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Best CFD & Forex Brokers in 2026
CFD and forex brokers let you trade on price movements with leverage rather than owning the underlying asset. They are built for short-term trading, not long-term investing — and they carry a high risk of loss. We ranked the leading CFD and forex brokers on spreads, fees, platforms, and regulation. Here is our top pick, followed by the full list.
Plus500: 81% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Additional fees apply, including an Overnight Funding Fee, a Currency Conversion Fee, an Inactivity Fee, and a Guaranteed Stop Order (a wider spread is applied once used).
Plus500CY Ltd is authorized & regulated by CySEC (#250/14).
Best overall: Plus500
Plus500 is our top pick for this category: best for cfd trading with a user-friendly platform.
Get started with Plus50081% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
The ranked list
1. Plus500
3.6/5Plus500 is a CFD-focused broker with a user-friendly trading platform and tight spreads. Good for traders who want straightforward CFD access, but it is not a long-term stock-ownership investing platform.
Read the full Plus500 review →Visit Plus500Plus500
Best for CFD trading with a user-friendly platform
81% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
2. Capital.com
3.6/5Capital.com is a CFD broker with tight spreads (from 0.6 pips on EUR/USD), no commission, and no inactivity or withdrawal fees. A low-cost, well-regulated choice for CFD traders — but it is CFD-only, not a share-ownership investing platform.
Read the full Capital.com review →Visit Capital.comCapital.com
Best for low-cost CFD trading with tight spreads
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
3. Fortrade
3.6/5Fortrade is an established, multi-regulated CFD and forex broker with a deliberately simple, spread-only pricing model and a beginner-friendly platform. There are no trading commissions — the cost sits in the spread — but watch the inactivity fee and overnight holding costs. CFD-only, not a share-ownership investing platform.
Read the full Fortrade review →Visit FortradeFortrade
Best for simple, spread-only CFD and forex trading
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
4. Pepperstone
3.6/5Pepperstone is a top-rated CFD and forex broker built for active traders: very low Razor-account spreads, fast execution, and a choice of MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, TradingView, and cTrader. There is no inactivity fee. It is CFD/forex-focused — not a place to buy and hold real shares.
Read the full Pepperstone review →Visit PepperstonePepperstone
Best for active forex and CFD traders who want low spreads
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
5. AvaTrade
3.2/5AvaTrade is an established, multi-regulated CFD and forex broker with a wide platform choice and a beginner-friendly app (AvaTradeGO). Costs sit in the spread, so watch the quarterly inactivity and annual administration fees if you trade rarely. CFD-only — not a share-ownership investing platform.
Read the full AvaTrade review →Visit AvaTradeAvaTrade
Best for platform choice and copy trading in CFDs and forex
Capital at risk. This is not financial advice. Investing involves risk of loss.
Compare side by side
| Feature | Plus500CFD | Capital.comCFD | FortradeCFD | PepperstoneCFD | AvaTradeCFD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating | 3.6 / 5 | 3.6 / 5 | 3.6 / 5 | 3.6 / 5 | 3.2 / 5 |
| Stock commission | No commission, cost is in the spread | No commission; cost is in the spread (from 0.6 pips on EUR/USD) | No commission; cost is in the spread (EUR/USD ~2 pips) | Razor: raw spreads plus a fixed commission on FX and Spot Gold (XAU/USD) only — GBP 2.25 per lot per side on a GBP account, USD 3.50 on a USD account, so GBP 4.50 / USD 7 round turn, charged in full when the position opens on MT4 and MT5; cTrader is USD 6 round turn on FX. Standard: no commission on FX, indices or commodities (the cost sits in the spread), but share CFDs cost from 0.1% per side | No commission; cost is in the spread (from 0.9 pips on EUR/USD) |
| Withdrawal fee | Free — Plus500 charges no deposit or withdrawal fees; your own bank or card issuer may charge on international transfers or unsupported-currency conversions | Free | Free (some payment methods may charge) | Free, except bank wire withdrawals to an international bank account, which are charged GBP 15 | Free |
| Inactivity fee | Up to $10/month after 3 months without logging in | None | USD 10 a month (charged in your account currency) after six consecutive months with no transactions — no deposits, withdrawals or trading activity, including opening a pending order | None | USD 50 a quarter (EUR 50 / GBP 50, by account currency) after three consecutive months of non-use, and every successive quarter, plus an annual administration fee of USD 100 / EUR 100 / GBP 100 after twelve consecutive months |
| Min deposit | set per payment method, shown in the platform's Funds Management screen (Plus500 publishes no single figure) | $10, €10 or £10 by card or Apple Pay ($50 by bank transfer) | $100, €100 or £100 depending on your account currency | None | $100, €100 or £100 depending on your account currency |
| Fractional shares | No | No | No | No | No |
| Demo account | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Regulators | FCA, CySEC, ASIC | FCA, CySEC, ASIC, SCB | FCA, ASIC, CySEC, CIRO | FCA, ASIC, CySEC, BaFin | Central Bank of Ireland, ASIC, FSCA |
How to choose
For CFD and forex trading, the spread is the main cost, so compare it closely (ECN accounts like Pepperstone's Razor have the tightest spreads but add a commission). Then weigh inactivity fees, overnight financing, platform choice, and regulation. Remember these are high-risk leveraged products — most retail accounts lose money. If you want to own real shares for the long term, choose a share-dealing investing platform instead.
How we rank
Rankings are based on published fees, regulatory standing, available features, and the real cost of common actions (trading, withdrawing, currency conversion). We do not accept payment for placement; affiliate relationships do not influence the order. The fee data behind this ranking comes from the same verified dataset as our UK Broker Fee Index — a quarterly data study where FX fees alone vary almost tenfold between platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best option for best cfd & forex brokers?
Plus500 is our top pick — best for cfd trading with a user-friendly platform. The best choice still depends on your priorities around fees and features.
Do these rankings change?
Yes. Fees and features change, so we update this page regularly — the fee data behind this ranking was last verified on 17 August 2026.