How we built this list
Every broker on this page holds an Australian Financial Services Licence. We don’t list offshore-only brokers, regardless of how attractive their leverage offer might look. The trade-off is real: you give up the option of 500:1 leverage and the lighter onboarding of a Vanuatu or SVG-regulated firm. What you get back is segregated client funds at an Approved Australian Bank, AFCA membership, mandatory negative balance protection, and the ability to actually pursue a complaint if something goes wrong.
Twenty-nine brokers cleared that initial filter. From there, we score each one against eight weighted criteria, with trading costs and trust carrying the most weight. Our writers open live accounts, fund them with our own money, place trades, and record what happens. No broker pays for placement or scoring adjustment. Some brokers pay an affiliate commission when readers open an account through this site, which is disclosed on every review.
Our scoring weights
| Trading Costs | Trading Experience | Trust | Trading Platforms | Customer Service | Range of Markets | Education | Funding | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weighting | 25% | 15% | 20% | 15% | 10% | 5% | 5% | 5% |
The full scoring methodology lives on the methodology page.
The 29 brokers ranked
| Rank | Broker | Overall (/100) | Spreads (EUR/USD pips) | Min Deposit | Best Platform | Read Review |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pepperstone | 98 | 0.06 (Razor) | $0 |  cTrader /  MT5 | Read review |
| 2 |  Eightcap | 96 | 0.10 (Raw) | $100 |  TradingView | Read review |
| 3 |  OANDA | 92 | 0.10 | $0 | TradingView | Read review |
| 4 |  Fusion Markets | 91 | 0.00 (Zero) | $0 | cTrader | Read review |
| 5 |  IC Markets | 90 | 0.02 (Raw) | $200 | cTrader | Read review |
| 6 |  Interactive Brokers | 88 | 0.10 | $0 | TWS | Read review |
| 7 |  FP Markets | 86 | 0.00 (Raw) | $100 | cTrader / MT5 | Read review |
| 8 |  Capital.com | 82 | 0.60 | $100 | TradingView | Read review |
| 9 |  MultiBank Group | 81 | 0.00 (ECN) | $50 | MT5 | Read review |
| 10 |  ThinkMarkets | 80 | 0.40 | $0 | ThinkTrader | Read review |
| 11 |  Trade Nation | 79 | 0.60 (fixed) | $0 | TN Web | Read review |
| 12 |  GO Markets | 78 | 0.00 (Pro) | $200 | MT5 | Read review |
| 13 |  IG Markets | 77 | 0.60 | $0 | IG web | Read review |
| 14 |  Plus500 | 75 | n/a (markup) | $100 | Plus500 WebTrader | Read review |
| 15 |  Blueberry | 75 | 0.00 (Direct) | $100 | MT5 | Read review |
| 16 |  FXCM | 74 | 0.20 | $50 |  MT4 | Read review |
| 17 |  Forex.com | 73 | 0.20 | $100 | MT5 | Read review |
| 18 |  trading.com | 70 | 0.20 (Active Trader) | $50 | MT4 / MT5 | Read review |
| 19 |  CMC Markets | 68 | 0.50 (Next Gen) | $0 | Next Generation | Read review |
| 20 |  Vantage | 66 | 0.00 (Raw) | $50 | MT5 / TradingView | Read review |
| 21 |  TMGM | 65 | 0.00 (Edge) | $100 | MT4 / MT5 | Read review |
| 22 |  AvaTrade | 60 | 0.90 | $100 | MT5 | Read review |
| 23 |  Totality | 60 | 0.40 | $1,000 | proprietary | Read review |
| 24 |  Axi | 59 | 0.00 (Pro) | $0 | MT4 | Read review |
| 25 |  Global Prime | 54 | 0.00 | $0 | MT4 | Read review |
| 26 |  eToro | 52 | 1.0 | $50 USD | eToro Social | Read review |
| 27 |  ACY Securities | 47 | 0.00 (Pro Zero) | $50 | MT5 | Read review |
| 28 |  Mitrade | 42 | 0.60 | $50 | Mitrade Web | Read review |
| 29 |  easyMarkets | 32 | 0.70 (fixed) | $25 | MT5 | Read review |
Scores are drawn from our most recent testing cycle (25 June 2026). Spreads are headline rates; live spreads update monthly on each individual review.
Best broker for different trader types
Quick navigation if you don’t want to read all 29 reviews. Each card below opens the relevant ranked list.
MetaTrader 4 or 5
Top performers on MT4 and MT5 in our tests.
How ASIC regulation changes the broker shortlist
Australian retail traders are capped at 30:1 leverage on major forex pairs under ASIC’s Product Intervention Order, with 20:1 on minor pairs and gold, 10:1 on other commodities, 5:1 on shares and 2:1 on cryptocurrency CFDs. Negative balance protection is mandatory. Cash bonuses to retail clients are banned. And every AFSL holder must be a member of AFCA for retail dispute resolution.
The practical effect: the 29 brokers on this list deliver almost identical regulatory protections to retail clients. Differences in scoring come down to spread quality, platform features, customer service and execution speed. Trust scores cluster tightly because every broker here passes the AFSL bar.
There is one nuance worth knowing. Some global brokers operate multiple entities. CMC, IG, FP Markets, OANDA, Pepperstone, Vantage and Plus500 all have a UK FCA entity, an EU CySEC entity, and an Australian ASIC entity. When you sign up from an Australian IP and verify with an Australian address, you are placed on the ASIC entity by default. This means ASIC’s 30:1 leverage and negative balance protection rules apply, even if the broker also offers a Saint Vincent or BVI-regulated entity for international clients.
A small number of brokers also offer wholesale-client accounts on offshore entities for traders who pass the Corporations Act wholesale tests (broadly: AUD 500,000+ in net financial assets, or AUD 250,000+ gross income for two consecutive years). If you qualify for wholesale and want higher leverage, brokers like Pepperstone, IC Markets, Vantage and TMGM operate offshore entities you can request. We don’t recommend this path for most retail traders. The leverage upside rarely outweighs the loss of ASIC protections.
Offshore brokers we cover
The 29 brokers in the ranked table above all hold an ASIC AFSL. We list one offshore broker — BlackBull Markets — for transparency only. BlackBull does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence; Australian clients are onboarded to the New Zealand FMA-licensed entity (Black Bull Group Limited). That means no AFCA dispute path, no segregated funds at an Approved Australian Bank, and no guaranteed ASIC retail protections (leverage caps, negative balance protection by default). The review is published so traders searching for BlackBull can see the trade-off plainly. BlackBull is excluded from every “best of” list, ranking and comparison table on this site by design.
If you’re considering an offshore broker, read the BlackBull review first.
Reviews methodology in 60 seconds
Each review is built from over 100 data points collected during a live-account testing cycle. Spreads are tested using IceFX SpreadMonitor on MT4 over a full 24-hour period covering all major sessions. Execution speed is tested using two purpose-built MT4 expert advisors. Customer service is tested through live chat, with response time, knowledge depth and language coverage all scored.
We update individual review pages on an annual full-review cycle, plus ad-hoc updates whenever something material changes. Recent material changes that drive an out-of-cycle update include a regulatory action by ASIC, a change in AFSL status, ownership changes, a major platform release or retirement, a fee restructure, or a notable security incident.
The full methodology, including weight tables and testing protocols, is documented here.
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About the author
Justin co-founded CompareForexBrokers in 2014 and has traded forex since 1998. Based in Melbourne, he has tested every ASIC-regulated broker on this site personally and has written for Forbes, Kiplinger, Finance Magnates, the Australian Financial Review and The Age. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) and a Master's in Marketing from Monash University. Justin is the Strategic Head of Research for the site.