Best Forex Brokers in December 2023 • Benzinga

Want the best forex brokers? Forex trading is arguably one of the easiest financial markets to begin trading in. To get started, you just need to open and fund an account with a regulated online broker. Choosing the best forex broker to trade forex does require some initial research to find the one most suitable for your trading needs and experience level.

Benzinga’s picks for the best forex brokers appear below along with details about each broker and their trading platforms. As you read through your options, remember that the majority of forex trading platforms can help you open a basic account and begin your investing journey.

With these brokerage options, you are choosing based on the services and extras they provide above and beyond what a traditional broker would do. Some brokers include advanced trading tools like TradingView, as well as a CRM system to manage your forex trades, currency pairs, and foreign exchange rates. Here is who made the list:

FOREX.com is a subsidiary of StoneX (NASDAQ: SNEX) and ranks as the best overall forex broker.

FOREX.com caters to forex traders with a wide selection of tradable currencies, low account minimums, and a notable trading platform. It’s a suitable option for brokers seeking a home base for their currency trading. FOREX.com offers a comprehensive education and research center with free forex trading courses at various skill levels, which both new and experienced traders can benefit from.

AvaTrade, one of the most secure brokers in the industry, carries 7 regulations across 6 continents (Europe, Australia, Japan, British Virgin Islands, UAE and South Africa). You’ll be pleasantly surprised by its asset availability, leading platforms and generous trading conditions (you can leverage your positions up to 400:1).

When you want to access the forex market and make the most of it, you can use FxGlory to grow your portfolio and serve any trading strategy you prefer to use. Pattern day traders, scalpers and swing traders can use this platform along with anyone else who believes that they should diversify with the forex market. There’s more than enough tools for all traders, and you can use MT4 or MT5 as you trade with high leverage, no commissions, low spreads and fast execution. 

Aside from forex, you can also trade crypto and commodities like gold, silver, platinum and more. You can review news items, reach out to the customer support team at any time and even try automated trading (and a range of other trading tools) when using this platform. Users may also take advantage of a free VPS, if they feel it will help them grow their portfolios. With all these options, you can quickly build your portfolio or transition to this platform today.

Plus500 is a derivatives broker based in Europe that offers forex trading (and more) for a host of traders, especially the most advanced traders or those who prefer to trade on mobile. The platform has all the information you need on the assets in which you choose to invest, and you can start buying into the foreign currency market if you’ve always planned to add currency pairs to your portfolio.

Demo accounts help you practice if you’re new to the platform, but you will find that there are not as many educational tools as you need to start afresh. Therefore, new traders may want to look elsewhere while the experts use Plus500 to profit more from these unique assets.

Offering over 200 assets with which you can trade, OctaFX, allows you to diversify your portfolio and build value all in one interface.

You have access to trade multiple assets including crypto CFDs, 40 forex pairs, and copy trading. You can use this platform to look into other investment choices as your budget allows, making it possible for you to learn, study and invest in your own time. When you want to try something new, you can start with Octa FX and begin a new investment journey or keep many of your most unique investments in one place.

JustMarkets is an international broker that has gained a sizable following in Asia. The company recently rebranded from JustForex in order to support its expansion efforts. JustMarkets is available in over 200 countries, offering customers tight spreads, a wide range of assets, four different account types, and access to both MetaTrader 4 and 5.

The customer service is available 24/7 and provides support in English, Indonesian, and Malaysian. JustMarkets was awarded “Best Broker in Africa” by UF Awards in 2023 and “Best Broker in Asia” by The Ultimate Best Brokers and B2B Fintech Awards in 2022.

eToro specializes in social trading, which is ideal for beginners since you can follow the trades of expert traders with a proven track record. In addition to its world-class social trading network, this broker has excellent educational resources for forex beginners. Their intuitive multi-asset trading and social trading platforms and apps can be used by anyone immediately. Unfortunately, they do not support the MetaTrader 4 and 5 (MT4 and MT5) trading platforms.

***Disclaimer: 76% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing money.

HYCM is at top-rated forex trading broker offering investors access to 69 currency pairs. In addition to forex trading, HYCM provides its customers with leverage stock trading, ETFs, commodities and more. Signing up for an account is fast and easy — you can open a foreign exchange account in just 10 minutes.

With a customizable fee system, this FX trading platform has something to offer everyone, including experienced and new investors. The platform contains plenty of educational materials and investing resources for all its users. Unfortunately, HYCM does not serve customers in the USA; however, it is a great choice for individuals living in 140 other countries.

Interactive Brokers is a premier broker for trading forex, stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrency, bonds, options, futures, and more. Clients have access to 100+ tradeable currency pairs, tight spreads as narrow as 1/10 PIP, real time quotes from 17 of the world’s largest FX dealers, and low commissions with no hidden spreads or markups.

IG Markets gives clients access to trade up to 80 different currency pairs. The broker requires a $250 minimum deposit.

IG Group accepts U.S.-based clients due to oversight from the CFTC and NFA. IG holds your money in segregated accounts under trustee arrangements for added security. In addition to its proprietary trading platform, IG offers support for 3rd-party forex platforms such as MetaTrader 4 and ProRealTime. It also allows application programming interface (API) trading. IG offers a variety of investment choices for forex trades.

XTB is a quality platform that helps you reach more than 2,000 financial instruments and over 50 currency pairs. You’re allowed to trade on the xStation 5 standard trading platform and xStation Mobile so that you can trade on your timeline and with the equipment at your disposal.

While you can make a deposit with a card, you can also get 1:500 leverage, real-time market information and 0% commissions for forex, indices and commodities. Spreads range from 0.5 to 0.7.

With no minimum deposit, you can start trading in your own time with your budget, without feeling as though you’re underfunded.

While investors from over 80 countries can sign up on IFC Markets, it is an amazing place for Canadian traders to work on their portfolios. Because many Canadian traders need specialized accounts, IFC Markets put you in touch with synthetic assets, crypto CFDs and much more. You can also use MT 4 or MT5 if you would prefer. There’s also NetTradeX for those who prefer that platform.

1:8 leverage allows you to build a stronger portfolio much faster, and you’ll find that the platform works best for intraday, mid-day and small-volume traders. If you feel like this is you, you can try IFC Markets today.

FXCC is the best brokerage for non-U.S. users, allowing you to choose from 70 currency pairs, several CFD options, spot metals and the top 8 cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin are just a taste of the popular cryptocurrencies that are available. You might also invest in 12 popular stock indices, spot WTI and Brent crude oil.

RoboForex is a global multi-asset trading platform that runs on MT4 and MT5. It operates in various countries and claims more than 10,000 users. Traders can trade forex and contracts for difference (CFDs) — and do so in multiple languages. The platform was started in 2009 and is located in Belize.

Trade Nation is a unique and powerful forex and CFD broker that offers fixed spreads and a transparent fee schedule. This means that you know how much you’ll be spending, you can calculate your overhead costs and taken better control of your portfolio.

The platform is all online, and you can easily set up your demo account if you need to practice. There’s over 1000 markets where you can trade, and you can even experiment with CFDs if they are new to you. Just remember that the market is always fluctuating and you want to come back to use the Signal Centre as often as possible.

Retail forex brokers are financial institutions that act as an intermediary between individual trader clients and the foreign exchange market. These FX platforms have an online presence in the form of an official website and they target smaller traders who wish to operate in currency trading on a margin basis.

Online forex brokers generally allow traders to execute forex deals largely using their supported electronic trading platforms. In addition to offering their own proprietary trading software, many online forex brokers support popular 3rd party forex trading platforms like MetaTrader 4 and 5 (MT4/5) from MetaQuotes.

Some forex brokers also offer very useful educational information for beginners you can use to increase your knowledge about trading. They might also provide access to expert forex market analysis and financial news feeds to help you make better trading decisions.

If you choose a forex broker that uses automation, you can try trading bots. These bots are AI-enabled programs that use prevailing information to trade on your behalf, and each bot uses a specific trading plan that is designed to help increase your earnings. However, trading bots are not perfect. You must do your research, set a budget and monitor your account for the best results.

Making a forex transaction involves the simultaneous purchase of 1 currency and the sale of another at a given rate of exchange known as an exchange rate. Forex traders make a profit by buying 1 currency pair low and selling it high, or by selling 1 currency pair high and buying it low.

Many people like to trade forex because they can get started so easily by opening up a trading account and downloading a free forex platform like MetaTrader. You can get in and out of positions rather quickly, easily trade at your pace and make money based on your trading objective. This is often the place where investors start so they can get a handle on the currency market without feeling confused over the asset they’re trading.

The foreign exchange market has a unique set of pros and cons for traders that include those listed below.

• High leverage: Because exchange of currencies at the going market rate has no net value, the use of leverage in foreign exchange trading allows you to control quite large positions with a rather small margin deposit. This increases your risk but also lets you benefit from relatively small exchange rate movements.
• High liquidity: The forex market is the largest financial market in the world, so it has a very high level of liquidity in the major currency pairs. This allows for sizable transactions to be executed in those pairs at virtually any time during normal trading hours.
• Around-the-clock trading: The forex market remains open for trading at all times from 5 p.m. EST on Sunday until 5 p.m. EST on Friday, even during U.S. holidays. This provides constant trading opportunities during market hours.

• Fewer asset choices: While many stocks can be traded, only a relatively few currency pairs are available to forex traders, and not all of them are highly liquid like the majors.
• Volatility: Strong movements can occur in the forex market as new information is digested by participants. This volatility can result in unexpected gains or losses for traders.
• Unregulated OTC market: The Interbank forex market trades over the counter (OTC) and so it remains largely unregulated. Still, some regulations are put in place in many jurisdictions to protect retail traders making transactions through online brokers.

In the forex market, traders agree to exchange 1 currency for another to make a transaction in that currency pair at a particular level known as the exchange rate. Like stock prices, this exchange rate fluctuates based on supply and demand factors, as well as on the forex market’s overall expectations of future events.

Forex traders can make money on a currency transaction in 2 ways. First, if they buy or go long a currency and it goes up in value versus the sold currency, then they earn a profit. Second, if they sell or go short a currency and it goes down versus the bought currency, then they also profit.

Many currency pairs quoted in the forex market show substantial volatility or fluctuations, which can result in gains or losses for traders. You can review the EUR/USD pairing over the past week, month, year or more. Seeing the history of the pairing gives you quite a bit of information, and you can compare the stock’s movements to current events in either the U.S. or European Union.

During the comparison process, you may notice that the pairing moves inverse to the news you’re reading. As you read further, you learn how to anticipate where currencies will move based on current events.

Rewards are generated in forex trading when you take a long or short position in a currency pair that subsequently appreciates in value. The high level of risk in doing a forex transaction is when the market doesn’t perform as expected once you have done a forex trade.

Many brokers allow traders to magnify the gains or losses they take on a position via the use of leverage. Leverage is typically expressed as the ratio of the size of a position you can control by placing one unit of base currency on deposit as margin. Hence, a 500:1 leverage ratio would mean that you can control a $500 position with a $1 margin deposit.

Furthermore, most successful traders have a minimum risk/reward ratio for a trade before they will consider taking it, such as 1:2 or 1:3. For example, if you think the chances of a trade making 20 pips is around the same as the chances of it losing 10 pips, then your risk/reward ratio of that trade is 1:2. If that meets your risk/reward ratio criteria, then you might consider that trade worthy of executing.

Since your forex broker will be your primary trading partner, you want to choose one carefully to make sure they are reputable and will fit your requirements and trading strategies. Open a demo account with an online broker you’re thinking of using to see whether it is a good fit. Demo account trading can also help prevent potentially costly errors that might arise from you being unfamiliar with the broker’s trading platform.

These top brokers were chosen for this review for various reasons depending on the specific category in which we felt they excelled. Baseline requirements included the strength of their regulatory environment, their generally good overall reputation with clients earned over an extended period and a substantial number of currency pairs available for trading.