The toughest broker reviews in the industry
Check out our online forex broker reviews to get professional insights on the most important trends in the brokerage industry, and benefit from our in-depth research on the following key categories: Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading, Education, Research, and Trust Score.
How We Test
Our editorial principles have earned the trust of millions of readers; our data-driven forex broker reviews and guides have been visited by nearly six million global readers (over 1.5 million in 2022 alone). Our ratings, rankings, and online broker reviews are more accurate than ever, now that our research and testing methodologies have evolved into a dynamic process.
GCCForexBrokers.com Annual Reviews: A Short History
Our editorial principles have earned the trust of millions of readers; our data-driven forex broker reviews and guides have been visited by nearly six million global readers (over 1.5 million in 2022 alone). Our ratings, rankings, and online broker reviews are more accurate than ever, now that our research and testing methodologies have evolved into a dynamic process.
Under GCCForexBrokers.com’s dynamic editorial process, our team collects data, tests products, and conducts research on an ongoing basis. Broker ratings and rankings are no longer held static between year-end Annual Reviews. Instead, our research team has the scope and flexibility to continually update our findings, allowing for more accurate content and deeper engagement with the forex industry.
Our research and data-collection processes have shifted to a dynamic model, but the integrity and accuracy of our data remain the same. We regularly audit and validate our data, and as on our sister site, StockBrokers.com, our rigorous data validation process yields an error rate of less than 1% each year.
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If we love a service or company, we’ll tell you – no matter what.
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If we think a company or service has room to improve (or should be avoided altogether), we’ll let you know – no matter what.
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If we’ve determined that using a broker or service provider puts your money at risk, we’ll say so – no matter what.
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Here are a few things that we’ll never do to make money:
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We never change our opinion of a product or service, or modify our evaluation process to gain or preserve an affiliate partnership.
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We never highlight (or deliberately conceal) a specific product or service to gain or maintain an affiliate relationship.
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We never alter our proprietary data-driven algorithms (like Trust Score) to favor an affiliate partner.
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We never share marketing revenue information or advertising campaign data with our researchers or our editorial team.
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When reviewing forex brokers, we test a wide range of products and features across over 110 variables. Our eight primary categories are as follows: Commissions & Fees, Offering of Investments, Platforms & Tools, Research, Trust Score, Mobile Trading, Education, and Overall.
The weightings of each category are as follows:
Review Category Weighting
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Commissions & Fees 11%
Platforms & Tools 11%
Research 16%
Trust Score 25%
Offering of Investments 10%
Mobile Trading 16%
Education 11%
Our award for #1 Platform Technology is based on the sophistication and advanced nature of a broker’s proprietary trading technology. Our team considers the depth of available tools, variety of features, and richness of data that contributes to the overall platform experience. Results are determined in part by the data collected for the 22 variables within our Platforms & Tools category.
Brokers that offer a desktop platform, defined as a downloadable Windows-based or Mac-based trading platform, are considered for the #1 Desktop Platform award. This individual award is based in part on the results from our testing of 22 data-based variables within the Platforms & Tools category.
Awarded to the broker with the best mobile app for retail traders, our research team evaluates the richness (and sophistication) of available features within the trading app. Also considered is the quality of the app’s design and how it impacts the overall user experience. A dozen individual variables are assessed for each mobile app as part of our testing within the Mobile Trading category.
Brokers that offer a web trading platform, defined as a trading platform that runs through a web browser (such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge), are considered for the #1 Web Platform award. The winner of this award is determined in part by the results from our testing of 22 data-based variables within our Platforms & Tools category.
Our award for 1 New Trading Tool is partly based on data collected during our testing across all primary categories, with particular attention given to Research, Education, Platforms & Tools, Mobile Trading, and Investment Options. This award recognizes a new innovative product or feature launched by a broker during the previous calendar year that impacts the trading experience. Our editorial team looks for tools that push the industry forward in a unique way, whether that be in investment research, portfolio management, education, or account offering.
Our award for innovation recognizes broker achievement in pushing the industry forward. Our team tests and analyzes new tools, experiences, and features that challenge industry standards and unlock new abilities for individual traders and investors.
This award recognizes the broker that offers the largest number of currency pairs. Our calculation includes cross-currency pairs, exotic pairs, and forex pairs that may be quoted in both directions (i.e. EUR/USD and USD/EUR count as two distinct pairs).
A contract for difference, or CFD, is a tradeable instrument that tracks the price of an underlying security or asset. CFDs are not available to traders in the U.S. but are otherwise offered by brokers around the world. Our award for #1 Most CFDs recognizes the international broker that offers the largest number of CFDs, worldwide.
To choose the winner for our #1 Most Cryptos award, our team examines the full scope of a broker’s cryptocurrency offering, including whether crypto is offered through a third party or the broker offers an in-house solution. We consider additional features, such as whether the crypto is available as a CFD or the underlying asset, the ability to deposit and withdraw crypto with the broker, the availability of crypto wallets, and the ability to stake crypto and earn interest.
For this award, we focus on the areas of importance to institutional – or, professional – traders, such as those trading independently for a living (e.g., day traders) or those working for a professional institution such as a hedge fund. We look at platform depth, customization, trading tools, portfolio management, and order management, including the availability of complex order types. Results are determined in part by the data collected for the 22 variables within our Platforms & Tools category.
When determining the winner for this Industry Award, we count each individual product as a trading symbol (i.e., TSLA is the ticker symbol for Tesla), and recognize the broker with the largest number of tradeable symbols across all available asset classes and underlying markets.
This award recognizes the depth of a broker’s offering of forex options. We determine the number and type of available forex options, and whether it’s possible to trade forex options on-exchange (i.e. exchange-traded options on a national stock or derivatives exchange) or off-exchange. We also consider the number and quality of tools available, such as options screeners and pre-defined options strategies.
This award recognizes the broker that most effectively encourages client social interaction and hosts an active, engaged trader community across a variety of venues, including social media, forums, networks, and other means of interaction.
As a rapidly expanding area of brokerage services, banking features have grown in importance to forex traders who value ease of money transfer and the ability to keep their investing and banking under one roof. Our research team evaluates each broker’s offerings, such as cash management tools, debit and credit cards, traditional bank accounts, mobile deposits, no-fee banking, and branch accessibility.
Deciding factors when evaluating the best VIP Client Experience include any minimum deposit requirements, the availability (and quality) of associated perks, lifestyle benefits, entry to special events, and access to discounted trading costs (such as reduced commissions and/or spreads).
This award recognizes the broker that has experienced the most significant growth, as determined by the total number of new customer accounts opened in the previous 12 months.
his award dives deeper than an evaluation of the standard educational resources provided by most forex brokers, and recognizes the best educational course provided in-house by a forex broker. We consider factors such as the quality and layout of course materials, the availability of progress tracking and quizzes, and the overall impact and difficulty of the course’s educational content.
An increasingly popular multimedia format, a good webinar series facilitates interactions between clients and broker representatives in a live environment. When determining the winner of our #1 Webinar Series award, our research team considers factors such as the scope, quality, and frequency of available broker webinars.
Many investors and forex traders demand access to robust charts for analyzing current and historical market prices. When deciding the winner of our award for #1 Charting Technology, our research team considers the number (and quality) of tools, indicators, and features that are available with the broker’s charting software.
RISK WARNING
Trading CFDs carries risk of capital loss.