How we review.

We open a real account

We sign up as a retail client through the same public page any reader would use, pass the identity checks and note which legal entity the account is opened with. That entity decides the regulator, the leverage cap and whether client money is segregated, so we check it against the regulator's own register.

We fund it and trade

We deposit with a common method, place trades on major pairs during liquid and quiet hours and record the spread at the moment of each fill, not the minimum the broker advertises. We add commission and the swap on positions held overnight to get an all-in cost.

We withdraw

We request a withdrawal back to the original method and time how long it takes to arrive, along with any fee taken on the way. A broker that is cheap to trade with but slow or costly to leave does not score well.

We score it out of 10

The score weighs costs, regulation, money in and out, platforms, and support and terms. Scores are compared across the whole ranking, so an 8.0 means the same thing in every category. The review explains every point taken off.

We keep it current

Fees and terms change. When they do we re-test the affected part, update the figures and the score, and show the update date at the top of the review. Corrections are noted in the review itself.