How We Rate Forex Brokers: Review Methodology

Which forex brokers do we review?

A broker is reviewed only if at least one of its legal entities is authorised by a national financial regulator that publishes a public register, and the authorisation can be verified on that register. Brokers that do not meet this condition are not reviewed or listed, whatever their other features: how to choose a forex broker.

Brokers are selected for review based on reader interest, not on whether they have a commercial relationship with FX Handbook. Brokers with and without such a relationship are reviewed with the same method.

What does a broker review test?

Each review states what it is based on:

• Live account: a real-money account opened with the entity that serves our test location. Spreads, deposits, withdrawals, platforms and support are tested directly.
• Demo account: platforms and pricing are tested on a demo account; costs and terms are taken from the broker’s own documents. Demo pricing can differ from live pricing.
• Published information only: the review is based on the broker’s and regulators’ own documents, without testing.

On a live account, spreads are recorded on EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and gold at least 20 times, across the London and New York sessions, over at least five trading days. Each review shows the number of samples, the period and the account type. Deposits and withdrawals are timed from request to receipt, with any fees.

Regulatory facts, such as legal entities, licence numbers and client protections, are checked on each regulator’s own register and in the broker’s client agreements, not taken from marketing pages.

How are forex brokers scored?

Each broker is scored on six criteria. The weights reflect how much each criterion affects the safety of client money and the cost of trading:

Criterion	Weight	What we check
Regulation and client protection	30%	Legal entities, regulators and licence numbers, verified on each regulator’s own register Which entity serves which countries Client money segregation, negative balance protection, compensation schemes and complaint routes per entity
Trading costs	20%	Spreads recorded on our test account on EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY and gold Commissions, swap rates and non-trading fees (deposit, withdrawal, inactivity, currency conversion)
Deposits and withdrawals	15%	Available methods, fees and stated processing times A test deposit and withdrawal on our account, timed from request to receipt
Execution and platforms	15%	Order execution policy and execution model Platforms offered (for example MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, own platforms) and how they work in practice Margin call and stop out levels
Accounts and products	10%	Account types, minimum deposits and base currencies Range of currency pairs and other instruments, with their leverage limits
Transparency and support	10%	Clarity of fee schedules, client agreements and risk disclosures Customer support channels, hours and languages, tested with real questions

Each criterion is scored on a scale of 1 to 5:

• 5, Excellent: clearly better than typical for regulated brokers
• 4, Good: above typical, with minor weaknesses
• 3, Average: typical for regulated brokers
• 2, Weak: notable gaps or higher costs than typical
• 1, Poor: serious gaps

The overall score is the weighted average of the six criterion scores, rounded to one decimal. A review that has not scored every criterion shows no overall score.

How an overall score is calculated (illustrative only)

A hypothetical broker scores 5 for regulation and client protection, 3 for trading costs, 4 for deposits and withdrawals, 4 for execution and platforms, 3 for accounts and products and 4 for transparency and support:

(5 × 30% + 3 × 20% + 4 × 15% + 4 × 15% + 3 × 10% + 4 × 10%) = 1.5 + 0.6 + 0.6 + 0.6 + 0.3 + 0.4 = 4.0 out of 5

How do reviews handle country availability?

Many brokers serve clients through different legal entities depending on the country, with different leverage limits and protections. Each review lists the entities, their regulators and the clients each one serves, and names countries whose residents the broker does not accept. A score applies to the broker as reviewed; the protections a reader receives depend on the entity that would open their account: forex regulation.

How do commercial relationships affect broker reviews?

FX Handbook may earn a commission when a reader opens an account through a partner link. These relationships do not affect scores, which come only from the criteria above. In addition:

• Brokers cannot pay to change a score. Paid placements, where offered, are labelled as sponsored.
• Pages with partner links say so near the top of the page, and partner links are marked as sponsored.
• Partner links are shown only to readers in countries where the broker may accept clients, and never to readers in countries the broker excludes.
• Educational articles, the glossary and calculators contain no partner links.

Current relationships are listed on the affiliate disclosure page.

How often are broker reviews updated?

Each review shows the date its facts were last verified. Facts are checked again at least every six months, and sooner when a regulator, fee, account condition or entity changes. Errors reported by readers or brokers are handled under the corrections policy.

What are the limits of our testing?

A review reflects the account type, entity, location and period tested. Spreads and execution vary with market conditions, and another account type or entity of the same broker can have different costs and protections. A broker review is not personal financial advice, and trading leveraged products carries a high risk of loss.