Pepperstone vs Fusion Markets (2026)

Pepperstone vs Fusion Markets: the verdict on cost against breadth

Fusion Markets charges a flat A$4.50 round turn per standard lot on its Zero account, the second-lowest per-side commission in this coverage behind ACY Securities at A$1.50 per side. Pepperstone charges A$7.00 round turn on Razor and answers with five platforms, a deeper research stack and tier-1 oversight from four regulators beyond ASIC. Both are Melbourne-founded, both hold ASIC licences, and both open an account on A$0.

The choice between these two really comes down to whether you value cost or breadth more, because they are close on almost everything else. I have laid out the measured numbers, the ownership question behind Fusion Markets, and the honest trust gap below. The full Pepperstone review and Fusion Markets review dig deeper on each broker.

Cost: where Fusion Markets leads and by how much

Fusion Markets leads on both parts of the cost equation, and the gap is real. The Zero account charges a flat A$4.50 round turn (A$2.25 per side), a rate that never changes with volume. Pepperstone Razor charges A$7.00 round turn (A$3.50 per side). In our May to June 2026 capture, Noam Korbl’s spread data showed EUR/USD at 0.04 pips on Zero against 0.10 pips on Razor, and the eight-pair basket came in at 0.36 pips against 0.46 pips.

That flat A$2.50 per lot gap in commission means you pay roughly A$125 more at Pepperstone at 50 lots a month before the spread difference is even factored in. It adds up quickly.

Pepperstone runs an Active Trader rebate programme that reduces its effective round-turn as monthly volume rises, and that is all I can state here. Neither the rebate rate nor the qualifying volume tier is published, so I cannot calculate a crossover point, and none is quoted on this page. For high-volume trading, get both figures in writing from Pepperstone before you treat the rebate as part of the comparison. The wider price picture is in the lowest commission forex brokers guide.

Who owns Fusion Markets

Fusion Markets is a trading name of FMGP Trading Group Pty Ltd (ABN 74 146 086 017), the entity that holds ASIC AFSL 385620. Phil Horner founded the broker in 2017 after years at Pepperstone, and the pitch from day one has been Pepperstone-style raw pricing at a lower commission. That origin shapes the whole comparison.

That same legal entity is the licensee behind Global Prime, so the two brands share a single AFSL even though they run as separate businesses with their own platforms and pricing. We disclose the shared licence on both review pages because it explains why a different-looking broker traces back to the same Australian company, and because a regulatory action against the licensee would hit both brands at once. It is the kind of detail I think matters before funding either account.

Regulation and trust

Both brokers clear the ASIC bar. Each holds an Australian Financial Services Licence, belongs to AFCA, and segregates your retail money at an Approved Australian Bank. The trust gap sits in what stands behind that licence, not in the licence itself. I want to be clear: the core protections are identical.

Pepperstone rates higher on our trust sub-score because it holds ASIC AFSL 414530 since 2013 and adds tier-1 oversight from the FCA (UK), CySEC (Cyprus), BaFin (Germany) and the DFSA (Dubai). Fusion Markets rates lower, mainly on its shorter brand record: the FMGP Trading Group licence dates to 2011 but the Fusion Markets brand launched only in 2017, and its only other licence is a Vanuatu registration used for wholesale and international clients, not for an Australian retail account.

Neither rating is a safety verdict; both firms are legitimate ASIC licensees. Either licence can be confirmed on the ASIC professional register by searching the legal entity name. Pepperstone rates higher because of its longer tenure and the tier-1 stack, not because I see any question mark over the Fusion Markets Australian licence.

What the ASIC licence guarantees at both

The retail protections are identical at both brokers because the ASIC regime sets them, not the broker. There is a maximum retail leverage of 30:1 on major forex pairs and 2:1 on cryptocurrency CFDs, mandatory negative balance protection so your account can never go below zero, a standardised margin close-out at 50% of initial margin, and AFCA recourse if you need to escalate a dispute. These caps flow from a product intervention order extended to 23 May 2027. The full breakdown is in our guide to how ASIC regulates forex brokers.

Platforms and range

Platform choice is where Pepperstone pulls clearly ahead. It gives you MT4, MT5, cTrader, native TradingView and its own proprietary platform, all on a single login, the broadest stack we cover, plus a deeper research and education library and around 1,200 share CFDs. Fusion Markets keeps it lean: MT4, MT5, cTrader and TradingView, no proprietary platform, and a lighter research shelf, which fits its low-cost specialist role. For a single login that does everything, Pepperstone is the answer.

Product range follows the same pattern. Pepperstone carries a wider crypto CFD selection, more indices, ETFs and share CFDs. Fusion Markets covers the core markets and a smaller major-coin crypto set. A single account that holds forex alongside a broad multi-asset range belongs at Pepperstone. For those mainly trading forex and caring most about cost, I doubt the tighter Fusion Markets menu will be missed.

Which should you choose

Fusion Markets is the account I would point you to if commission is the first filter. The flat A$4.50 round turn, backed by that 0.04 pip EUR/USD raw spread in our May to June 2026 capture, keeps it cheaper for the low-to-mid volume trading most retail clients actually do, and there is no minimum deposit to slow a new account down.

Pepperstone is the fit when you want the wider platform choice, stronger research, and the tier-1 trust stack, and are prepared to pay A$2.50 more per lot to get them. Its Active Trader programme narrows that gap at volume, but the terms remain unpublished, so the break-even cannot be modelled without asking the broker directly.

I have covered the full picture in the Pepperstone review and the Fusion Markets review, and the best forex brokers in Australia guide shows how each scores against the wider field. Those curious about how Pepperstone stacks up against another low-cost rival can use the Pepperstone vs IC Markets comparison, which flips the cost verdict. And to run the numbers for a particular lot size, the broker cost calculator is the fastest way.

Open a Pepperstone account or open a Fusion Markets account (affiliate links, see our advertiser disclosure).