Forex.com was established in 2001, as an online forex broker with an active presence in over 183 countries across the world. The brand is owned by Gain Capital, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The company’s headquarters is in Bedminster, New Jersey and it is regulated by top tier financial regulatory agencies across the globe including the CFTC in the U.S, the UK’s FCA, and Australia’s ASIC.
The firm offers clients 84 currency pairs, 8 cryptocurrencies, 17 indices, 26 commodities and 270+ stock CFDs. It supports margin trading with a maximum leverage of 20:1 for stocks and 50:1 for all other financial instruments.
In this review, we dig deep into its operations informed by its past and present client comments. We detail and rate each of the tradable financial assets offered as well as rating the quality of their services including customer support, trading fees, trading platforms, and account types.
Our goal is to help answer all your queries regarding its legitimacy and the safety of your funds to help you decide whether to open an account with them or not.
What can you trade?
Forex.com Forex review
| Min Deposit | App Support | Max Leverage | Trading Fees |
| $50 | Good | 1:30 | Low |
With regards to Forex trading, you have access to 84 currency pairs, which is more than you would get elsewhere. You get to trade all the major pairs, many more minor pairs, and a tad more exotic pairs than you would with its competitors.
When it comes to forex trading fees, the company has relatively expensive spreads. The EUR/USD pair, for instance, has an average spread of 1.3 on the standard account that is dependent on factors such as market volatility and liquidity. There also the commission-based trader accounts where spreads start from as low as 0.2 but attract a $5 commission for every $100k traded.
You also get access to margin-based foreign exchange trading for currencies. The rates are however dependent on your geographical location and local regulations. The U.S and international clients, for instance, have access to the entire 50:1 leverage, while UK traders can only use maximum leverage of 30:1 as directed by the FCA.
You can start trading with as little as $50 where the minimum traded lot is currently set at 1,000.
Forex.com CFD reviews
| Min Deposit | App Support | Max Leverage | Trading Fees |
| $50 | Mid | 1:30 | Mid |
Due to regulatory restrictions, Forex.com doesn’t offer this service to its U.S clients due to regulations. However, Canadian, U.K, and international clients have access to the 4500+ CFDs available for trading. These are primarily drawn from the global indices, shares and stocks, as well as commodities and cryptos.
The company has made most of these assets available to international clients on both the MetaTrader and WebTrader platforms. The market analysis section of their website features a fairly detailed economic calendar. You can also access the latest research and pivot points as well as popular topics and thought leaders’ views.
Traders can also opt to design individual automated trading algorithms on the platform or integrate third-party automated tools.
You also get access to the commodities markets through the spot metals CFDs on gold and silver. These commodities are only available on the WebTrader and not on the MetaTrader platform.
With regards to trading the commodities, you can speculate on their price appreciation or depreciation by taking trades in either direction. The precious metal traders also gain insights regarding the assets from the market analysis page.
FUTURES AND OPTIONSFutures Online, which is an introducing broker for GAIN Capital.
| Min Deposit | App Support | Max Leverage | Trading Fees |
| $500 | Mid | 1:30 | High |
You can trade futures and futures options contracts as there is a platform through which you can invest in such products. U.S clients can also trade these instruments via
There is also a 14-day demo trading account for clients who would like to try trading the futures and futures options contracts. The simulated trading account is loaded with $50,000 virtual cash and contains all the key trading features like ultra-fast execution speeds and live market data.
What did our traders think after reviewing the key criteria?
Fees
The are three primary types of trading fees – all of which are volume-based and tied to different account types. These include pure spreads, spread plus fixed commission, and spread plus variable commission. The spreads, though competitive, are variable and are highly dependent on liquidity and the prevailing market conditions.
The pure spread account is popular with retail traders and spreads for the major currencies start from 1.0 with an average of 1.3 pips. The spread and fixed-rate commission account has lower spreads that start from 0.2 pips in addition to the $5 fixed commission for every $100k traded. The direct market access trader account fees start from 0.1 pips plus a variable commission that averages $60 for every $1 million traded.
With regards to discounts on fees, you get a cash rebate program that is pegged on the volume of trades. It also offers cash rebates of up to $9 for every million traded on the retail standard account, $9 for every million traded on the commission account and $20 per million traded on the high volume and direct market access account.
Non-trading fees include the rollover fees charged on trades that remain open at the end of the day’s trading session – 5 pm ET. Traders on the platform get to earn or pay these rollover rates based on whether they were long or short a trade.
Account Types
Clients have access to three primary live trading account types, which include: the standard account, the commission account and the direct market account. There are also free demo accounts on offer that you can use to trade both Forex and futures contracts. The demo accounts come loaded $50,000 in virtual trading capital and are valid for 14 days.
The Standard Account
The standard account is accessible on both WebTrader and the MetaTrader trading interfaces. It calls for a $50 minimum deposit and attracts wholly variable trading fees where the spreads average 1.0 pips for the popular EUR/USD pair. Standard account holders subscribed to its Active Trader Program also get to earn up to 18% cash rebates.
The Commission Account
The Commission account stands out because it employs both variable spreads and fixed commissions in the determination of trading fees. Spreads on the account start from 0.2 pips with the fixed commission set at $5 for every $100k traded. The minimum deposit amount is $50 and the account is only available on the Webtrader and mobile apps and not on MetaTrader.
Direct Market Access Account
The direct market access account is specifically designed for high volume and frequent traders. Trading fees are a mix of variable spreads that start from 0.1 pips for major pairs and a variable commission starting from $60 for every million traded. The minimum account operating balance is set at $100K but traders are advised to maintain not less than $250K in their accounts. The DMA account is also not available on the MetaTrader interface.
There are no Sharia-compliant trading accounts, which are synonymous with the absence of overnight/rollover fees.
Forex.com trading platforms
The firm supports several major trading interfaces including the MetaTrader (MT4), in-house trading platforms, Ninja trader, and API connections.
However, you can only access the standard forex trading account on the MT4 and Ninjatrader platforms. The two other accounts offeredare only accessible via the proprietary trading platform, which is available as a web trader, desktop app, and mobile app.
Usability
Our reviewers found the website well organized and easy to use with the home page featuring all the important tabs needed for fast and easy navigation. These include the signup and login tabs for new and existing clients as well as the markets, services, about us, platforms, market analysis, education and support tabs for everyone else looking for more insights. There also is a search tab where you can key in direct queries for even faster navigation.
Customer support
The firm provides 24/5 customer support but doesn’t offer a live chat function on its website. However, its clients can access the support team on the telephone and via text messages, or through the different social media pages, and email. The website also features a detailed FAQ section.
Payment Methods
There are four key payment options supported, which include:
- Debit card payments: it does not support credit card payments but processes debit card transactions for both Visa and MasterCard branded cards. The minimum deposit for debit cards is set at $50 and the maximum at $10,000. You can deposit in USD, EUR, and GBP currencies but all these are automatically converted to USD. processing of deposits is near-instant and free.
Debit card withdrawals have an estimated wait time of 24 hours. They do not attract processing fee but have a per transaction limit of $50,000.
- Bank wire transfers: you can make deposits in up to seven different currencies when it comes to bank wire deposits that must then be converted to USD. There is no minimum or maximum deposit limits for bank transfers. It may take up to two business days for the transfer to reflect in your trading account and there is no processing fees in addition to those charged by your bank.
Bank Wire withdrawals have an estimated wait time of 48 hours. There is no withdrawal limit but attract a $25 fee per transaction for amounts above $10,000.
- eCheck: they also accept eCheck payments. The minimum deposit is $50 with the maximum set at $10,000. Transaction processing is immediate and free.
eCheck withdrawals have an estimated wait time of 24 hours, don’t attract processing fees and have a withdrawal limit of $25K per transaction.
- Personal or business check: You can also fund your account using both personal and business checks. There are no minimum or maximum limits on deposits and transaction processing is free. Traders might, however, wait for up to 10 business days after the day of receiving the check for the cash to reflect in their accounts.
Personal or business check withdrawals are available with wait times of 48 hours. These are free and there are no maximum withdrawal limits.
Best Offers
There are no running promotions or bonus offers available at the moment, except for the cash rebate program available to its Active Trader Program clients.
Regulation and deposit protection
The brand is owned by GAIN Capital Group, which is a public company headquartered in Bedminster, NJ, and is registered with and regulated by financial regulatory agencies such as the Futures Market commission (FMC), the National Futures Association (NFA), the Retail Foreign Exchange Dealer (RFED), and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
As for deposit protection, there is no evidence of brand insuring customer deposits with the FDIC. GAIN Capital claims that it maintains a separate account for their customer funds while adding that these funds are then “distributed across a global network of custodian banks and brokers.”
Awards
The firm was established in 2001 and has over the years won several awards and global recognition. For instance, in Feb 2001, Forex.com was named the Forbes “Best of the Web” by Forbes.com before being named the “Best Online FX Trading Platform” for the year 2001 by Global Finance later that year. Others include being voted the Best Forex Broker in the USA for 2013 by the FT and Investors Chronicle magazine the same year.
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