10 Best Forex Brokers for Beginners: 2024 Edition

Sydney, Australia-based FP Markets was founded in 2005 and has entities regulated by top-tier CySEC and ASIC. With over 10,000 instruments across stocks, indices, forex, commodities, and cryptocurrencies, traders can experiment across a broad range of markets.

Opening an account with FP Markets is fast and very simple. There are two main accounts available – the Standard Account, which is commission-free, and the Raw Account, which is commission-based, but with tighter spreads. Live chat support is on hand to help prospective traders through the account opening process.

FP Markets has an extensive range of educational materials that are great for beginner traders. These include educational videos, platform tutorials, and live webinars. A user-friendly app rounds out a solid offering for newcomers to the markets.

BDSwiss was established in 2012 and has grown to provide services for over a million clients worldwide. The Cyprus-based broker offers trading in a wide range of CFD assets via its beginner-friendly web and mobile platforms and the popular MetaTrader platform.

BDSwiss has focused intensely on education with the development of its Trading Academy. Clients can access in-depth and frequently updated materials, including its forex basics lessons, live webinars, educational video courses, ebooks, seminars, and one-on-one coaching. We judged the materials to be better than average for the industry and an excellent resource for new and experienced traders.

Award-winning research from Trading Central and market analysis from Autochartist is also available to BDSwiss clients. These third-party tools complement the strong educational material with actionable trading ideas.

OCTA has over ten years of experience providing brokerage services, and the company has grown to have a significant global presence. They performed well in multiple categories, including fees, deposits/withdrawals, research, and education. Clients can trade CFDs on forex, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies.

We examined that OCTA provides 30 crypto CFDs for trading, including popular coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash. Weekend warriors won’t be disappointed, as cryptocurrency pairs are available to trade seven days a week. 1:25 leverage is available for crypto, and as little as $100 is required to start trading live.

From our research, beginner traders at OCTA can benefit from demo accounts, trading in micro-lots, and regularly scheduled educational webinars. OCTA also helps new traders by keeping fees to a minimum, with no inactivity or swap fees, and free deposits and withdrawals.

Sydney, Australia-based IC Markets is licensed by multiple regulators globally, including the top-tier CySEC and ASIC. This broker has blazed a trail with fees that beat the industry average.

Our tests showed spreads as low as 0.6 pips in EUR/USD and 0.5 in the Dax 40. Tight spreads can make all the difference, especially for highly active traders. In addition, IC Markets keeps costs to a minimum by not charging an inactivity fee or any fees for deposits and withdrawals. In these areas, IC Markets is undoubtedly better than the industry average.

IC Markets delivers in education and scored full marks for this category. From our in-depth research, there is a wealth of beginner-friendly content covering technical and fundamental analysis. Regular webinars allow clients to learn from experienced traders in a live environment.

The broker provides access to the widely-used Metatrader 4 and 5 platforms, which includes a demo account option for new traders to gain experience. IC Markets could be a good match if you’re a beginner but have aspirations to develop into an advanced or professional trader.

Flowbank is a newcomer to the forex and CFD trading world, launching in 2020. The Geneva-based online bank provides an appealing offering quite different from most brokers. Being a Swiss bank regulated by FINMA helped to earn Flowbank a high trust rating in our review.

From our examination, Flowbank offers an outstanding range of over 50,000 instruments to trade on. Clients can trade CFDs on forex, equities, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies. The variety of CFDs on equities from global exchanges is robust. Flowbank offers trading in real (non-CFD) stocks, ETFs, and funds, unlike most CFD brokers.

As we tested, the browser-based FlowBank Pro trading platform is easy to navigate, and beginners can quickly become proficient. The platform has some rarely seen features, such as a market depth tool that helps determine the underlying trading volume of a given asset. FlowBank provides excellent 24/6 customer support, strengthening the overall offering.

London-based Tickmill provides a range of products and services for beginners and advanced traders. Multiple regulators, including the FCA, CySEC, and FSCA, oversee corporate entities. Founded in 2014, Tickmill has a substantial operating history and showed a high level of transparency in our tests, contributing to a strong trust rating.

Clients can copy trade in MT4 by joining Tickmill’s Myfxbook AutoTrade group and linking their trading account to Myfxbook AutoTrade. They can then browse historically profitable systems and their statistics in order to make a choice that suits their preferred trading style and risk tolerance.

Tickmill also offers copy trading via Pelican, an all-in-one mobile auto-copying application that allows you to follow and copy successful traders. It’s also possible to automatically do the inverse if you want to bet against them. Beyond copy trading, you can chat with other traders and participate in groups from the app – a great feature for beginners.

The reason why beginners choose FXTM as their preferred partner for trading on the renowned MetaTrader 4 platform is owing to a combination of several key factors. The derivatives broker, which offers access to more than 1200 tradable instruments across FX pairs, commodities, stocks, and more, also provides robust supporting materials.

FXTM’s educational content features a wide selection of videos and educational guides. Most of the materials focus on technical analysis (understanding price action behavior). Novices can also learn about risk management, which I consider crucial for long-term success.

The broker incorporates the MetaTrader 4 platform, which features 50+ analytical tools (technical indicators, drawing tools, and other chart configurations) and can be used to carry out basic technical analysis. The platform also offers some of the most used order types (market, limit, stop).

I measured the spreads and commissions on an FXTM Advantage account and estimated that they were better than the industry average. The account type features a $5 round-turn commission ($2.5 for opening and $2.5 for closing a position) plus raw spreads from 0.0 pips.

AvaTrade is one of the most easily recognizable brands in the trading industry because of its layered services, affordable prices, and versatile platforms. The broker is headquartered in Ireland and was established in the distant 2006. AvaTrade is also tightly regulated and offers access to over 840 tradable instruments.

I concluded that novice traders stand to gain quite a bit from AvaTrade’s intuitive and robust trading app – AvaTradeGo. I tested the app over several days by executing several positions. Order execution is extremely simplified, and even first-time traders can quickly get accustomed to the app’s design.

AvaTradeGo is perfect for traders who need to monitor their portfolio’s performance on the go and make timely adjustments if necessary. Another great advantage of the app is that traders can read penetrating research content directly from it.

I also assessed AvaTrade’s fees by opening a regular CFD trading account. It features commission-free trading and floating spreads starting from 0.9 pips. I evaluated AvaTrade’s prices as better than the industry average.

IG is a heavyweight in the forex trading industry. Established in 1974, it is a listed company on the London Stock Exchange and is regulated worldwide. In 2019, it brought margin-based forex trading to U.S. residents. It is registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is also a member of the National Futures Association (NFA).

I found an excellent range of 80 forex pairs available to trade on. These include major, minor, exotic, and emerging market currencies. The markets are easily viewed from the broker’s feature-rich yet beginner-friendly proprietary IG Web Trader platform or the more advanced MT4 and ProRealTime platforms. During our live fee test, the spread for EUR/USD averaged 0.8 pips, beating the 1.0 pip industry average for a commission-free trading account.

High-volume traders can access cash rebates, lowering the overall cost. For example, trading more than $100 million in notional value a month can gain a 5% spread rebate. The margin rates for trading are also low, with only 2% on EUR/USD. This means you can open a $100,000 position with only $200. For beginner traders, the IG Academy is well worth visiting as it provides high-quality and in-depth articles and courses regarding forex trading.

Established in 2008, Plus500 is a globally regulated broker listed on the London Stock Exchange. In 2022, it launched its Futures Trading App exclusively for U.S. residents. On top of 13 forex futures contracts, users can trade futures contracts in 10 equity indices, 23 commodities, 4 interest rates, and 2 cryptocurrencies.

In our live fee test, I found the spread for the current EuroFX futures contract was 0.5 pips during the London open and 1.0 pips during the New York open. The industry average is 1.0 pips. Both standard and micro futures contracts are available with commissions starting from $0.49 per contract. There are no routing or platform fees.

The mobile trading app is easy to use and an excellent option for beginner traders. Advanced traders may be left wanting more features. The Plus500 US Futures Trading Academy is an excellent resource of educational materials tailored to beginner and intermediate futures traders.