Searching for the top forex broker for trading futures? Based on our hands-on analysis, we’ve identified the 6 best options tailored to various trading needs. Practical tips from our experts are included.
Futures trading involves buying and selling contracts that obligate the parties to transact an asset at a predetermined future date and price. These contracts, known as futures, specify the quality and quantity of the underlying asset; they can be based on commodities (like grain, oil, or gold), financial instruments (like government bonds), or even indices.
In futures trading, the buyer of the contract agrees to purchase and receive the asset when the futures contract expires, while the seller agrees to provide and deliver the asset at expiration. However, most futures contracts are traded on exchanges and are settled before expiration, meaning actual physical delivery of the commodity is rare. Instead, traders often close their positions before the contract expires, realizing a profit or loss based on the difference between the purchase price of the contract and its market price at sale.
Our team of experts has identified each broker’s strengths and weaknesses using FX Empire’s comprehensive methodology. You can read more about it and how we conduct our tests here.
Now, let’s dive into the selected brokers.
Saxo Bank is one of the best choices for futures trading as it provides an impressive range of more than 300 futures contracts in addition to its basic offering of more than 45,000 assets. Traders can benefit from a high level of protection, enjoy its professional-grade platforms, and exploit different kinds of strategies with the broker.
Key Features:
Futures trading is available on Saxo’s professional-grade SaxoTradeGo and SaxoTradePro platforms. They feature over 80 technical indicators and drawing tools, 19 timeframes, and 9 chart configurations. This offering supports the execution of in-depth technical analysis from multiple angles. The wide range of timeframes, in particular, is great for high-frequency trading (scalping) as it affords a more intricate outlook into smaller price action changes.
With the inclusion of top-of-the-line content from Autochartist and Dynamic Trend, futures traders can gain a deep understanding of what is likely to drive markets in the near and long term.
I tested a Classic account, with its fixed $6 commission per contract for futures trading. The account type features floating spreads from 0.9 pips. For the most part, I estimated that this combination meets the industry average.
IronFX was founded in 2010. With offices in Cyprus, UK, South Africa, and Bermuda, the broker’s services now span globally. The derivatives broker is regulated by CySEC, FSCA, and the FCA, ensuring compliance with most safety requirements. I opened an STP account with the broker, which offers the beginner-friendly MetaTrader 4. You can trade on 26 futures CFDs using the platform.
Key Features:
The STP account has floating spreads around 1.8 pips, which is quite high. However, it also accommodates commission-free trading. I assessed that it will cost you around $11 to trade 1 lot on the EUR/USD, which meets the industry average. Concerning futures CFDs trading, I found that the broker charges a spread and commission.
I tested MetaTrader 4’s practicality and how it combines with IronFX’s services and concluded that it is a good stepping stone for novice traders wanting to learn about technical analysis. It has an easy learning curve and 50+ technical indicators, drawing tools, and timeframes, which can be used to study different facets of price action behavior and gauge market sentiment.
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Australia, IC Markets holds a couple of top-tier licenses, including CySEC and ASIC. The broker offers a broad range of tradable instruments from different markets, including FX pairs, commodities, CFD shares, indices, and futures CFDs.
After completing my thorough review of IC Markets, I determined that it has one of the most well-balanced offerings in the industry. The broker offers competitive pricing, access to deep liquidity, ensuring fast order execution under 66 milliseconds, and a rich collection of platforms and tools.
Key Features:
I opened a cTrader Raw account with IC Markets, which has a $6 round-turn commission per traded lot (100,000 units) and raw spreads starting from 0.0 pips. This is below the industry average. With regards to futures CFDs, all trading costs are built into the spread, which I determined to meet the industry average. For instance, I measured a 0.004 pips spread on WTI futures.
The cTrader platform has a feature-rich and intuitive layout. It has level II pricing with full market depth, enhanced with IC Markets’ access to deep liquidity. Another advantage of the platform is its low-latency order execution.
What I consider the biggest benefit of cTrader about futures trading is that limit orders have no restrictions.
AvaTrade is a forex and CFD broker that is tightly regulated in multiple jurisdictions and adheres to all essential safety requirements. It stands out with its multiple trading tools and platforms serving traders’ different needs.
Key Features:
The broker has built an excellent AvaTrader proprietary platform (for margin trading), AvaSocial (for copy and social trading), and AvaOptions (for options trading). It also incorporates MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, and DupliTrade (also for copy trading).
I found the AvaTrade platform feature-rich and easy to navigate. It offers over 100 analytical tools and supports the execution of professional-grade technical analysis.
In addition, the broker incorporates trading signals from the seamless TradingCentral and offers VPS hosting for low-latency trading.
I tested AvaTrade’s universal trading account, which features commission-free trading and floating spreads from 0.9 pips. I assessed that this combination beats the industry average and is suitable for implementing different trading strategies.
IG has become one of the biggest names in the financial industry in nearly half a century since its foundation. The company is headquartered in London and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). This is a prime example of its stability and security. The broker offers over 17,000 instruments across FX pairs, commodities, indices, share CFDs, ETFs, cryptocurrencies, and more.
IG also offers a decent range of futures CFDs, including bonds, which I consider a major benefit for those traders seeking to hedge their positions with lower-risk securities.
Key Features:
I opened an IG CFD Trading account, which supports commission-free trading (except for share CFDs) and floating spreads from 0.6 pips. I found IG’s prices to be below the industry average. Regarding futures CFDs, I found that all costs are built into the spread.
Additionally, I was impressed by IG’s average execution speed, which I clicked at 14 milliseconds. This performance is the result of IG’s DMA (Direct Market Access) execution model and access to deep liquidity.
IG also offers a choice of versatile platforms. I tested the L2 Dealer DMA platform and was impressed by its versatility. The platform offers a wide choice of volume metrics, which can be used to assess the underlying market liquidity. This allows you to time your entries and execute precise entries and exits in and out of the market. L2 Dealer DMA also has a wide offering of order types and analytical tools.
Established in 2008, Plus500 is a well-known global broker, listed on the London Stock Exchange. The broker launched its Futures Trading App for U.S. residents in 2022, offering access to a wide range of futures markets with competitive commissions and zero platform fees.
Key Features:
From the Plus500 Futures Trading App, I found that it offers low-day trading margins on many of its futures products. For example, trading Micro Ether only requires a $20 margin per contract. There are many micro contracts available, which is fantastic for small-account traders. For larger account holders, there is also a good range of standard contracts, resulting in lower trading costs.
I found the micro contract commission of $0.49 and the standard contract commission of $0.89 to be competitive, especially as there are zero platform, data, deposit, withdrawal, inactivity, or routing fees. The broker’s futures app has a user-friendly interface, is very simple to use, and caters to beginner traders.
The Plus500 Futures Trading Academy should also be mentioned, as it is a comprehensive database of educational articles and videos. The high-quality content includes the basics of futures and a few futures trading strategies.
Now that I have covered our top picks for each category, it is time to outline the specific considerations traders need to make when looking for a trustworthy partner:
To make sure you are dealing with a trustworthy partner, you need to make sure that the broker entity you choose is tightly regulated and complies with all industry safety requirements.
I have broken down the most important safety mechanisms to look for in a broker below:
Generally, offshore regulators offer higher leverage but weaker overall protections. In contrast, top-tier regulators seek to limit the maximum market exposure afforded to traders via leverage by capping it.
Check out our guides on Best CySEC-regulated forex brokers and Best FCA-regulated forex brokers.
Read more about Best regulated forex brokers.
A broker may have 1,2, or several account types, each with different pricing mechanisms. The question is, how to know which one is best fitted for your particular style of trading? I will try to answer this question by providing an example with two distinct accounts, one STP and the other ECN:
The biggest difference between STP and ECN accounts, apart from the execution model, is the pricing mechanism. Usually, STP accounts afford commission-free trading and floating spreads, whereas ECN accounts have fixed commissions and raw spreads (typically starting from 0.1 pips). At first glance, the former sounds more favorable because you only have to pay one cost – the spread – rather than two.
Discover Best STP forex brokers and Best ECN forex brokers.
Many brokers recognize the psychological significance of this sort of thinking and seek to exploit it by raising the spreads on their STP accounts to the point where they are no longer the more competitive option. I will now demonstrate how to do a quick test for yourself to evaluate the competitiveness of a broker’s ECN and STP accounts.
Pick an instrument, say, the EURUSD. Suppose that the spread on the pair is also 0.9 pips on a broker’s STP account and 0.1 pips on its ECN account. There is also a $6 commission for trading a 1 lot (100,000 units) contract. If the EURUSD pip value is $10, you can do a simple calculation to determine the value of a hypothetical position on the EURUSD executed on both account types. The formula is the value of a trade = spread x pip value + commission. When we pop in the above values, this is what we discover about our hypothetical broker:
Account Type | Spread | Commission | Net Cost |
STP | 0.9 pips | $0 | $9 |
ECN | 0.1 pips | $6 | $7 |
This is just a hypothetical example, but hopefully, it illustrates how more can be less in trading. So, it’s worthwhile evaluating the costs of a broker you consider opening an account with for yourself before doing so.
Check out our list of Best lowest spread forex brokers.
The deeper the liquidity pool that a broker has access to, the better the order execution conditions it can serve its clients. That is why high-frequency traders should always check the speed and quality of order execution. The easiest way to do that is to see whether the broker has a ‘best execution policy.’ It means that the company is committed to providing the best price quotes, given the underlying market conditions, when an order is placed.
Precision and speed of order execution are also likely to be enhanced when a broker provides Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting. As a rule of thumb, look for brokers that can accommodate ultra-fast order execution speeds of no more than 50 milliseconds.
Check out our guide on best forex brokers with VPS hosting.
You can confirm a broker’s performance by going to the Legal Documents section of its website and opening its latest execution statement/review. Keep in mind that not all brokers are mandated by their regulators to post such reviews yearly. However, the ones that do are more likely to afford you precise order execution and diminished risk of negative slippage.
A trading platform is your window into the market. It allows you to observe price action behavior and study potential opportunities for placing orders. Technical traders use a platform’s array of indicators, drawing tools, and other features to examine various price patterns, changes in volatility, liquidity, and so on to gauge the most favorable times to enter or exit the market.
The best platforms are also the most versatile ones. They include a wide spectrum of technical indicators, such as Fibonacci retracement levels, oscillators, trend-based and range-based indicators, and others, as well as drawing tools, such as trend lines, channels, wedges, etc. They are also the ones that allow you to easily scale price action up and down.
Find out our guide on Best forex trading platforms.
In addition to these components, when looking for a suitable platform, you must also look for efficiency. Ask yourself: Does the platform facilitate easy and rapid order placement through one-click trading? Does it support algorithmic trading via Expert Advisors (EAs)? Can it handle market, limit, and stop orders? These factors, and more, contribute to a platform’s overall effectiveness.
The two most popular retail platforms in the industry are MetaTrader 4&5. Over the years, the two have become the benchmark for simplicity and reliability. The two entries in the popular franchise have a decent range of technical indicators and drawing tools and afford multi-timeframe analysis.
However, despite MetaTrader’s easy learning curve, its rugged design becomes apparent when contrasted against newer and sleeker platforms. In my estimation, MetaTrader is a good choice for newbies wanting to learn the ropes, but to take your trading to the next level, you may need something more sophisticated.
The answer of some brokers is to develop their proprietary platforms. The advantage of most such platforms is their convenience. The ability to search for instruments by asset class, scale price action up and down with ease, or execute complex box orders are benefits you cannot find in MetaTrader. To summarize, the question of choosing the best platform for you is one of simplicity vs practicality.
Read more about the platforms in our detailed guides on the best MT4 and best MT5 forex brokers.
Here is a quick rundown of what traders must avoid:
And if you are still uncertain, you can always check out our database of reviews to find the most reliable brokers.
Given their nature, futures CFDs are typically used for longer-term trading. That is so because they allow you to buy or sell a given underlying asset at a predetermined price at a future date. As such, they are especially suitable for hedging the risk of a primary position.
Swing and day traders, who usually execute positions lasting from several days to several weeks, can buy or sell futures contracts that are contrary to their primary positions. Consequently, if the market goes against them, they could use the futures contract to compensate for their losses.
However, future contracts can also be used to speculate. Unlike cash CFDs, futures CFDs have expiration dates. This gives traders a certain degree of freedom as they can avoid current upsurges in market volatility and speculate with expected price upsurges or downsurges in the future.
Read more about Best CFD brokers.
Scammers rely on the gullibility of traders. A common tactic fraudsters employ is to promise quick and easy profits at no risk to the trader. Often scammers would use labels that closely resemble the brands of real and legitimate companies. That is why regulators like the FCA have registers where traders can read about such fraudulent companies pretending to be others.
The best and easiest way to protect yourself is to make sure you work with a trustworthy and transparent broker. You can find a comprehensive list of reliable brokers by jurisdiction here.
Another important consideration is online safety. Be cautious about where you leave your personal information. Registering your details on suspicious pop-ups that promise enormous profits could lead to your contact information landing on a scammer’s dialing list. Remember, no licensed broker would make unsolicited cold calls.
The next time you get contacted out of the blue with promises of becoming the next Warren Buffet, you must remember that you are most likely speaking to a scammer. I think that nowhere is the “if something sounds too good to be true…” saying more accurate than in the world of trading. That is why you should do your due diligence before opening an account with any broker.
Here at FX Empire, we have pioneered a unique methodology for evaluating Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives brokers worldwide. Our goal is to provide a comprehensive picture of a broker’s pros and cons so that our readers can make informed decisions. We understand their need to choose the best partner for their particular goals and needs.
Our team of dedicated professionals is working continuously to improve our system and keep it up-to-date with current market trends. We test each broker systematically by employing over 250 variables across nine categories:
We strive to be as objective as possible, which is why our rigorous examinations are devoid of any personal bias as much as possible. We review the licenses of all the subsidiaries of a broker and check the fine print in the Client Agreement. The reliability of a broker is further determined based on the website’s regulations, fees, and general transparency.
We collect essential information by opening a live account with a broker entity and testing its services in real time. We measure the spreads, swaps, and commissions on its most popular account type and compare our findings to the industry average.
We also test the functionality of the available platforms, the number and types of tradable instruments, the reliability of customer support, and the quality of the research and educational materials.
For this guide, we only considered brokers that offer futures CFDs and futures derivatives contracts. We took into consideration the number and type of futures assets offered, the costs, margin requirements, and the speed of order execution.
We scrutinized each broker’s regulatory adherence and safety measures for maximum client protection. We measured spreads and commissions, comparing them to the industry average and selecting the brokers with the most competitive pricing. Also, we assessed the usability of brokers’ platforms and confirmed whether they are integrated for implementing longer-term strategies, such as swing and day trading.
We abide by our strict guidelines for editorial integrity based on the objective standards we have set for our reviews. You can read more about our review process here.
The team of forex and CFD writers and editors at FX Empire is composed of trading industry professionals and seasoned financial journalists. Our writers have been published on leading financial websites such as Investopedia and Forbes. In addition, they all have extensive trading experience.
Dan Blystone began his career in the trading industry in 1998 on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Later Dan gained insight into the forex industry during his time as a Series 3 licenced futures and forex broker. He also traded at a couple of different prop trading firms in Chicago. Dan is well-equipped to recommend the best forex brokers due to his extensive experience and understanding of the brokerage industry.
Jitan Solanki is a professional trader, market analyst, and educator. He day trades major currency and index markets and focuses on swing trading US equities and commodities. A qualified Market Technician, Jitan also works with trader education and brokerage companies on various projects. These include market analysis, live trading events, and broker reviews. As an experienced trader and educator, Jitan brings all his qualities in action when reviewing and recommending brokers.
Having been a retail trader since 2013, Plamen has gained an in-depth understanding of the challenges that novice traders face today. His expertise is swing trading and day trading with a heavy emphasis on psychological and fundamental analysis. Plamen’s favourite trading instruments include FX majors and gold. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and International Relations. Plamen's broad experience has equipped him with the expertise to recommend the best forex brokers.
In more than 15 years of trading in the financial markets, Vladimir dealt with a wide range of brokers and financial instruments. His career as a day-trader at a proprietary trading firm goes back to 2007. Later, Vladimir turned to longer time frames and became an independent trader and analyst managing his own portfolio. Using his experience, he helps traders find the best broker in his reviews.
Having been a retail trader since 2013, Plamen has gained an in-depth understanding of the challenges that novice traders face today. His expertise is swing trading and day trading with a heavy emphasis on psychological and fundamental analysis. Plamen’s favourite trading instruments include FX majors and gold. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics and International Relations. Plamen's broad experience has equipped him with the expertise to recommend the best forex brokers.
At FXEmpire, we strive to provide unbiased, thorough and accurate broker reviews by industry experts to help our users make smarter financial decisions.