What is the best forex broker?

I remember when I first started trading forex in early 2014. Back then, I opened an account on a random broker (yes, I didn’t even know who are the best forex brokers) and threw in $500 that I had been saving. Of course I had read experts’ articles about trading strategies and stuff like that. First, I made a little money, but after a month, my balance is 0. I was devastated.

It was then I realized forex trading is a cycle of analysis. You analyze the market, you trade, and then you analyze again and change your plans. No strategy is concrete. You need to constantly analyze the market in order to make money because the market will change every minute and second.

So what variable is the only thing that doesn’t change? It is a good broker, or to be more specific, the best forex brokers. Back then I thought all brokers are the same so I chose a random one. I was so wrong. Choosing the right broker will determine 70% of your winning chance.

STANDARDS OF THE BEST FOREX BROKERS

I can see that many traders think choosing the right broker is easy. Just choose the one that has low cost. Or the one that has licenses. Or the one that has big bonus. Well, they are wrong. The one with low spread may have high slippages. The one with big bonuses may have really slow servers. To choose the right forex broker, you must look at many aspects and factors. Sound like hard work, right? Fortunately, you’ve got me here. After 5 years of trading with many different brokerages, I am confident to list down the 5 best forex brokers in my opinion.

TRUSTWORTHY

When talking about reliability, you mean security and safety. Can that broker keep your fund safe? Can it be trusted? What if it is a scam broker? How to know if a broker is reliable? The answer is regulation, my friends. Regulation is like a certificate that trusted and famous financial organizations in the world gives to brokers if the brokers can meet all the standards required. It represents standards, capabilities, and reputation of a forex trading brokers. When a broker is regulated by those organizations, you can put your trust in them completely. All the 5 brokers I mentioned above have trusted regulations so there is no favorite one.

However, make sure that you know what kind of regulation your brokers have, because a regulation of an organization can only be applied to those in the same country. For example, a US regulation can’t provide any protection to traders from South Africa or Thailand. The regulation only means that that broker is reliable enough to work with. Therefore, a broker doesn’t have to have too many regulations. One trusted regulation is enough.

Another factor that can guarantee the credibility of a broker is their trading volume. If the trading volume of the broker is high, it means that there are many people trading with that broker.

TRADING COST

It’s not easy to make money from trading forex, which we can all agree on, so we need to find brokers who require little cost to trade on their platforms. The trading cost is the total expense we calculate from two main factors, spread and commission, and others.

First, I will compare the spread of the 5 brokers I mentioned above. I can guarantee you that their spreads are among the best in the forex market. I will show you the spreads of the most popular currency pair, EURUSD

Then, I’ll compare their commissions. All of them are commission-free for their regular accounts. For the ECN accounts, the commission rates are different. They have to charge commission for ECN accounts because the spreads then are nearly zero.

At this point, you may think that “Hey, I also see many other brokers who have even lower spreads and commissions.” You are right. There are tons of brokers who offer lower, why do I choose these five? Like I have said earlier, the total trading cost you have to pay depends on various factors, which slippages. Slippage refers to the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which the trade is actually executed. Slippage often occurs during periods of higher volatility when market orders are used, and also when large orders are executed when there may not be enough interest at the desired price level to maintain the expected price of trade. Therefore, when you consider a broker, you should also pay attention to their slippage. Exness and FBS guarantees that there is no slippage on their platforms. XM says it hardly happens. I have traded with all these three and here’s what I can say about it. All brokers have slippages. It’s a natural thing in forex trading. The important is how much the slippage is. Is it lower than other brokers (I think slippages that are lower than 100 pips is good enough)? How do brokers compensate their customers? I think Exness, FBS and XM are the brokers who can handle very well when it comes to slippages. Another thing I see that you really enjoy is bonus and rebate. Indeed they sounds good in the beginning. But everything has two sides.

TRADING CONDITIONS

There are 3 levels we can use to rank trades, which are: beginners, normal traders, and professionals. So, a great broker is the one who can provide different types of account for all types of traders. The conditions of the accounts of the 5 brokers I chose are similar. They all have 3 classes of account for each targeted trader type: mini/micro accounts, regular accounts, and ECN accounts for each type respectively.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Forex trading is difficult. The best fx brokers must be able to support their customers at all time and in many different languages. Most brokers assist their clients via live chat or email. However, I think the most effective way is a face-to-face conversation. That means it is better if the broker has local offices in your country or region.

Exness seems to have the best support team. This broker has very strong sales, support, and marketing team who is always available to the local markets. Besides, their IB network is also very strong. Therefore, if you have any problem, just chat with them on the website, and you will get the response instantly. Moreover, Exness supports clients 24/7.

Last but not least, the payment system. You may think it is insignificant at first, but only when you really trade with a broker can you see how important it is. Most of the brokers are foreign, so you need to transfer and withdraw money overseas. That’s when the bank charge you transaction fees. Making money from forex is hard enough and now the banks take some from it? I don’t think so. For example, when you transfer money via VISA card, it costs you 3 to 5% of the amount you transfer. The best fx companies must have various payment methods that are not only free but also convenient. Moreover, it needs to be fast. I used to have to wait days and weeks to withdraw my profit from a broker, which is really frustrating.

In this field, Exness has no competitor. How can Exness be so fast? Because Exness has an automatic withdrawal system that has zero human intervention. The machines of course make it quickest possible. Moreover, Exness also offers many local payment systems that are very convenient. You can deposit just $1 from your phone and it will take only 30 seconds and there is no fee at all. Yet the most advanced that only Exness can offer is that you can deposit/withdraw even on weekends. This is why most traders like Exness. FBS is the second best in terms of payment system. They also have a great and fast system.