Lowest Spread Forex Brokers in Australia (2026)

The lowest spread in Australia depends on what kind of account you trade. On a raw or ECN account, IC Markets and Eightcap tied at 0.15 pips on the eight-pair average, with Axi at 0.16, Blueberry Markets at 0.19 and GO Markets at 0.24 rounding out the top five. On a no-commission standard account the leaderboard changes: Axi, CMC Markets and Mitrade come out tightest. Both tables below; spread captures are from Justin’s May to June 2026 spreadsheets and re-verified against each broker’s current AU disclosure.

Quick verdict: lowest-spread raw accounts in Australia right now

If you only read this section, here is the top five on the eight-pair raw average. EUR/USD is shown as the headline pair; total cost depends on the commission row in the table.

1. IC Markets Raw Spread — 0.15 pips eight-pair avg, 0.01 EUR/USD. Sydney since 2007, 25+ liquidity providers; placed first on a liquidity-depth tie-break with Eightcap.
2. Eightcap Raw — 0.15 pips eight-pair avg, 0.00 EUR/USD. Melbourne since 2009, strong cTrader execution; marginally tighter on EUR/USD alone.
3. Axi Pro — 0.16 pips eight-pair avg, 0.00 EUR/USD. Sydney since 2007, MT4 specialist.
4. Blueberry Markets Direct — 0.19 pips eight-pair avg, 0.04 EUR/USD. Sydney-based, A$3.50 per-side commission.
5. GO Markets Raw — 0.24 pips eight-pair avg, 0.10 EUR/USD. Melbourne since 2006, A$3.00 per-side commission.

The IC Markets / Eightcap tie at 0.15 pips is real. IC Markets is placed first as a deliberate tie-break on liquidity depth (25+ named LPs), not because the spread number is different. Eightcap is marginally tighter on EUR/USD alone, so credit IC Markets with liquidity, not a tighter spread.

Raw account spreads — main table

Eight-pair raw average across EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, AUD/JPY and USD/CHF. Captured May to June 2026 by Noam Korbl (RG146) using IceFX SpreadMonitor on a London VPS connected to each broker’s MT4/MT5 server. AUD-base accounts where available; commission shown separately so the all-in cost is a fair comparison.

Reviewed brokers only. BlackBull Markets is included for context on raw spreads but operates an offshore entity for AU clients (no ASIC AFSL) — not ranked in any ASIC best-of list. Re-verify each row against the broker’s current AU disclosure before relying on it.

Top raw-account brokers reviewed

1. IC Markets Raw Spread — tied tightest, placed first on liquidity depth

2. Eightcap Raw — tied tightest, slightly tighter on EUR/USD alone

3. Axi Pro — third on the eight-pair raw average

Standard account spreads — secondary table

Standard accounts roll the broker’s cost into a wider spread with no commission. For lower-frequency traders this can work out simpler than a raw account. Captured May to June 2026; sorted by overall average across the same pairs.

Axi, CMC Markets and Mitrade lead the standard-account table. BlackBull Markets operates an offshore entity for AU clients — listed for context, not ranked in any ASIC best-of list.

How we measure spreads

Marketing pages quote the tightest five seconds of London-session pricing. Real trading sits in the 23 hours that aren’t London open. The test is run by Noam Korbl (RG146 Tier 2):

• Tool: IceFX SpreadMonitor EA, running on a London VPS connected to each broker’s MT4 or MT5 server. cTrader-only brokers are tested via the cTrader spread report.
• Window: rolling 24-hour captures across a six-week May to June 2026 window. Each table date-stamps the capture period.
• Pairs: EUR/USD, AUD/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, EUR/GBP, EUR/JPY, AUD/JPY, USD/CHF — the eight-pair average is the ranking key.
• Account type: RAW or ECN equivalent on each broker for the main table; Standard (no commission) for the secondary table.
• Reported: average pip spread for the window, with commission broken out separately so total cost is a fair comparison.

We don’t strip outliers. If a 5 PM rollover spike pushed the maximum to 4 pips, that figure stays in the underlying data. Average is the practical number, but the maximum tells you what your worst-case stop will look like during news or rollover.

For full details, see the methodology page.

Spread is half the cost — the other half is commission

The headline spread is a marketing number. The number that actually leaves your account is spread plus commission. The maths:

• No-commission account: total cost = spread (in pips)
• RAW account: total cost = spread + (commission / pip value)

For a standard lot of EUR/USD with the account base in AUD and AUD/USD trading at 0.65, the commission-to-pip conversion works out roughly as follows:

Two takeaways. First, an Eightcap quote of “0.00 pip spread” is really 0.45 pips at the till. Second, the gap between Fusion Markets and the AUD 7 commission group is roughly 0.15 pips per round-turn. On 100 standard lots a month, that’s around AUD 250 in saved commission, which matters more than 0.04 pips of spread difference.

For the commission-led view of the same accounts, see lowest commission forex brokers.

When spreads widen, and how much it matters

Headline averages cover the calm hours. Real spreads move with liquidity. The four windows worth knowing about:

News releases. Non-Farm Payrolls, FOMC, RBA, ECB, BoE: the major releases blow spreads out for 30 to 90 seconds. EUR/USD on a RAW account that averages 0.15 pips can hit 5 to 10 pips at the print. Slippage on stops gets ugly. If you trade through these events, model your worst-case spread, not the average.

Asian session quiet. The handover between New York close and Tokyo open (roughly 5 to 7 AM AEST) is the thinnest liquidity window of the day for most pairs. EUR/USD spreads can drift to 0.5 to 1.0 pips on a RAW account during this hour. AU traders trading the Sydney open should expect this and not size up.

Weekend gap-open. Sunday afternoon AEST when forex reopens for the trading week, spreads can sit at 1 to 3 pips for the first 15 minutes while liquidity returns. Avoid market orders at the open.

Rollover (5 PM New York, 7 AM AEST in southern winter). Every broker reports brief widening at rollover when banks recalculate swap. The tighter raw brokers typically recover within 30 seconds. Some brokers stretch this to several minutes. The size of the swap charge itself depends on the interest rate differential between the two currencies in the pair.

The point isn’t to avoid these windows. It’s to know they exist and not to choose a broker on a 5-second average that ignores them.

AUD-base account vs USD-base — what actually changes

Most ASIC-regulated RAW accounts let you choose your base currency. The two practical options for AU traders are AUD or USD. The tradeoff:

AUD-base account. Your account balance, P&L and commission are quoted in Australian dollars. No currency conversion when you deposit from an Australian bank. Commission is quoted in AUD (e.g. Pepperstone AUD 7 round-turn). Position sizing on AUD-quoted pairs feels native because the quote currency matches your base.

USD-base account. Account balance and commission in US dollars (e.g. USD 7 round-turn, at AUD/USD 0.65 that’s roughly AUD 10.77, materially more than the AUD 7 you’d pay on an AUD-base equivalent at the same broker). Useful only if you trade USD-quoted pairs almost exclusively and want to avoid one layer of currency conversion on your P&L.

For most AU retail traders, AUD-base is the right choice. Lower effective commission, no FX conversion on deposits and withdrawals, native sizing on AUD pairs.

ASIC fee transparency — what brokers must disclose

ASIC’s design and distribution obligations and the Corporations Act both require ASIC-licensed CFD brokers to publish a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) that discloses the cost structure of every account. For RAW account spread disclosure, this means:

• Typical spread: the broker’s representative average for each instrument
• Maximum spread: the cap above which the broker won’t quote (rare in practice, but disclosed)
• Commission rates: round-turn cost per standard lot, by base currency
• Swap rates: overnight financing on long and short positions
• Currency conversion fees: where applicable

The PDS sits alongside a Target Market Determination (TMD), introduced under ASIC’s Design and Distribution Obligations regime in October 2021, which states the type of retail client the product is suited to. Both documents must be linked from the broker’s homepage and presented before account opening.

Where ASIC oversight matters here: if a broker quotes “0.0 pip spreads” in marketing but the PDS lists a typical EUR/USD spread of 0.3 pips, the marketing is non-compliant. AFCA has heard several complaints on this point in recent years, and the broker has been required to refund the difference. The PDS is the document of record. Read it before you fund.