S., Japan, and Australia, as well as several other regulatory bodies.

The various countries where FOREX.com does business have varying regulatory standards, hence, there are differences in product offerings across markets. In the U.S., FOREX.com offers customers access to over 80 currency pairs, while in other countries, including the U.K., FOREX.com also offers leveraged products, such as spread trading and contracts for difference (CFℱDs). Access to trade stocks, commodities, and bonds is available through a StoneX account, but foreign exchange trading takes place on FOREX.com platforms only.

Usability

FOREX.com systems and platforms are easy to use, even if there is a single platform needed for currency trading. The 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:account-opening process is relatively straightforward and done electronically. However, there are some address verification and other steps required to meet anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) rules. Those looking to fund their account via a debit card will also need an additional verification process that may throw some people off.&🍨nbsp;

FORౠEX.com offers a desktop platform, a web interface, and a mobile app for all account types, all of which are intuitive and easy to use. The platforms mirror each other across desktop, web, and mobile, providing a seamless experience. These systems are designed to help traders navigate the often fast-paced, high-volume foreign exchange markets.

Trade Experience

FOREX.com provides a seamless trading experience, regardless of the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:platform used. In addition to its own platforms, FOREX.com also offers MetaTrad📖er, a third-party app that has sophisticated trading tools, including those for strategy automation. MꩲetaTrader 4 and 5 are both available, as some users prefer the older platform, which syncs with the MetaTrader mobile app.

Other third-party apps such as NinjaTrader are also supported, and there are APIs to further support clients. Trading is fast and precise, and orders, positions, and purchasing power are all real-time and easy to navigate. Further, FOREX.com supports electronic advisors, which are automated trading algorithms that can be incorporated into a t⭕rading system. The section on portfolio analysis, below, outlines a Performance Analytics feature that helps traders understand their personal trading.

Desktop Trade Experience

The desktop experience consists of FOREX.com's own platform, or the use of MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5, popular third-party clients. Users who choose the MetaTrader platforms have tremendous flexibility, including the ability to incorporate existing trading algorithms or develop their own automated strategies. The charting and trading platforms work well and are intuitive, offering chart drawing tools and the ability to trade directly from charts. Additionally, clients who trade via FOREX.com’s web platform can take full advantage of TradingView’s advanced charting capabilities, seamlessly integrated into the web client.

Mobile Trade Experience

FOREX.com’s proprietary mobile app is exceptional, offering excellent customizability and the right mix of what matters most in an intuitive mobile expe🌊rience, including robust portfolio analysis and risk management capabilities, deep research, easy-to-digest e💝ducation, innovative tools and features, and more.

The mobile trading experience mode🎃ls the desktops, so they are also easy to use and trade on. With🌟 both desktop and mobile trading on FOREX.com, there are fewer products to trade, so it allows for a more streamlined interface, even though there is still plenty of content to view, including news, research, charts, positions, and the actual trading markets. In all, FOREX.com’s mobile app and the MetaTrader mobile app both work well, as would be expected. 

Regulation and Security 

Regulation adherence and security are key factors in our forex broker rankings, as brokers in different jurisdictions face different levels of regulatory scrutiny. FOREX.com is considered a trustworthy broker, as it holds multiple well-regarded licenses globally, including top licenses from the FCA in the U.K.; the NFA in the U.S.; the MAS in Singapore; and the ASIC in Australia. The company also holds licenses in Cyprus, Japan, Canada, and the Cayman Islands. These licenses are a good indication that a broker doesn’t engaꦑge in fund𝓡 commingling and follows proper capitalization and reserves rules. 

Range of Offerings

In the U.S., FOREX.com only offers access to over 80 currency pairs. In other countries, including the U.K., FOREX.com’s offerings are more broad, and include spreads and CFDs. Additionally, StoneX customers get access to multiple global markets, including equity, fixed income, and futures and options on futures, although a StoneX account is required for that. Conversely, even for StoneX users, foreign exchange trading isꦫ only available on FOREX.com.

Order Types

FOREX.com offers many 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:order types to provide maximum �♉�flexibility to its customers. FOREX.com supports:

• Basic buy and sell orders
• Limit orders
• Stop-loss orders
• Trailing stops
• Time in force orders, such as good ‘til canceled, immediate or cancel, fill or kill, or good ‘til date
• Conditional orders, such as one-cancels-other or one-triggers-other

Trading Technology

The trading technology at FOREX.com is robust, as the platform typically o🐽ffers narrow spreads and very fast execution, and shows balances and buying power in real time. One hundred percent of FOREX.com trades were executed, with 99.12% of trades executed in less than one second, and with an average price improvement of 0.78 pips per limit order. In addition to the ability to trade directly from charts, technology also includes paper trading accounts so traders can become familiar with spot currency trading before committing real capital. MetaTrader brings an additional layer of advanced capabilities to FOREX.com clients, as traders can create sophisticated algorithmic trading rules that can run automatically.  

FOREX.com does not offer trading journals or tax accounting tools, and the platform does not suppor🐽t backtesting of strategies.

Costs

• A spread-only account is 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.
• The RAW pricing account offers reduced spreads, which can be as low as 0.0 on EUR/USD, in exchange for a fixed commission of $7 per $100,000 of currency traded. 
• MetaTrader accounts are priced as traditional foreign exchange accounts, where the spread is the cost to the trader. MetaTrader is a popular third-party trading platform, Users can use MetaTrader 4 or MetaTrader 5 (some still prefer the older version).
• For active traders, VIP status offers account owners interest on available margin balances up to 4.5% APY, cash rewards based on trading volume, a dedicated relationship manager, and invitations to special events. To qualify for VIP status, you need to make an initial deposit of $10,000, maintain an average monthly balance of $25,000, or have a monthly trading volume that exceeds $50 million.

Costs Overview

Account and Research Amenities

There are a number of account and research amenities available on FOREX.com, including excellent charting, proprietary research, specialized tools to analyze your trading, as well as news☂ feeds and educational resources. We will now review some of these features and fꦑunctionality in greater detail.

Forex Screener

FOREX.com has its own team of analysts, who provide continuous c⭕overage of the foreign exchange markets and are constantly recommending ideas, but there is no automated forex screener.

Tools and Calculators

FOREX.com offers a pivot point calculator to help identify trading levels. In addition, there is a margin and pip calculator so traders can understan💖d exactly how much is at risk for each pip of market movement. There is also a currency conversion calculator. 

Charting

FOREX.com has strong charting programs, which include the ability to draw trendlines, apply more than 80 technical indicators, and more than 50 drawing tools. Further, multiple chart formats can be saved, and you can trade directly from charts. The system also offers basic alerts and watchlists, 🐬which work seamlessly across the corresponding platform apps.

News

All FOREX.com customerﷺs have free access ౠto Reuters news, as well as market calendars.

Third-Party Research

While many online brokers make third-party research available on their platforms, FOREX.com provides its own research to traders. This information is made available for traders on the pl♑atform. The company also provides trading levels and social sentiment analysis for currencies. There are multiple content types, including daily programming with news and market strategies, as well as continual coverage of important economics data releases, such as non-farm payroll reports, inflation, and GDP figures.

Social and Copy Trading Capabilities

FOREX.com does not support much in the way of social and copy trading capabilities, which enable traders to exactly 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:replicate🐽 the strategies of other traders. However, it does have a SMART Signals feature, which shows algorithmic buy and sell signals on 2♏3 global foreign exchange pairs, 🐬as well as 10 major stock indices and gold.

There are no community forums on FOREX.com.

Funding Methods

Accounts at FOREX.com can be funded in multiple ways. FOREX.com recommends ACH bank transfers, but direct wire transfers, and debit card deposits up to $10,000 are also supported. FOREX.com does not accept checks to fund accounts, but it does support Paypal and Skrill for deposits and withdrawals. The minimum deposit amount is $100, although FOREX.com recommends funding accounts with at least $2,500.

Portfolio Analysis

While FOREX.com has basic tools for checking portfolio balances, positions, and the use of margin in real time, there is nothing noteworthy about its portfolio analysis offering. The Performance Analytics technology, acquired by StoneX in 2011, is a unique tool that can help traders improve their skills based on analytics on their specific trades; it also encompasses the emotional element of trading for that individual trader. Performance Aꦡnalytics will benefit traders who make the effort to utilize the planning and analytical tools within this feature.

Education

FOREX.com provides educational content in many forms, including FAQs, articles, videos, and webinars. Information is generally easy to understand and well-structured for clients with various levels of experience, allowing traders to build up their knowledge base and learn more over time. In addition to common educational themes such as technical and fundamental analysis, as well as guides to various platforms, 🦹there is also practical content on position-building and management.

Customer Service

FOREX.com offers solid customer service, providing 24/5 phone support from Sunday at 5 p.m. ET through Friday at 5 p.m. ET, including most U.S. holidays. Support is also available via live chat, chatbot, and email, although these options have slower response times. As is usual for brokerage companies, the more trading volume and price volatility, the more likely it is that there will be longer wait times for s🎀upport, but FOREX.com is known to be💛 fairly responsive.

The support page has separate tabs for support, a currency converter, a margin and pip calculator, market hours, service updates, and popular FAQs. FOREX.com has an excellent rating from Trustpilot, scoring 4.7 (81% of reviews award 5 stars and 5% 4 stars).

Transparency 

FOREX.com is generally regarded as a transparent broker, but it is still advisable to do your own due di🍷ligence for the latest information on fees, deposits, and withdrawals. The account structures are clearly outlined and in our review, it was relatively easy to look up other information pertinent to the account, such as intraday leverage power, margin/overnight rates, various fees, and funding options. There were, however, some instances where differing information exists on the FOREX.com website for the same information, so the company could benefit by ensuring consistency and accuracy.

Available Account Types

Individual, corporate, and IRA accounts are available to U.S. customers of FOREX.com, and there are ൲three different account types to choose from.

• Spread-only: 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 $7 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 (some still prefer the older platform).

There is also VIP status available for active traders, It offers account owners interest on available margin balances up to 4.5% APY, cash rewards based on trading volume, a dedicated relationship manager, and invitations to special events. To qualify for VIP status, you need to make an initial deposit of $10,000, maintain an average monthly balance of $25,000, or have a 𝓰monthly trading volume that exceeds $50 million.

For all of these account types, web, mobile, and desktop platforms are available. Further, all accounts receive multiple amenities, including Trading Central, which is a charting and technical tool for analyzing and identifying trades and potential trading levels; a fully integrated calend�🥂�ar; Reuters news; proprietary research; and account management tools. 

The spread-only and RAW pricing accounts also offer access to Performance Analytics, which helps analyze past trades to help better 🎀inform future trading decisions. 

The Bottom Line

FOREX.com is a solid choice for traders, especially when it comes tꦏo mobile trading. The company has a long and well-regarded history, adheres to legal requirements such segregation of client funds, and holds highly-regarded licenses from the U.S., the U.K., and other regulators worldwide. FOREX.c♍om also offers customers fast execution, very tight pricing spreads, and real-time monitoring of positions and available leverage. Regular spread customers can trade for very low transaction costs.

In addition, FOREX.com offers customers its own platforms or the ability to use MarketTrader as their interface, which provides significant customization opportunities, and the ability to develop automated trading algorithms. Finally, the ability to analyze and learn about your trading through the company's Performance Analytics tool may help traders learn more about their positive and negative trading tendencies, and possibly to alter trading plans accordingly. 

Compare FOREX.com to Similar Forex Brokers

How We Chose the Best Brokers for Forex Trading

ꩲ Our commitment to providing unbiased, comprehensive reviews of forex brokers is rooted in extensive research and expert analysis. We evaluated 18 forex brokers based on rigorous criteria, focusing on key aspects such as regulatory oversight, costs, trading experience, and available offerings. Our methodology ensures that our recommendations are based on reliable data and a thorough understanding of the industry.

To gather data, we sent a questionnaire to each of the 18 brokers, covering multiple areas critical to a forex trader's experience. Our researchers and editors verified the responses and supplemented the data with additional online research and direct communication with each broker. This research was conducted between May 13 and July 30, 2024, ensuring that our evaluations reflect current information.

Our proprietary scoring model evaluated eac꧙h broker across 11 major categories and 73 weighted criteria, plus an 𒊎additional 15 non-weighted criteria. The overall ratings are a weighted average of the weighted criteria, ensuring a balanced and fair assessment.

Some brokers also demonstrated their platforms live via videoconferencing, and our experts conducted hands-on testing with live accounts to further validate the platforms' functionality and user experience. This comprehensive approach allows us to present an unbiased, detailed review of today's best forex brokers.

For more information, read our full 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:methodology explanation.