Compare Forex Brokers

Why Australians need a different broker list

Most forex broker comparison sites are written for a global audience. That works fine until you want to actually open an account in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth and discover the broker doesn’t accept Australian clients, or worse, accepts them through an offshore entity with none of the protections you’d expect.

ASIC licence only

This site only covers brokers that hold an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. That's a deliberate choice.

Leverage capped at 30:1

ASIC sets some of the toughest retail trading rules in the world. Leverage on major forex pairs is capped at 30:1 for retail clients.

Negative balance protection

Negative balance protection is mandatory. Margin closes out at 50% of initial margin.

Bonuses banned

Bonuses to retail clients are banned. None of that is true if you sign up with a broker regulated only in Vanuatu, the Seychelles, or Saint Vincent.

We’ve tested every broker on this list with our own funds. Where a broker offers multiple entities globally, we’ve reviewed the Australian ASIC-regulated entity specifically, because that’s the one that matters for the trading conditions you’ll actually receive.

How we compare brokers

Five things drive the rankings on this site: trading costs, regulation and trust, platforms, execution speed, and the range of markets. Each broker’s score is built from over 100 data points collected during account testing. Our writers open live accounts, fund them, place trades, and record the results. No broker pays for placement. Some pay an affiliate commission when readers open an account through the site, which is disclosed on every review and never affects scoring.

SydneyTokyoLondonNew York

Tests run for 24 hours starting at 2 PM Brisbane time, capturing the Sydney, Tokyo, London and New York sessions.

The eight pairs in every capture: EURUSD AUDUSD GBPUSD USDJPY EURGBP EURJPY AUDJPY USDCHF

100+data points behind each broker score

8pairs monitored per spread capture

24 hrsper capture window, all sessions

15+ASIC brokers execution-tested

Spread testing

We record minimum, maximum and average spreads across the eight pairs above using the IceFX SpreadMonitor tool on MT4, and the eight-pair average is the ranking key on our spread tables. The Australian dollar pairs matter here. Some global brokers price AUDUSD competitively for AU clients; others widen it because it’s not their core flow.

Execution testing

Market and limit order execution is tested across 15+ ASIC brokers using two purpose-built MT4 expert advisors. We strip out network latency to make results comparable regardless of where the test machine sits. AU traders connecting to Sydney-based servers (most ASIC brokers route to LD4 London or NY4 New York) will see different real-world numbers, but the relative ranking holds.

Read the full scoring methodology

ASIC rules every Australian retail trader should know

Under ASIC’s Product Intervention Order (in force since 29 March 2021), retail clients of any AFSL-holding CFD issuer get the same caps.

30:1major forex pairs

20:1minor pairs, gold, major indices

10:1other commodities

5:1shares

2:1crypto CFDs

If a broker advertises 500:1 to you in Australia, you're either dealing with an offshore entity or being classified as a wholesale client. The rules behind each cap are set out in how ASIC regulates forex brokers.

Negative balance protection: mandatory Deposit bonuses: banned Margin close-out at 50% AFCA disputes: free for retail clients

You cannot lose more than your account balance on a retail account. The flash crashes that wiped out small accounts in the EU pre-2018 produced these rules in the first place. Your downside is capped at whatever you've deposited: no margin calls past zero. Brokers can't offer cash bonuses or trading credits to retail clients to entice deposits.

ASIC does not require Australian brokers to publish an issuer-specific loss percentage, so the reliable numbers are its own: 68% of retail CFD investors lost money in the 2024 financial year, more than $458 million including $73 million in fees (ASIC REP 828, published 20 January 2026).

If something goes wrong, your dispute resolution path is the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which is free for retail clients and binding on the broker up to AFCA’s monetary limits. Trading losses themselves are not compensated.

Where to go next

Three questions decide which of our guides you need. Pick the one that matches the job, not the broker with the most ads.

01

What do you want to trade?

If you only need forex and a handful of indices, almost any broker on this list will do. If you want share CFDs, ETFs, treasuries or crypto CFDs, the field narrows fast. CMC, IG and Interactive Brokers are the broadest. Plus500 and eToro lean retail and lighter on niche markets.

Best forex brokers CFD trading Demo accounts

02

Which platform do you already know?

MT4 traders should look at Pepperstone, IC Markets, FP Markets, Eightcap, Fusion Markets, ThinkMarkets or Axi. cTrader users have a smaller list. TradingView native integration is offered by a small group including Pepperstone, OANDA and Capital.com. Proprietary platform fans gravitate to CMC's Next Generation, IG's web platform, or Plus500's WebTrader.

Best MT4 brokers TradingView brokers All platforms

03

How much do you plan to deposit?

Several brokers list a $0 minimum (Pepperstone, OANDA, IG, CMC, Fusion Markets, Trade Nation). Others sit at $100 to $200. Fund what you can afford to lose. ASIC's risk warning isn't a marketing line.

Best for beginners Lowest spreads ECN accounts

A note on costs

Spreads are the headline cost on a forex trade. Commission is added on RAW/ECN accounts. Add the two together to get your real cost.

A typical RAW account on EUR/USD might run 0.1 pips spread plus AUD 7 round-turn commission per standard lot. At an AUDUSD rate of 0.66, that AUD 7 commission converts to roughly USD 4.62, or 0.46 pips equivalent.