The best Forex Brokers for beginners.
Introduction
There is a slight difference between best forex brokers and best forex brokers for beginners. Forex brokers for beginners have to be more flexible to accommodate traders who have no idea about trading. Three basic qualities define a good forex broker for beginners:
- The most important criterion to decide whether a forex broker is good enough for beginners or not is to check its regulation. Currency market is saturated with forex brokers. But most of them are bogus who defraud people of their hard-earned money and then take to their heels. They operate in secrecy and not much is known about their operation. A well regulated broker will be able to develop trust in their brand. Another advantage of regulation by top-notch regulatory bodies is that it ensures transparency and there is no chance of fraudulent activities.
- Experience traders know about the nitty-gritty of forex market. But beginners are at a disadvantage as their understanding, knowledge, and practical know-how is either totally absent or at best of superficial nature. To cater to the need of brokers with no experience an easy to use web-based platform is a prerequisite. A host of educational resources in easy to understand language should be made available on the platform.
- The third is the provision of high quality actionable market research.
Keeping above points in mind, we have put together names of best forex brokers for the beginners. We spent innumerable hours opening countless demo accounts with different forex brokers who promise great trading experience to newbies. Our in-house dedicated team checked different forex brokers on different parameters like market research, educational content, webinars, etc. We also checked ease of navigating various forex platforms and mobile apps and took into account website usability before ranking different forex brokers. Here is a list of top forex brokers for beginners selected by our researchers.
Here are our findings for best forex brokers for beginners:
(1) IG
IG group has the distinction of being founded as the world’s first spread betting firm in 1974 by Stuart Wheeler. IG lays claim to being a global leader in forex trading and our research confirms their claim to be true. It has 178,000 clients spread across five continents and it offers cost-effective product catalog. It has built its reputation primarily on range of services it provides to its clients at affordable prices. At this moment IG is ranked as the world’s top CFD provider thanks to its singular emphasis on providing a variety of services to suit requirement of its varied customers across the world. IG has re-entered the U.S. market at a time when most forex brokers shy away from this region due to very tight regulatory requirements. IG’s decision to submit itself to the vigorous American regulatory requirements speaks volume about the quality of its service.
While we were studying IG’s business model and its conduct in the market, what pleasantly surprised us the most was its complete transparency not only with regulatory bodies but also its clients. It has a well designed and easy to navigate website chronicling its entire business operations and methods employed therein.
Review:
IG has gone big. It doesn’t believe in incremental progress. It believes in exponential growth. The manner in which it has taken the unpredictable bull of market by its horn has surprised one and all. At a time when well established Forex brokers are sailing away from the American shore fearing a tighter than ever before regulation, IG has decided to re-enter the U.S. market. The re-entry of IG in the U.S. market has proved that it is not in the forex market to play safe. It is here to go big and achieve what others feel to be unachievable.
IG’s insatiable quest for market domination has paid off and it has emerged as the number one forex broker in the U.S. market. It, IG forex broker, has ensured its clients’ access to a wide range of markets, top-notch research. The number one forex broker also puts a lot of emphasis on providing best education material developed by its own in-house experts to its clients.
IG offers its service to anyone in any part of the world with a desire to trade in CFDs. However, in the US, IG provides services to those who want to trade the foreign exchange markets. What makes this broker best placed to compete in the overcrowded online broker market is its strategy to keep the spread cost low and its emphasis on providing the best customer services. To top it all, it also provides quality education material to its clients and actionable research. IG’s wide range of offerings and focus on research and education gives it an edge over its peers. The security available to its clients can be guessed from the fact that it has re-entered the U.S. market which is considered to be too tightly regulated. We, who spent a very long time evaluating IG’s services and other features, are of the opinion that when it comes to online forex broker IG brokers are unparalleled and very safe to trade with. Their top-notch services brought to prospective clients at an affordable price make trading with them very lucrative.
Pros:
- IG services offers a wide range of products to its clients. However, in the U.S.A., IG is for only those clients who want to trade the foreign exchange markets.
- It has been rated the best Forex broker for the U.S.A traders. It maintains its dominance globally too for its cost-effective, efficient, and transparent services.
- Maintains complete transparency with its clients and keep them up-to-date with company’s policies. Transparency in forex market is vital as without complete knowledge a trader might make the mistake of putting his/her money on the wrong assets.
- Its research materials are developed by its own in-house experts. The standard of these research materials is very high.
- IG is also obsessed about bringing best education to its clients. New traders can use easy-to-browse website of IG to understand the nuances of forex trading before setting on the journey of trading.
- IG offers protection for its U.K and the EU clients’ accounts.
Cons:
- Though trading with the IG online broker is easy and safe, the U.S. clients are not covered under its protection.
- Another flaw with the IG affects the US clients exclusively. The flaw is that IG provides no guarantee of stop losses for US client.
- There is no scope of copy-trading on IG’s platform. Back-testing integration is also not available on any of its platform.
- The last flaw which will affect not only US clients but clients all over the world is that fees of share-CFDs are quite high.
Conclusion:
IG has been able to position itself as the most efficient online forex broker by making trading with it very easy even for traders who are just beginning their journey of trading. It is a company which truly understands the significance of keeping things simple. If we pay close attention to its business strategy then one thing which become clear is that IG’s motto is never to complicate things which are simple and never to oversimplify things that are complicated. Its user-friendly easy to browse website gives a holistic picture of trading step by step. This ensures that its clients, irrespective of their knowledge and experience, understand all the things that go into trading. Research material and emphasis on quality education for its clients lend extra shine to IG’s aura.
IG is one of the few online brokers who offer its clients uninterrupted access to a wide array of offerings that cut across a vast asset class. Clients are provided access to forex, indices, bonds, ETFs, options, industry sectors, and interest rates. However, on the flip side, IG doesn’t provide to much security to its US clients. US clients don’t have protection against “negative balance protection”, which means that a client may end up losing more money than his account balance. And for UK clients, fees for trading in share-CFDs is head and shoulder above the industry standard.
Despite some drawbacks for the US and UK clients, IG remain the best online broker for primarily three things:
- Safety for traders is world class. IG is regulated by some of the biggest names in the regulatory world. IG go where almost everyone fears to tread because its ambition is going big or not going at all.
- It makes trading experience flawless. IG puts a lot of emphasis on providing standard customer services.
- Research materials and education content provided are of very high standard.
When we compare IG’s services to those of any of its peers, one thing becomes absolutely clear: IG is a leader in the online forex brokering and has no competition from its peers. It is not only very safe but also very lucrative to trade with this company. It is a company which is never satisfied and is always in expansion mode. It always brings handsome dividend trading with those have fire in their belly. IG has an insatiable desire to be the best among the best and its achievements have proven that it is on the right path. We can’t help ourselves but give IG five stars on a scale of five. The company’s rise and rise demands nothing but a perfect score.
(2) FP Markets
The year of inception of FP Markets is 2005. FP Markets is an Australian CFD and forex broker. It is regulated by some of the topmost regulatory bodies like Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), Financial Services Authority of St. Vincent and Grenadines. FM Markets is very safe and has maintained its track record of providing tight spreads and handsome return on investment through it. Its entire operation is transparent as it is regulated by top-tier regulatory bodies.
There are many benefits of trading with FP Markets for beginners. For a start, this broker offers very low forex fees that make trading possible for even those who do not have deep pockets. You can open an account in no time and get down to the business of trading immediately as the entire process of account opening and deposit are hassle-free, easy, and fast. If we talk about educational tools, FP Markets offer educational tools that are very superior in standard and make trading task easier for beginners with no or limited knowledge of forex market.
But there are some drawbacks of trading with FP Markets too.
The products offered by FP Markets are limited in number and scope. For instance, FP Markets offers only forex, CFDs that includes equities, indices, metals, and cryptocurrencies. The design of MetaTrader4 (MT4) and desktop trading platforms are obsolete. But if we ignore these few drawbacks, FP Market is a dream come true for any new trader in forex.
Pros
- Low Trading Fees.
One need not have a lot of money to start trading in forex market. FP Markets ensures that its trading fee is nominal to encourage first time traders to explore forex market.
- Low Forex Fees
- Low Non Trading Fees
- Regulated by 3 tier-1 regulators.
Cons
- The only drawback we could find with FP Market is its high fees for international bank withdrawal.
We strongly recommend FP Markets to new forex traders. It is a trust-worthy online forex broker that has built its reputation on ease of doing trading and transparency. It’s a safe broker as it is regulated by three top-tier regulatory bodies.
(3) AvaTrade
AvaTrade is a globally trusted brand that has carved a place for itself a unique place among forex brokers by offering a vast selection of trading platforms for Forex and CFD traders. Its educational content is also above-par industry standard. AvaTrade won the Best-in-class rating for beginners for 2022 solely on merit of its educational content.
While researching on AvaTrade, we found it to be outstanding for copy-trading competitive for mobile, and in sync with the industry standard of pricing and research.
Another factor that goes in favour of AvaTrade is its trust score which stands at 93 out of 99. It is considered to be very safe as it is authorised by four tier-1 regulatory bodies and four tier-2 regulatory bodies. Tier-1 regulatory body is considered to be of very high reputation, while tier-2 regulatory body is considered to be of average reputation. Tier-3 regulatory body occupies the nadir position in reputational hierarchy and only one tier-3 regulatory body authorises AvaTrade. So, AvaTrade is considerd to be very safe and secure brokers for trader. The following tier-1 regulatory bodies authorise AvaTrade: (1) Australian Securities and Investment Commission (AISC) (2) Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada ( IIROC) (3) Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) and (4) Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA).
Review:
AvaTrade in our research and analysis on best forex brokers came out with flying colours. It is not only safe and secure to trade with AvaTrade, it is also highly rewarding, both in terms of experience as well as lucrativeness. The kind of trading platform that you choose decide the availability of range of markets at AvaTrade. Another factor that decides the availability of types of market is your account with different global entities affiliated to AvaTrade.
AvaTrade brings to its trader a total of 1,260 symbols in MetaTrader5 and practically the same number of WebTrader. It is important to point out that out of 1,260 symbols on offer from Avatrade, a few hundred of them have been put on hold. This means at the the time of writing of this review AvaTrade is offering a little less than 1,260 symbols.
Let us turn our gaze towards cryptocurrency and see how is AvaTrade faring in trading of cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocyrrency trade is made possible at AvaTrade through CFDs. But trade in cryptocrrency is not available through trading in underlying assets such as Bitcoin. We must keep in our mind that Crypto CFDs are not made available to retail traders from any of the U.K entity of the AvatTrade, nor the same is available to UK resident.
AvaTrade’s spreads are at par with the industry average which is a little below one pip (0.9 pips). But AvaTrade offer spreads a little high on the entry-level accounts offered by other established and reputed Forex brokers like CMC Markets and Tickmill.
The following table summarizes the different investment products available to AvaTrade clients.
AvaTrade has lucrative offers for professional traders. If you are an experienced trader you can open a Professional account with Avatrader. These professional accounts offer you spread at 0.6 pips that are equal to FP Markets.
AvaTrade proprietary apps brings to its clients – experienced as well as beginners — the best mobile experience. But irrespective of a great experience AvaTrade mobile apps fall short in standard when compared to advanced mobile apps of such big names as Saxo Bank, CMC Markets, et al. Though mobile apps of AvaTrade have still a long way to go, they are improving incrementally and we have no reason to doubt that in a short time to come AvaTrade’s mobile apps will at par with those of the best in industry.
A quick glance at AvaTradeMoble Apps
AvaTrade has its own proprietary mobile platform known as AvaTradeGo and AvaOptions. Besides these two mobile platforms, AvaTrade also has the complete MetaTrader suite (MT4 and MT5) available on Android and iOS devices.
The AvaTradeGo app is modelled on its web counterpart and is easy to use with a proactive and comprehensivesetting for default syncing watchlist and a protection feature called AvaProtect against volatility. This feature helps a trader in mitigating his risk on an open trade by hedging their position with a forex option.
Another great thing about AvaTrade is its high quality daily in-house research content. The research content is produced in video as well as article format. Different formats are designed keeping in mind different sets of requirements of different types of traders. Though the research content of AvaTrade is of excellent quality, they can’t be compared with research content produced by the top tier brokers. There is lot of scope and room for AvaTrade to improve on its research content.
Educational content provided to traders by AvaTrade is of high quality. These educational contents are designed and developed with clarity of purpose and cater tobeginners and experienced traders alike.
Pros:
- AvaTrade was founded in 2006 and is regulated by three tier-1 regulatory bodies and as many tier-2 regulatory bodies. Being regulated by the best of regulators make AvaTrade a very safe Forex broker for trading CFDs and Forex.
- Besides MetaTrader, AvaTraderalso offers its proprietary platforms AvaTrade, Web Trade and AvaTradeGo with modern features like AvaProtect.
- The AvaOptions app brings to AvaTradeclients outstanding forex options mobile trading platform.
- Total of 44 forex options and 1,200 CFDs are on offer at AvaTrade.
- For social copy trading, AvaTrade offers AvaSocial in conjunction with ZuluTrade and DupliTrade.
Cons:
- Though pricing for retail accounts is at par with the industry standard, it is far behind the top guns.
- The recurring technical glitch at AvaOptions desktop platform makes it very slow to load. The platform’s design is from an era long gone by and doesn’t reflect the advances technology has made in modern times.
- AvaTrade offers 1,260 symbols. But at the moment 351 of these symbols are on hold for both the MetaTrader and WebTrader platforms.
- Research is of very good quality but is limited to Trading Central Modules.
- Educational content too is of good quality but the problem is AvaTrade produces only one or a couple of articles and video daily.
Conclusion:
AvaTrade is one of the best brokers that cater to both experienced as well as novice traders. It has built a reputation by offering a comprehensive selection of trading platform options and making high quality educational content for its traders.
AvaTrade range of tradable markets have grown hundred per cent. It offers spreads to its clients with professional accounts at a highly competitive price. Overall AvaTrade is safe to trade with and its offers too are attractive. Its safety protocols ensure traders don’t face much risk in their trade. We recommend this broker to beginners as we feel this broker to be safe offering some very good deals to its clients.
(4) Fourth on our list is Fusion Markets .
Fusion Markets has secured fourth spot in our top online forex brokers index.
Low trading and non-trading fees are two of the most attractive features of Fusion Markets. Account opening is fast and easy and one has to pay no fees for withdrawal from their account. Great customer service compliments its other services and make investors’ job easy. We ranked Fusion Market in the top five primarily because of security it provides to traders and the hassle-free services it has at its disposal.
(5) EToro is at number five. .
If we talk about security, options in trading provided by eToro, use of cutting-edge technology to make users’ experience seamless, eToro practically has no challenger. eToro, by dint of its experience and singular passion of making trading an exquisite experience, has emerged as one of the best brokers globally. Also, security that traders get with eToro is unparalleled, if not unprecedented. Its regulation by the best of regulatory bodies gives it an aura of respectability among its peers.
Another factor that swings the opinion in favor of eToro is its ability to offer 1 pip on the ER/USD, which is a little above than the industry average. If we look at its trading fees, one thing becomes amply clear: retail traders don’t go to eToro for its spreads. They, retail traders, choose eToro for its unique social trading platform capabilities.
eToro offers four levels for its Popular Investors program. eToro offers its Popular Investor program only to traders who allow other investors to make use of their strategy. The four levels of its Popular Investor program ranges from Cadet to Elite and this makes traders eligible for various types of perks. An investor needs a minimum balance of $1,000 in his account equity, earn $500 in customer assets that uses your strategy, and maintain risk score below 7 for a minimum of a couple of months to qualify for the Cadet tier. There are numerous benefits available to Popular Investors. Discount on spreads, monthly payments are few among many benefits that accrue to Popular Investors. Furthermore, eToro charges just 0.1% for converting from crypto to crypto. If your main focus is on trading cryptocurrencies, then eToroX platform charges even lower price. But you must bear in mind that eToroX platform doesn’t offer CFD trading or the range of markets that could be found on the primary eToro platform.
(6) Interactive Traders
Traders associated with Interactive traders are charged nominal trading fees. When it comes to products, Interactive Traders offer a wide range of products to choose from. Furthermore, this online broker also brings to its traders some of the ebst research tools available in the financial market. Their customer service is also above par and gives priority to customers over everything else. Interactive Traders have created very engaging platforms that traders can use without any guidance at all.
Trading with Interactive Traders is safe and secure as it is well regulated. When it comes to keeping its traders informed about dynamics of market, Interactive Traders depend on their own in-house researchers for producing highly engaging and informative educational content.
We have ranked Interactive Traders sixth in the list of best online forex brokers mainly because of
(1) wide range of products on offer
(2) high standard of research tools
(3) its low trading fees.
(7) XM
XM has secured for itself a top place among forex service providers in recent times. We are listing it on seventh position in our list of best online forex brokers. There are several reasons for including XM brokers in our list. Some of the reasons that made us think of XM as one of the best online forex brokers are: (1) It offers excellent customer care service that is responsive to queries and issues (2) XM offers low-entry bar, hassle-free exit, and cost-effective account maintenance to its traders. These factors make XM a very attractive destination for new as well as experienced forex traders.
XM also has an excellent web and mobile trading platform that further enriches users’ experience. Technology has been leveraged till its hilt to give traders a unique experience. XM also provides apt and up-to-date educational tools to give traders a 360 degree view of the market as it unfolds. When we compare the entire process of trading on XM with other brokers, one thing that makes XM stand out from the rest is its efficient account management and freedom given to traders to enter and exit without any inconvenience. Taking all the factors mentioned above, we strongly recommend this broker to new and experienced traders alike.
When it comes to safety, XM is one of the best brokers. Traders lose their money at a very high rate in the forex market. The reasons for losing money while trading with a broker could be innumerable: lack of proper guidance, bad quality signals, or downright forgery. XM online broker has top-notch regulators and all trading through this broker is transparent. This makes it a very safe online broker. When it comes to guidance, its top-class educational content keeps its traders abreast of market news and helps them in understanding the technicality of market trade.
(8) FXCM
FXCM was rated as one of the top ten online forex brokers by our team of researchers. There are many strengths of FXCM that one doesn’t easily find anywhere else. It is no small achievement for an online forex broker to score 96 on a scale of 99 in a Trust Score.
FXCM has demonstrated time and again its intention to be on the top of its game. One can guess its safety protocols from the fact that it has three tier-1 regulators and an equal number of tier-2 regulators authorizing its entire business. The wide range of products on offer is also something which is unique about FXCM. No other online broker provides products keeping in mind different needs and desire of investors. Usually, in forex market you get what is offered by brokers. But no such constraint is there with FXCM. They offer different products to different investors affiliated to its different branches. Another benefit of associating oneself with FXCM is that here one gets discount if (s)he is an active trader. Active Trader Rebate Program has five levels: in tier-1 a trader can get a discount of $5 against every million traded. Intier-5 a trader will get a rebate of as much as 25 for every million traded. Another good thing about FXCM is its reliable and feature-rich mobile experience.
There are very few forex brokers who have designed their website or apps that are mobile friendly. FXCM is one of the few brokers who ensure users have a hassle-free experience even if they are using mobile for trading. Though FXCM is not offering the MetaTrader5 (MT5) platform, it atones for its lapse by enabling trade though third-party algorithmic trading platforms.
(9) XTB
XTB occupies ninth position on our list of best online forex brokers.
The primary reason behind ranking XTB in the top ten list is low risk associated with it. XTB has scored 95 out of 99 in Trust Score and is also a publicly traded company. It is authorized to carry its operations by one tier-1 regulator, three tier-2 regulators, and also one tier-3 regulator. Some of the best names in the regulatory world , like Financial Conduct Authority, provide license to XTB for its online brokerage.
The products offered by XTB are of wide range, which gives traders a lot of option to choose from. Strength of XTB is that it doesn’t charge its trader anything for maintaining their account and minimum deposit requirement also stands at zilch. XTB is trader friendly and has launched many mobile apps to make trading less cumbersome.
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