Forex.com Review

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Since 2001, Forex.com has been offering over 200,000 traders across the globe access to trade 4,500+ global markets including 80+ forex pairs, thousands of shares, popular cryptocurrencies and more. The broker has a proven track record of consistently providing exceptional trading conditions with tight spreads, fast execution speeds and competitively low trading costs. In addition to an industry leading trading infrastructure, Forex.com provides you with user-friendly trading platforms, powerful trading tools, educational materials and around the clock support. They are one of the best forex brokers you can choose for many reasons that I will outline within this review.

Summary

Since 2001, Forex.com has been offering over 200,000 traders across the globe access to trade 4,500+ global markets including 80+ FX pairs, 220+ Shares, Commodities, Equities, Indices and Cryptocurrency. The longevity of Forex.com helps to reassure traders that they are using an established broker with years of experience within the trading industry.

Forex.com are one of the leading trading brokers globally, with a proven track record of consistently providing exceptional trading conditions to retail traders. They have earned the trust and loyalty of many traders due to their fast execution speeds and competitively low trading costs, with the statistics to back this up.

Trading Conditions

In January 2011, Forex.com became the first online broker to show an Execution Scorecard that discloses the quality of their execution. Until this day, they remain the only US broker to do so and thus maintain the upmost transparency to clients. Trade execution speeds are very important to your trading success by ensuring that your trades are placed at the best possible prices with minimal slippage.

The difference between the price when you send an order and when the order is filled can vary depending on a broker’s execution speeds. The faster an order is filled, the less variation between the prices. If execution speeds are slow, this can cause your trades to get filled at unsuitable price points which can increase trading costs and turn a winning strategy into a losing one, especially when you are trying to scalp the markets for a few points. The process of your trades going through Forex.com is fully automated with no intervention which aims to give you lightning fast execution speeds at the best possible prices.

The superior trade execution speeds and competitive spreads can help to keep your trading costs down whilst giving you good value and adding extra reliability to your trading. Forex.com have spent more than a decade investing in technology and built up a deep network of liquidity providers that enables them to provide you with tight spreads and fast execution speeds in many market conditions.

Our #1 Broker 2023

AvaTrade is an award-winning and multi-regulated broker offering a great selection of trading instruments including Forex, Cryptos, Stocks and Commodities. You can trade on all of your devices via user-friendly platforms with excellent trading conditions and no commission fees.

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

TradeTrade

Regulation

Forex.com have a proven record of stability, security and financial strength over many years, with the resources required to continue providing innovative trading solutions to the industry. This helps to ensure traders that they are using a large and established broker. City Index is another trading service provider under the same umbrella which emphasises the size of the company.

Forex.com is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom. Regulation from a top authority helps to give clients peace of mind that they are using a reputable trading broker who will protect their funds. They also have other regulators through their affiliates including:

• Investment Industry Regulatory Organisation of Canada (IIROC)
• Financial Services Authority (FSA) in Japan
• Australian Services and Investments Commission (ASIC)
• Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is a member of the National Futures Association (NFA) in the US
• Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA)
• Securities and Futures Commission Hong Kong (SFC)
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

They are one of the most well-regulated brokers you can find along with IG. I really like how they provide protection to traders from all across the globe. I wouldn’t have any problem trusting them with my funds and can focus on my trading without needing to worry. The top-tier regulation that they have means that they must operate in an honest and transparent manner at all times.

Funds

Security of clients finds is a top priority for Forex.com. Client funds are protected by being held in separate top tier bank accounts from their own. Trust letters are available to ensure that client funds remain segregated. Forex.com only use their own funds for hedging and do not engage in proprietary trading.

Under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, clients may be eligible for cover of up to £50,000 in the event a firm becomes insolvent or ceases trading. Furthermore, there are robust bank reviews and monitoring guidelines enforced which are set by the Risk Committee.

Countries

The broker accepts traders from across the globe, excluding Belarus, Iran, Yemen and some countries from the OFAC list. They are one of the few trading brokers proudly serving US traders. If you are in one of the few countries that are not accepted, please feel free to browse our reviews for an alternative option.

Platforms

Forex.com supply you with a wide range of professional trading platforms that are designed to meet the different needs of all levels of traders. Whatever your trading requirements, you can choose a platform suitable for you. Each platform is designed to provide exceptional speed and performance, whilst ensuring that you maintain full control over your trading experience.

Platforms are available on desktop (Windows / Mac), web and mobile (iPhone / iPad / Android / Tablet). This is useful if you plan on trading using multiple devices in different locations as one account can be accessed across a range of different platforms.

I often find myself switching between the desktop platform and trading app. This is because I need the full functionality of the desktop version to analyse the markets but find the mobile app great for following my trades wherever I am at any time I feel like it.

Forex.com Desktop Platform

Forex.com Desktop Trading Platform

The Forex.com advanced desktop trading platform is built for ultimate performance, flexibility and speed. It is designed to meet the demanding needs of active traders by putting you in the driving seat of your trading experience with fully customisable layouts, trade preferences, one click trading, professional analytics tools, integrated trading strategies, advanced charting features, a build your own indicator feature and much more.

Forex.com Web Platform

Forex.com Web Trading Platform

Forex.com’s powerful web-based platform delivers simplicity, speed and reliability, featuring an intuitive design and including full trading capabilities, advanced charting, smart trade ticket with advanced risk management options, pre-defined and customisable layouts, powerful charts with integrated one-click dealing and integrated trading tools. It is easily accessible from all browsers on PC and Mac, with no plugins or downloads required.

Forex.com Mobile Platform

Forex.com Mobile Trading Platform

With Forex.com’s mobile trading platforms, you never have to miss a market move. They offer a complete trading experience at your fingertips so that you can easily manage your account and trade on the go with access to full robust trading features, risk management options, advanced TradingView charting and real-time analysis, integrated fund management and more from the convenience of your iPhone or Android device.

MetaTrader 4 Platform

MetaTrader 4 Platform

Forex.com is also the world’s largest MetaTrader 4 (MT4) broker, with access to dedicated support and integrated trading tools exclusive to the broker. MT4 is considered by many as one of the most popular and user-friendly online trading platforms, thus making it a suitable platform for new traders. It also implements enough advanced functionality to satisfy the more seasoned traders.

Users can benefit from the reliability of a trusted broker, ultra-tight spreads, exceptional trade executions and unique trader tools including fully integrated Reuters news, Forex.com research, Autochartist Trade Ideas, Trading Central technical analysis and account management tools. There is an abundance of tools for analysing charts across various markets.

Forex.com’s MT4 platform has been optimized to support all Expert Advisors (EA). You can quickly and easily integrate your EA on their MT4 platform and benefit from no third-party bridges or auto sync. You can run your EA 24/6 during trading hours with the free Expert Advisor Hosting Services, that they offer to qualifying accounts. Automated trading is my favourite feature of the MT4 platform and the main reason I have been using it for many years. It does everything that I need it to and more, so I have never felt the need to switch to anything else.

MetaTrader 5 Platform

MetaTrader 5 Platform

MetaTrader 5 (MT5) is the successor of the MT4 platform. The MT5 platform keeps all of the main features and functionalities that made MT4 so popular, with increased capabilities. This new and improved version of MetaTrader has enhanced charting with more timeframes, order types, indicators, tools, intuitive market searches and groupings. You can trade an excellent selection of over 500 markets including stocks, FX, cryptos, commodities and indices. If you like to diversify, Swissquote also have a great range of instruments for you to choose from.

NinjaTrader

You can use NinjaTrader’s award-winning technology with the pricing, execution, and service that only comes from a global leader in FX trading. The NinjaTrader platform supports multiple market data and brokerage options providing access to trade futures, forex, equities and more.

NinjaTrader

Tools

Forex.com provides you with powerful tools across all trading platforms to assist with your trading, including advanced charting tools that help you to spot trends and find trading opportunities. Forex.com’s industry leading charts are powered by TradingView and allow you to personalise your workspace to your own style for effective chart analysis. You can get real-time trading signals and analysis tools provided through Forex.com by the industry leading Autochartist and Recognia. These are considered by some professionals in the industry as the best forex signals.

Trade From Charts

Trade from charts allows you to create and modify orders from the charts quickly and easily.

Technical Indicators

There are over 70+ technical indicators that can be customised to suit your trading style and identify potential trade setups.

Time Intervals

There are over 10+ time intervals that you can switch between to identify short and long-term trends. This ranges from tick to monthly charts.

Multiple Chart Types

Multiple chart types allow you to choose from a range of charting styles with a look and feel that you feel most comfortable with. These styles can be customised so that you can control what information you see and how they look.

Drawing Tools

There are 50+ customisable drawing tools which can be used to plan your next trade and analyse the markets.

Customization Features

Customisation features enable you to make the platform personal to your own unique style. Everything from technical indicators and drawing tools can be modified to your liking with the option to save templates for future use.

SMART Signals

SMART Signals

Forex.com offer a service called SMART Signals which present trade ideas driven by statistics and algorithms rather than opinions. You can see how SMART Signals have performed in the past, so you can decide how they might perform in the future. It must be emphasised that past performance is not indicative of future performance

• Statistical. The SMART Signals engine hunts for 800+ price-action patterns – analysing 100,000s of data points each day
• Measurable. See precisely how our signals have performed in each market over time
• Algorithmic. Harness the power of trading algorithms, without learning to code
• Ready-to-trade. Each signal comes with a suggested strategy, including stop and take-profit levels
• Timeframed. Know when every signal expires, so there’s no guesswork

The Smart signals engine automatically monitors over 36 major global markets for emerging price action patterns based on years of historical data.

It pinpoints potential short-term trade ideas and highlights them on your Forex.com platform or app, along with a suggested strategy. The algorithm filters hundreds of opportunities each day, only presenting you with 4, 6 and 12-hour trade ideas that meet specific statistical criteria.

SMART Signals are available on web browser trading platforms, iOS and mobile trading apps. There is no additional cost for the service and there are some handy tutorial videos on the brokers website.

Platform Analysis Tools

With Forex.com, you can spend less time analysing and more time trading with automated analysis tools from Autochartist and Recognia.

Autochartist

Save time with actionable trade opportunities, identified patterns, in-depth volatility analysis and intraday technical analysis, all included free in the FOREX.com desktop and web platforms.

Trading Central

Trading Central’s automated scanning tools analyse the markets in an instant and highlight trade opportunities for you.

• Technical Insight: A comprehensive list of technical events showcasing short-, medium-, and long-term support and resistance levels.
• Market Buzz: A market-cloud look at what is currently driving the conversation in news and commentary and what’s trending online.
• Analyst Views: Proprietary research indicating pivot points and potential swings and bias in the market.

Trading Central

The Trading Central Technical Analysis portal shows you short-term trade ideas complete with pivot points, support and resistance levels, the rationale behind the trade and even alternatives if things change.

• A diverse range of indicators used to identify opportunities
• Opportunities visually displayed on charts
• Clear, detailed explanations of each idea

Performance Analytics

You can gain deeper insight into your trading behaviour and past performance with the Forex.com Performing Analytics tool on desktop and mobile. Complement your trading strategy by using Performance Analytics to analyse your P&L, trades by market and much more.

Performance Analytics

Discover how you could improve your win and loss rates by performing in-depth analysis of your trading history with Performance Analytics, powered by Chasing Returns.

Choose performance or time-based metrics, or monitor successful or unsuccessful positions with win rate percentages and trades by market.

You can access Performance Analytics by logging in to your platform and selecting Performance Analytics from the tab at the top of the platform. Or access via the mobile App by clicking More and then My Trading History. There is no additional cost to use Performance Analytics.

MT4 VPS Hosting

The broker offers a free virtual private server (VPS) to those of you who are qualifying clients. A VPS is ideal for traders who wish to run their EAs 24/6 during trading hours, without managing them on their own computers. They include a dedicated Unix server to run EAs, for maximum uptime. You can easily upload and manage your EAs with a fast and secure account manager whilst you can access your account from any OS with a web browser. To qualify for free VPS hosting, the Forex.com client must:

• You must maintain a minimum of $500K notional value per month
• You must execute at least 10 round trip mini lots or the equivalent per calendar month

I have a VPS through a third-party provider and find it excellent for running my automated strategies 24/7. It allows me to run multiple instances of the MT4 platform so I can test out different systems and brokers without needing my laptop switched on all of the time. I think this is great if you are interested in trading robots but you can get a free VPS from other brokers such as IC Markets.

Education

I think it is great that the broker gives you free access to a wide range of educational resources to help build your trading confidence, knowledge and improve your trading skills. There is an abundance of educational tools and online resources from the very basics such as preparing a trading plan to the more advanced market analysis. You can learn at your own pace with trading videos, webinars and more.

Trading News & Research

There is a section on the website that is dedicated to bringing you the latest market news and research. It is frequently updated with detailed articles that provide valuable insight in to the latest market movements and what events could drive future price movements. I always make sure I check the latest news before making any trade decisions.

Market Analysis

The market analysis section allows you to stay up to date with real time market insights that include trade ideas from their in-house global research team who monitor the markets. I found them to be very insightful and help inspire some trade ideas that I may have otherwise overlooked.

Trading Courses

You will find that the broker has a very generous collection of free trading courses that cater to traders of all experience levels. Each course covers everything from the basics of trading, technical analysis, fundamental analysis, trading strategies, risk management and much more.

Qualifying clients are able to request a dedicated one on one highly trained market strategist who will work alongside you to produce a trading plan suitable to your personal needs and trading style. This includes demonstration of trading platforms and tools, how to perform technical and fundamental analysis and ongoing support to improve your trading performance. I really like this feature as it is something that I do not see provided often enough by other brokers.

Markets

Forex.com provides you with access to an excellent range of markets with an impressive 4,500+ global markets including Forex, Commodities, Cryptocurrency, Stocks, Shares, Indices, Metals and Energies. You will find everything you need to trade from major currency pairs, trending cryptos and individual stocks of the largest companies. The trading instruments available may be different depending on your location. This is because some countries have access to trade instruments that others cannot due to regulations.

Forex

For many years, Forex.com has been serving the needs of currency traders worldwide. They understand what traders need and offer sophisticated trading tools, competitive spreads from as low as 0.8 on the EUR/USD and exceptional execution quality on over 80 currency pairs.

The broker offers forex trading accounts that charge no commission when trading forex currency pairs as the trading costs are included within the bid/ask spread. There is a STP PRO account that uses non-marked up variable spreads direct from liquidity providers but does include a small commission.

Indices

You can get competitive spreads and exceptional execution on over 15 of the world’s most popular indices. You can trade the world’s most popular equity indices across American, European, Asian and Australian markets. Access popular stock portfolios made up of influential publicly traded companies.

Stocks & Shares

The broker gives you competitive spreads and exceptional execution to trade stocks on some of the world’s most popular companies. Go long or short on top global companies such as Barclays, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, Tesla and more with low commissions. They have a large selection of over 4,500 popular stocks to choose from.

Commodities

At Forex.com, you can speculate on 10+ spot and futures commodities with competitive spreads and exceptional execution. Trade commodities such as metals, energies and softs, benefitting from zero commissions and 1% margins.

Cryptocurrencies

Trade cryptos with a wide range of cryptocurrencies to buy and sell without having to own the underlying asset and no virtual wallet required. You can go long or short on cryptos such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, with no need for wallets or exchanges.

Accounts

Forex.com UK offer flexible account types depending on your trading style and geo-location. They only charge commissions when you trade FX on a Commission Account or a STP PRO Account. The brokers minimum deposit starts from just $100 which is below the average that I have seen from many brokers. If this is beyond your reach at the moment, Trade Nation have a $1 minimum deposit requirement.

Demo Account

Forex.com provide demo accounts if you would like to test the different trading platforms and conditions before opening a real account with them. I think demo account are great to familiarise yourself with trading online without the risk. You can practice your trading strategies until you have built enough confidence to switch over to a real trading account.

Forex.com UK Account

The FOREX.com UK account offers competitive spreads with no commissions, suitable for everyday forex trading. The trading cost on this account type is the spread.

• Forex.com advanced desktop, web and mobile trading platform
• Exclusive in-platform market insights and analysis
• Trades executed at the best available price with minimal slippage, tight spreads and no commission

MetaTrader UK Account

The MetaTrader UK account offers the world’s most popular forex trading platform. The trading cost is again the spread with no commission charged. If you are already familiar with the MT4 trading platform you may prefer this type of account.

• Advanced and customisable trading platforms for desktop, web and mobile
• Trade forex, CFD’s, cryptos and more, all from one trading account
• Fast and reliable trade execution speeds with competitive spreads and no commission

Forex.com UK Account Types

Forex.com US

Forex.com US offers 3 main account types, the standard account, commission account and STP PRO account.

Forex.com Standard Account

The standard account is based on the market maker model where spreads can be marked up although costs are included within the spread.

Forex.com Commission Account

The commission account costs are included within the spread and a commission charge (although spreads are usually ultra-tight).

Forex.com STP PRO Account

The STP PRO account is a commission only account that uses spreads direct from liquidity providers, thus they will usually be even lower. For professional traders who need the tightest possible spreads and lowest overall trading costs, the STP PRO account may be preferable.

As a STP PRO client, you will also have access to benefits like the opportunity to earn interest on balances, waived wire fees and a dedicated Relationship Manager assigned to your account.

In addition, STP PRO offers you the opportunity to benefit from reduced commissions based on volume traded. Volume discounts are calculated based on a three-month rolling average, allowing you to benefit from deep discounts month over month.

Active Trader

Designed for high-volume currency traders, Active Traders can enjoy exceptional customer experiences tailored to your unique needs.

• Reduced trading costs by up to 15% with cash rebates
• One-on-one support from an experienced Market Strategist
• Reimbursement on bank fees for wire transfers
• Get invited to exclusive events and previews of product

You’ll automatically qualify for Active Trader when you open an account with a minimum of $10,000 or trade $50M of volume in a calendar month. Cash rebates will be credited to your account at the start of the following month.

Account Signup

Opening an account is a quick and easy process. It will only take around 5 minutes to complete the account application form with live chat support on hand to assist should you need help. Once your email has been verified and identification uploaded, you can fund your account and start trading. I didn’t have any issues whatsoever during the process and received an email more or less straight away with my login details.

Support

I think it’s great how the broker is committed to supporting you through your journey. I found them to offer exceptional customer services to new and existing clients via email, online chat and phone. Support is globally available 24 hours a day, 5 days a week. I think they could improve by extending support hours to weekends like Plus500 who have 24/7 support. This can be important if you are trading cryptos as the market is open over the weekend.

Funding

The broker has a limited choice of deposit and withdrawal methods available. You can choose between Bank Transfer (ACH), Wire Transfer, and Debit Card. Fees may be charged when using certain payment methods. Bank transfers can take a few business days to clear whereas card and some payments can be instant. Accounts can be opened in a good range of currencies: USD, GBP, EUR, CHF, JPY & NZD. The various different currency options are beneficial as currency conversion fees do not apply when using an account in your own currency. I would like to see some digital wallet option included as I find this to be the most convenient way for me to fund my trading account.

Conclusion

Putting everything together, I think that Forex.com are an excellent choice of broker for anyone who is looking to trade online. They are a very well established and industry leading broker with a proven model and strict regulation across multiple authorities. They offer a large range of trading instruments across multiple markets and easy to use trading platforms. Client funds have security by being held in segregated accounts and they are very transparent with their Execution Scorecard. I like how there is no commission charged on some accounts which can be an attractive proposition. Beginners can get free access to a vast array of educational materials and demo account. There are plenty of trading tools which you can use to improve your market analysis and find trading signals. The market insights are great to inspire trade ideas and customer support second to none. I have been with Forex.com for a few years now and would not hesitate to continue with them.

$100

Since 2001, Forex.com has been providing traders around the globe with industry leading trading conditions including user-friendly platforms, tight spreads, low commission fees, rapid trade execution speeds. The broker is regulated in multiple jurisdictions and has a huge selection of trading instruments, powerful tools and educational materials.

Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider.

TradeTrade

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