Are you looking for the best forex brokers in 2021? You are on the right page. Read our research of the top 5 forex brokers with customers and traders reviews. We checked and compared regulations, trading costs, platforms available for trading and popularity rating by their own customer’s. We are the only website publishing a full report with impartial reviews from customers trading with these brokers.
Where do these impartial reviews come from? We also run FXverify.com, a forex broker reviews website, part of our digital family. But FXverify.com does not print just any review. All the reviews posted (positive or negative) about a certain broker are from verified traders and customers of the broker. We do check to see that the trader posting the review is a trader or a customer of that broker by crosschecking the trader’s account. So, not only the reviews are impartial, but also from real, verified customers.
These complimentary reviews service allows us to better understand, from a trader’s perspective, what they like or dislike regarding a forex broker and its services. All the broker reviews websites have articles written by some professional content manager or written by the broker’s affiliates. Can you trust them to have your best interests at heart?
You can’t review a Ferrari’s performance if you’ve never driven one. We are the only website in this industry that can publish a forex broker reviews article that investors and beginners can rely on because real traders using such forex broker tell us what they think of it. Find out below who are the top 5 selected best forex brokers in 2021.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
IC Markets - True ECN trading platform with very low spreads. Reduced server latency. Great customer support.
Tickmill - Super-fast withdrawals. Robust regulations in place. Efficient customer support.
XM - Original loyalty points scheme. Fast deposits and withdrawals. Customer support in several languages.
FX Pro - Well-regulated forex broker. Fast customer support. Several types of trading platforms.
Roboforex - Great for beginners. Multiple account types, including cent accounts. Fast withdrawals and deposits. Free VPS service.
| Broker | IC Markets | Tickmill | XM | FxPro | Roboforex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.9 ⓘ Overall rating is an average of ratings from experts in 4 categories Pricing 5.0 / 5.0 Regulation 5.0 / 5.0 Popularity 5.0 / 5.0 User rating 4.7 / 5.0 Source: fxverify.com > ic-markets | 4.9 ⓘ Overall rating is an average of ratings from experts in 4 categories Pricing 5.0 / 5.0 Regulation 5.0 / 5.0 Popularity 4.7 / 5.0 User rating 4.8 / 5.0 Source: fxverify.com > tickmill | 4.8 ⓘ Overall rating is an average of ratings from experts in 4 categories Pricing 4.8 / 5.0 Regulation 5.0 / 5.0 Popularity 4.8 / 5.0 User rating 4.4 / 5.0 Source: fxverify.com > xm | 4.6 ⓘ Overall rating is an average of ratings from experts in 4 categories Pricing 4.5 / 5.0 Regulation 5.0 / 5.0 Popularity 4.5 / 5.0 User rating 4.4 / 5.0 Source: fxverify.com > fxpro | 4.8 ⓘ Overall rating is an average of ratings from experts in 4 categories Pricing 5.0 / 5.0 Regulation 5.0 / 5.0 Popularity 4.7 / 5.0 User rating 4.6 / 5.0 Source: fxverify.com > roboforex |
| User rating | 4.7 | 4.8 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.6 |
| Regulated | Australia | UK, Seychelles | UK, Australia, Cyprus | UK, UAE, Bahamas, Cyprus, South Africa | Belize, Cyprus |
| Minimum deposit | 200 | 100 | 100 | 500 | 0 |
| Cents accounts |  | | | |  |
| Max leverage | 500:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 | 500:1 | 1000:1 |
| Average spread (EUR/USD) | 0.1 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Forex trading | 60 pairs | 62 pairs | 55+ | 65+ | 40+ |
| Cryptocurrencies trading | 10 pairs | | | 5 pairs | 26 pairs |
| Precious metals trading | 5 pairs | 2 pairs | 2 pairs | 4 pairs | 2 pairs |
| Commodities trading | 19+ | 2 | 8 | 3 | 100+ |
| Stocks trading | 120+ | Indices only | 1000+ | 70+ | 12000+ |
| Regulatory deposit insurance | | | | | |
| Money segregation | | | | | |
| Negative balance protection | | | | | |
| % of clients losing money with this broker | N/D | 73% | 73.57% | 75.54% | N/D |
*User rating data supplied by FxVerify verified forex broker reviews by real customers.
What makes a forex broker a good one? Competitive trading fees? Any ongoing promotions? Fast withdrawals policy? A lot of currency pairs to trade? Yes, all these variables are important and account for when choosing the best broker. But, the most important factor, in our view, is how safe your money is with a forex broker.
Very much like when opening a bank account, you want to make sure that your broker of choice keeps your money safe. Don’t you? So, before we start reviewing our top 5 forex brokers in 2021, we will have a quick look at the key safety features offered by these brokers, including money segregation, deposit insurance and negative balance protection.
On the previous table, we compared brokers regarding the implementation of these safety mechanisms. To make this review as helpful as possible, we will now explain the definition of each protection mechanism and each term.
Deposit insurance - An insurance scheme designed to compensate clients for their deposits in the event the broker becomes insolvent.
Money segregation - A much lesser protection than the above yet still pertinent, this requires brokers to keep client deposits in a separate bank account than the company's operating capital. A broker must typically track and report on client deposit values daily. The broker is not supposed to spend client deposits.
Negative balance protection - Protects traders against incurring a negative balance and owing money to the broker.
Diversity is a must. If one market isn’t attractive enough, or if it’s stuck in a range trade, it’s always good to have more choices. Together with the traditional foreign exchange currency pairs, brokers are now offering the possibility of trading instruments that seemed impossible five years ago.
With a forex broker nowadays, you can trade not just the FX market, but also a great variety of CFDs in the commodities market, including soft and energy, precious metals, indices and stocks and also cryptocurrency.
But careful here. With the more traditional markets, brokers offer a more classic account type with higher leverage and smaller lot sizes. With CFDs in commodities, indices and shares markets, for example, the minimum lot size can be substantially bigger compared to the FX market, and leverage can be restricted and limited.
4.9
Score breakdown
Pricing: 5.0
Regulation: 5.0
Popularity: 5.0
User rating: 4.7
IC Markets is one of the world’s only True ECN forex brokers providing trading solutions for active day traders as well as beginners to the forex market. This Australian based broker offers its clients cutting edge trading platforms, low latency connectivity and superior liquidity.
Established in 2007 IC Markets is revolutionizing the online forex trading. Traders are now able to gain access to pricing and liquidity previously only available to investment banks and high net worth individuals. IC Markets is Australia’s largest CFD and forex provider, created by a team of professionals in the financial services industry who were instrumental in its success.
Their mission is to create the best and most transparent trading environment for retail and institutional clients alike allowing traders to focus more on their trading. IC Markets is dedicated to offering lower spreads, fast execution times and great customer support service.
IC Markets allows you to open a trading account in several deposit currencies; AUD, CAD, CHF, EUR, GBP, JPY, NZD, SGD, USD, HKD and the client’s funds are deposited in the National Australian Bank (NAB) and Westpac Banking Corporation.
You can credit your trading account using several funding methods; Bank Wire, Broker to Broker, China Union Pay, Credit Card, Neteller, PayPal, Skrill (Moneybookers), Webmoney. And in case you need to ask them anything, they offer a 24-hour friendly customer helpline service in several languages; Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese and Czech.
Our overall rating for IC Markets is a superb 4.7 out of 5.
So, there you have it, our introduction of the IC Markets forex broker. But what do their customer’s think and say about them? We will use the data gathered from FXverify.com, a website part of our digital family, to crosscheck the pros and cons of this broker.
IC Markets gathered so far 165 customers reviews with an overall user rating of 4.7 out of a maximum of 5. Of the 165 reviews about this broker, only 5 turned out to be negative, and that is a very low rate of just 3%.
The main complaints were regarding “deposit using Bitcoin”, one customer having “difficulty to log in”, another one complaining about “delayed slippage”, one mentioning “fake spikes on chart” and one “experiencing slower withdrawal process”.
It would be impossible to register here all the 160 positive reviews from IC Markets happy customers. Still, we drilled down the feedback from their verified traders and this broker gets top marks regarding customer services and support, “available 24/7”, “very friendly and professional”, “able to resolve almost any situation”.
On top of that, we found traders praising their “fast and secure deposit and withdrawals” available options, but really, the main consensus amongst the IC Markets traders is their pricing competitiveness, with “unbeatable trading costs”, “very low spreads” and “fast execution times”.
To try out this broker or to open a dedicated cashback trading account visit the IC Markets broker website.
4.9
Score breakdown
Pricing: 5.0
Regulation: 5.0
Popularity: 4.7
User rating: 4.8
Tickmill claims to be the "new way" of trading. They offer low market spreads and no-requotes thought their DMA (Direct Market Access) and STP (Straight Through Processing) access to different liquidity providers, with absolute transparency and fast trading execution. Tickmill offers direct ECN and exchange liquidity, among others.
Founded in 2014, this forex broker is highly rated with fast trigger traders (scalpers) and those who use Expert Advisors and algorithmic trading systems. The Tickmill team members have a trading experience that goes back to the ’90s when they successfully traded on all major financial markets. Tickmill is authorized and regulated by the FCA in the UK and as a Securities Dealer by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of Seychelles with license number SD008.
Tickmill allows you to open a trading account in several deposit currencies; EUR, GBP, PLN, USD and the client’s funds are deposited in the Barclays Bank, UBS, HSBC, MCB Bank, PPF Banka AS, AS Expobank.
You can credit your trading account using several funding methods; Bank Wire, China Union Pay, Credit Card, FasaPay, Neteller, QIWI Wallet, Skrill (Moneybookers), Webmoney, SticPay, NganLuong.vn. Their customer support team are available around the clock, able to answer your questions in several languages; Arabic, Chinese, English, German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese.
Our overall rating for Tickmill is an outstanding 5 out of 5.
Introductions were done, let’s dive into what their customer’s say about them. Again, we will use the data gathered from FXverify.com to examine the pros and cons of this broker.
Tickmill gathered so far 85 customers reviews with an overall user rating of 4.8 out of a maximum of 5. Curiously, out of these 85 reviews, not even one has a negative rating, so we had to dig deep to find out what were the negative points for this broker.
On the verified Tickmill customers the main aspects some traders were not so happy about we found that the “execution speed is a bit slow”, one customer referring the lack of “no detailed forex news on MT4, just headlines”, a trader from Bangladesh not so happy about the “time to verify” his trading account and a trader from Canada reporting that “the overnight fee is too expensive”.
On the positive side, a crushing majority voted 5 out of 5 for Tickmill. Out of the 85 verified traders reviews we gathered that they were happy about the “spreads and fees are low, and rebates high”, also about the fact that “they offer good regulation”, and quite a few positive comments about the withdrawals described as “easy and quite fast”, “deposit made in seconds, and the withdrawal is a working day”. Top marks as well for their “quick” and “excellent customer support”.
We also found a few traders recommending Tickmill for high-speed trading and automated trading with EAs, as slippage was quite limited and they have an excellent runtime. To conclude the customer’s reviews, we found traders praising their “fast deposit and withdrawals” times, but the main consensus with Tickmill traders is their low cost of trading with “very low spreads and commissions” together with “great rebates” being offered.
To try out this broker or to open a dedicated cashback trading account visit the Tickmill broker website.
4.8
Score breakdown
Pricing: 4.8
Regulation: 5.0
Popularity: 4.8
User rating: 4.4
XM Group isn’t just a simple forex broker. In reality, it’s a group of regulated online brokers. Established in 2009, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Ltd is regulated by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC 120/10). Six years later, in 2015, Trading Point of Financial Instruments Pty Ltd was established and is regulated by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC 443670).
Finally, in 2017, XM Global Limited was established and is currently regulated by the International Financial Services Commission (IFSC/60/354/TS/19). XM customers benefit from direct access to over 1000 financial instruments including forex and CFDs on precious metals, energy, commodities and equity indices, with transparent real-time pricing, among the lowest spreads, and flexible leverage.
XM strives to provide its customers with a stable trading environment with all the necessary tools to enhance trading performance, including product innovation, trading platforms and personalized customer service.
With headquarters in Australia, Belize and Cyprus, XM allows you to open a trading account in several deposit currencies; AUD, CHF, EUR, GBP, HUF, JPY, PLN, RUB, SGD, USD, ZAR and the client’s funds are deposited with Investment Grade Banks.
You can credit your trading account using several funding methods; Cards, Bank Wire, Neteller, Skrill (Moneybookers). Their customer support team are available 24-hours a day and can answer your questions in the following native languages; Arabic, English, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Czech.
Our overall rating for XM is a top 4.5 out of 5.
Now let’s take a closer look at what XM customer’s say about this broker and its services. We will again resource to the data with the verified customer reviews from FXverify.com to examine the pros and cons of XM forex broker.
XM has currently 88 verified customers reviews with an overall user rating of 4.5 out of a maximum score of 5. Of these 88 reviews, we found only four with a negative rating, which represents a low 4.5% rate of unsatisfied customers. Let’s analyse these reviews in more detail.
The four negative reviews for XM centred on the same and only aspect; the spread. Other than that, we couldn’t find anything relatively negative that could impact the integrity of this broker.
Regarding the positive aspects, the vast majority of the verified traders’ reviews, 84, had a positive opinion of this broker, even with some traders recommending it. So, out of the 84 positive reviews, we can highlight what traders like about XM; “fast deposit and withdrawal”, “the loyalty scheme is the best thing”, “excellent execution times”. But it seems XM scores top marks for their very friendly and “excellent customer support” service.
To also note that a few traders were recommending XM for high-speed trading, pointing at the “fast execution of trades”. And quite a few other traders were very pleased and happy with the maximum leverage (still) allowed by XM, that can be in some cases a unique 1:888, although we are not quite sure of that, as it seems that the official XM website is allowing, at least for European clients, maximum leverage of 1:30.
To try out this broker or to open a dedicated cashback trading account visit the XM broker website.
4.6
Score breakdown
Pricing: 4.5
Regulation: 5.0
Popularity: 4.5
User rating: 4.4
FxPro Group Limited is a global company providing innovative online FX brokerage services, regulated in both the UK by the FCA and in Cyprus by the CySEC. With an outstanding track record of profitable growth, FxPro’s core business is acting as the primary source to its global clients in FX trading.
Established in 2006, FxPro provides its clientele with opportunities to trade on major indices, commodities, metals and individual equities. Their client base primarily consists of retail traders but it is increasingly servicing institutional partners as well, with transactions exclusively being executed online.
Due to its rapid evolution, FxPro’s services are now available in more than 150 countries worldwide. FxPro has made a concerted effort over the last few years to make transparency, not just a cornerstone of its business model but to encourage it in the wider FX industry, as one of the leading brokers in the market.
FxPro is the trading brand of the group of companies FxPro Financial Services Ltd, FxPro UK Limited, FxPro Global Markets Limited and FxPro Global Markets MENA Limited. With headquarters in the United Kingdom, FxPro allows you to open a trading account in several deposit currencies; AUD, CHF, EUR, GBP, JPY, PLN, USD and the client’s funds are deposited in Bank of America, Barclays Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, Julius Baer Bank.
You can credit your trading account using several funding methods; Bank Wire, Moneta.ru, mPay, Neteller, Paypal, Skrill (Moneybookers), Webmoney. Their customer support team are available around the clock and able to answer your questions in the following native languages; Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Czech, Croatian.
Our overall rating for FxPro is a great 4.7 out of 5.
Presentations are done, let’s see what we can find on FXverify.com verified customer reviews and what traders have to say about this forex broker and its services.
FxPro has currently 39 verified customers reviews with a total user rating of 4.5 out of a maximum possible score of 5. Of these 39 verified customer reviews, we found only a couple less positive, representing a 5.1% rate of unsatisfied customers. Let’s check out what they say in more detail.
The two negative reviews for FxPro complain both on the same key variable, the trading costs, both referring that this broker’s spread is high. We then also found three more traders rating the broker with a neutral score (3 out of 5) also mentioning that the spreads were not competitive. Apart from the spreads, no other negative aspects were found.
On the plus side, we counted 34 reviews giving this broker a score of 4 and 5 out 5, respectively, with traders being happy that the broker has “good regulation”, happy with the “fast deposits and withdrawals”, also good reviews about the variety of tradable assets and wide range of funding options, including “Skrill, Neteller and PayPal”.
Also, we noticed that some reviews were mentioning that FxPro was highly recommended by traders to other traders as being one of the oldest and more “trustworthy” brokers. To top it up, we found also several positive reviews about FxPro “great customer services” with “a great customer support team with a fast replying live chat”. Finally, some mentions about the forex education materials available from the broker “free audio squawk is awesome that can help in my decision making” and “a lot of trading help with their news, you can even listen to live comments when news are released. Really good for news traders and scalpers”.
To try out this broker or to open a dedicated cashback trading account visit the FxPro broker website.
4.8
Score breakdown
Pricing: 5.0
Regulation: 5.0
Popularity: 4.7
User rating: 4.6
Roboforex is the trademark of RoboTrade Ltd., which provides financial and trading services to retail clients and is registered as a legal entity with headquarters in Cyprus and regulated by the Cyprus CYSEC.
Roboforex provides its customers and partners with quality and reliable brokerage services using modern tools and technologies. It strives to satisfy the needs and wishes of their clients and provides them with reliable and affordable services of the highest quality with a personal and confidential approach.
Established in 2009, Roboforex follows a hybrid forex business model, serving both as a market maker as well as offering Market Execution (ECN/STP) as a Non-dealing desk broker.
Roboforex allows you to open a trading account in several deposit currencies; EUR, GLD, USD, CNY and the client’s funds are deposited exclusively with the Barclays Bank.
You can credit your trading account using several funding methods; Bank Wire, China Union Pay, Credit Card, EPS, Giropay, iDeal, Neteller, Paypal, Perfect Money, POLi, QIWI Wallet, Skrill (Moneybookers), Sofort, Yandex, Webmoney, TrustPay, Local Bank Transfer, Ecopayz, Trustly, Debit Card, Rapid Transfer. Their customer support team is available at any time and able to help you in the following native languages; Arabic, Chinese, English, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Vietnamese, Czech.
Our overall rating for Roboforex is an excellent 4.9 out of 5.
Time to see what we can find on FXverify.com verified customer reviews and what traders have to say about this forex broker and its services.
Roboforex has currently 42 verified customers reviews with a total user rating of 4.7 out of a maximum score of 5. Of these 42 verified customer reviews, we found only a couple of neutral reviews (3 stars out of 5), representing a 0.1% rate of unsatisfied customers. Well, time to figure out what they are not happy about Roboforex.
The current non-existence of negative reviews for Roboforex and its services is proof that this less-known player is stepping-up on its offerings to overcome its competitors and trying to become a key provider of forex trading services.
The only negative comments (not reviews) we found for Roboforex was “High on commissons & brokerage fee / swap fees” and the classic “spreads a little bit high”.
Regarding the positive reviews, with around 40 traders rating this broker 4 and 5 stars, mostly mentioned the “fast payment deposit and withdrawal” systems and someone even mentioned he was “particularly impressed by their automated withdrawal (I got the money in my card within 5 minutes). More positive mentions for the “fast trade execution” and the “excellent customer service”.
Also, some traders mentioned that Roboforex is the best forex “broker for cent account” while some others liked the “copytrader for investor” solution stating that Roboforex is “great for copy fx account”. Still, the main chatter about this broker seems to be the lightening speed at which they process withdrawals to traders e-wallets, like Skrill, Neteller or Perfectmoney. Really good news for traders that want to withdraw their profits as quickly as possible.
To try out this broker or to open a dedicated cashback trading account visit the Roboforex broker website.
