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Alison Heyerdahl is the Head of Content at FxScouts, a Chartered Market Technician (CMT), and an experienced trader, as well as a financial writer with extensive expertise in Forex trading, broker analysis, and market research. She has reviewed 100+ brokers, publishes weekly YouTube trading videos, and co-hosts the “Let’s Talk Forex” podcast.
In the fast-paced world of forex trading, choosing the right broker is crucial. FOREX.com and markets.com are two popular options, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. This comparison will dive into the key features of both platforms,helping you decide which one best suits your trading style and goals.
The radar chart above illustrates the comparison between FOREX.com and markets.com across several key metrics, with the highest possible score being 100 in each category.
At FxScouts, our mission is to assist traders in finding the broker that best suits their needs. Comparing brokers side-by-side is an effective method to achieve this goal. We evaluated FOREX.com and markets.com, using our standard criteria: trust and regulation, trading platforms, costs and trading conditions, and educational and market analysis resources.
Trust and regulation are crucial when selecting a Forex broker. A broker’s credibility is largely built on its regulatory status. We spend considerable time verifying the safety of each broker by examining their regulatory licenses. We also consider numerous factors when deciding which tier a regulator belongs to. Regulators that we rank as the world’s top regulators, gets a tier 1 rank, while regulators who only scores a tier 5-rank, provide virtually no regulatory oversight. The more top-tier authorities regulating a broker, the higher its trust rating. Read more about regulation and our tier system here.
In our comparison:
Based on these findings, FOREX.com earned a higher trust rating than markets.com.
When comparing brokers, trading costs are a significant factor. We consider the minimum deposit required to open an account and ongoing costs, including spreads and commissions. We measure the cost to trade one lot of EUR/USD using the broker’s account with the lowest minimum deposit, including both the spread and any commission charged.
We found that FOREX.com has overall lower trading costs than markets.com.
Trading Platforms Offered Traders prefer brokers that offer a variety of trading platforms. We rate brokers higher if they support multiple platforms like MetaTrader4, MetaTrader5, cTrader, and proprietary platforms.
Copy trading is beneficial for beginner traders or those unable to trade full-time. In this case both FOREX.com and markets.com offer copy trading.
A broader range of CFD instruments provides more trading opportunities. FOREX.com offers a greater variety of instruments compared to markets.com:
For those interested in trading cryptocurrencies, markets.com offers 43 cryptocurrencies, while FOREX.com offers 11 cryptocurrencies. Therefore, markets.com is the better choice for cryptocurrency trading.
Traders prefer brokers with quick and cost-effective deposit and withdrawal processes. We favor brokers that process withdrawals within 24 hours using multiple methods without charging fees.We found that FOREX.com charges a withdrawal fee and markets.com does not. Overall, FOREX.com has better deposit and withdrawal processes than markets.com.
We often find that brokers offer very little in the way of educational materials, forcing traders to use other third-party sites or self-educate elsewhere. Beginner traders need well-structured, well-presented materials in multiple formats to get a good start at trading. More experienced traders also benefit from webinars led by experts in the field and advanced trading strategy sections with new trading ideas.
FOREX.com and markets.com both have very good educational support. Both FOREX.com and markets.com offer educational support for more experienced traders.Access to frequent and high-quality market research and analysis is crucial.
We found that FOREX.com offers better research analysis than markets.com and that both FOREX.com and markets.com offer frequent webinars.
Founded in 2001, Forex.com is a well-regulated broker with excellent education and low fees that is more suited to serious beginners and more experienced traders. Beginners with low minimum deposits may be put off by the relatively high trading costs on Forex.com's entry-level Standard and MetaTrader accounts. But experienced traders will be interested in the RAW Spread Account, with a minimum deposit of 100 USD. This account has some of the most competitive spreads (0.0 pips on the EUR/USD) combined with some of the lowest commissions in the industry.
FOREX.com provides support for MT4, MT5, TradingView and its own trading platform and traders will appreciate the range of trading tools on offer, including AI Performance Analytics, Trading Central, and subsidised VPS hosting.
Education and market analysis are both excellent and experienced traders will appreciate the wide range of tradable assets, including over 80 currency pairs, 2500 share CFDs, commodities, indices, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies. Overall, FOREX.com ticks all the boxes for those with looking for a wide range of assets and a choice of trading platforms.
Established in 2009, Markets.com is a trustworthy global Forex broker regulated by some top-tier authorities, including CySEC of Cyprus and the FSCA of South Africa.
It offers fast trading execution on 400+ trading assets, including stock CFDs, Forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, indices, ETFs, and bonds. Markets.com offers only one live account, which is limited compared to other brokers, but spreads start at 1 pip (EUR/USD), with no commissions and a minimum deposit requirement of only 1500 ZAR.
Full support is offered for MT4, MT5, TradingView and Markets.com's award-winning in-house platform. An advanced multi-asset trading platform, its inhouse platform is packed full of features, including excellent trading tools, expert analysis, and in-depth charting.
Markets.com also provides a high level of customer service compared to other brokers, and all traders are assigned a dedicated Account Manager to assist with any queries regarding their account or using the platform.
For more detailed reviews, please read our comprehensive assessments of FOREX.com and markets.com.
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Broker | Overall Rating Our overall rating evaluates brokers on platform quality, fees, service, regulation, and instruments. Higher scores reflect better performance and reliability. | Official Site Click to visit the broker’s official website for more information and to open an account. | FSCA Regulated Indicates whether the broker is regulated by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa, ensuring compliance with local financial laws and offering trader protection. | FSP number The FSCA licence number for the broker’s South African Financial Services Provider entity. Use it to verify local authorisation. | Onboarding Entity The legal company that holds your account after signup. It may be different from the broker’s brand name or local FSCA-licensed entity. | ZAR Account | Licenced by Displays the financial regulators licensing the broker, shown by national flags, ensuring compliance with financial standards for safer trading. | Best For This category highlights a broker's strongest feature based on trading conditions, platform experience, regulation, and user feedback. | Min. Deposit The smallest amount needed to open a live account with this broker. The real amount you need may be higher depending on the account type, base currency, and payment method. | Cost of Trading Total trading cost at the time of last update, for 1 lot of EUR/USD using the account with the lowest minimum deposit. Includes spread and commission. | Typical Withdrawal Broker-level withdrawal time field, typically shown in days where available. | Compare Select two brokers using the checkboxes to compare their features, fees, platforms, and more side by side. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Yes | 50926 | FP Markets (Pty) Ltd, South Africa | No |    | Best for ECN Trading | USD 100 | USD 6 | Next Business Day | |||
 | Yes | 45984 | AvaTrade Markets Ltd, BVI | Yes |     | Best for Beginners | ZAR 1900 | USD 9 | Two Plus Business Days | |||
 | No | Pepperstone Markets Kenya Limited | No |  | Best for Algorithmic Trading | USD 0 | USD 10 | Same Day | ||||
 | Yes | 51024 | Exness SC Ltd, Seychelles | Yes |   | Best Overall Broker | USD 3 | USD 7 | Two Plus Business Days | |||
 | No | 49970 | XTB International Limited, Belize | No |   | Most user-friendly proprietary platform | USD 0 | USD 7 | Next Business Day | |||
| No | 49977 | XM Global Limited, Belize | Yes |  | Best for Educational Resources | USD 5 | USD 6 | Next Business Day | |||
 | No | IC Markets Ltd, Bahamas or Raw Trading Ltd, Seychelles | No |  | Best for Scalping | USD 200 | USD 8 | Same Day | ||||
 | Yes | 41393 | IG International Limited. Bermuda | Yes |     | Best for Professional Traders | USD 0 | USD 6 | Same Day | |||
 | Yes | 51008 | ACY Securities SA Pty Ltd, South Africa | No |  | Best for Trading Tools | USD 50 | USD 10 | Next Business Day | |||
 | Yes | 49464 | Tickmill Seychelles Ltd. | Yes | | Best for Low Spreads | USD 100 | USD 6 | Next Business Day |
Select another broker to another broker to compare features, fees, and platforms side by side.
Alison and Chris cover a range of topics, including how to choose a Forex broker, safety and regulation, how to reduce your risk, trading psychology, trading platforms, and trading strategies, among others.
The FxScouts podcast helps beginner Forex traders get the best start to their trading careers.
