How we rate brokers

One score, out of 100, applied identically to every broker. It is shown out of ten on this site because that reads more naturally beside a comparison - the underlying number is the same one our other sites use.

What we measure

Costs: Spread from, commission per lot, and any inactivity fee. Taken from the broker's own published schedule, not from a promotional page.
Regulation: Which authority licenses the entity you would actually open an account with, and under what number.
Platforms: Which trading software is offered, including whether it is the broker's own or a third party's.
Access: Maximum leverage available to a retail client, markets covered, and how money gets in and out.
Minimum deposit: What it costs to start, in the account currency the broker quotes.
Transparency: Whether the terms above can be found without contacting sales.

What we ignore

Bonuses and sign-up offers carry no weight. They change monthly, they are usually conditional on volume, and rating them would reward marketing spend rather than trading conditions.

Where the figures come from

Each broker's own published material in the first instance, with the source recorded on the review page. Brokers are shown their review before we treat it as settled, and corrections are made on evidence, not on request.

How we are paid

Some brokers pay us a commission when a reader opens an account through our link. That has no bearing on the score - the measures above are applied the same way to brokers who pay us and brokers who do not, and several of the brokers listed here have no commercial relationship with us at all.