Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
The United States is home to a tightly regulated Forex market. In many ways, the country’s regulation has created a unique environment for its traders. This environment is highly competitive and there are many excellent brokers to pick from. And even though you are not allowed to trade with companies which are registered outside of the States, due to the same regulatory framework, choosing the best one for your needs can be demanding. We have compiled the following list of the eight best US FX brokers as of January 2023 to help you decide:
1. OANDA
License | NFA and CFTC, IIROC, SFC HK, ASIC, JFSA |
Minimum deposit | $0 |
Trading platforms | MT4, TradingView |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | 1.4 pips |
OANDA is one of the best and most popular Forex brokers in the States at the time of writing. The company’s tight regulation and excellent trading conditions are the main reason behind its popularity with US traders. Clients who wish to analyze the markets will have access to a wealth of data with this broker. Its most interesting feature is the collection of historic exchange rates – it spans back 31 years. A free version of this service is available, covering a 180 day backlog of the ten most traded currencies. This information can be useful when planning how to take on the markets.
2. Forex.com
License | NFA and CFTC, FCA |
Minimum deposit | $50 |
Trading platforms | MT4, MT5, WebTrader |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | 1.2 pips |
Forex.com is a broker which can be especially useful for newcomers to the FX market. The traders with this firm would be able to benefit not only from a rather low entry cost, but also from access to a wealth of information. There are courses, which are available for clients of the firm. These are separated in several tiers, covering concepts from the ABCs of trading to advanced strategies. If you are not sure which course to take, the company offers you a quiz you can take – you need to answer a couple of questions and it will match you to the best course for you.
3. eToro
License | NFA and CFTC, FCA, CySEC |
Minimum deposit | $50 |
Trading platforms | WebTrader |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | From 1 pip |
The third broker in our list, eToro has access to crypto CFDs. Cryptocurrencies and trading them are very popular in the States, but there are also dangers associated with them. There is the volatility of the digital asset market to keep in mind, as well as the high chance the company offering you its services could turn out to be running a scam. The best way to trade crypto is to stick to large and trustworthy brokers. One such firm is eToro. It has CFDs on several crypto assets, which you can access at low costs.
4. Interactive Brokers
License | NFA and CFTC |
Minimum deposit | $10 000 |
Trading platforms | TWS, IKBR Global Trader, Client Portal, IKBR Mobile |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | From 0.1 pips |
Interactive Brokers offers access to a high-end ECN service. This is why the entry cost with the firm is so high. There is a way to invest less, however – you can open an account with just $3000 if you are 26 years of age or younger. The high price means you get exceptionally tight spreads. There is also another noteworthy fact about Interactive Brokers – it has a lot of platforms available. In general, though, Forex traders will make the best benefit of the Trader WorkStation (TWS) it has available.
5.IG
License | NFA and CFTC, FCA, MAS, JFSA, BaFIN and more |
Minimum deposit | No minimum requirement |
Trading platforms | MT4, IG platform, Pro RealTime |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | From 1 pips |
IG is unique from its peers with the sophisticated copy trading service it provides access to. Copy trading is a kind of social trading, where the clients of a certain broker can track their best performing peers on the firm’s platform. They can then choose to copy their trades, opening and closing the same positions as them in real time. The service is of especial use to clients without any kind of formal knowledge of the markets, or ones who have not developed their own strategy as of yet. And for traders who wish to tackle the challenges of the markets head on, IG also has access to excellent conditions too!
6.Trading.com
License | NFA and CFTC, FCA |
Minimum deposit | $5 |
Trading platforms | MT4, MT5 |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | From 0.6 pips |
Trading.com boasts an incredibly fast execution rate for client orders. The broker claims that it is so fast as to allow clients to work around the FIFO rule, imposed on the US markets. This rule makes it so you cannot open both a long and short position on an asset – a common strategy in the EU and around most of the world. You need to close one of them before the other. However, with the excellent Metatrader 5 platform and its high speeds and liquidity, Trading.com states you can place several orders with the MT5 pending order tools, which are triggered in such a way as to essentially allow you to use this strategy.
7. Saxo Bank
License | NFA and CFTC, FCA, DFSA, JFSA, Denmark FSA and more |
Minimum deposit | $5 |
Trading platforms | MT4, MT5 |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | From 0.6 pips |
Saxo Bank is a truly multi-regulated broker. The firm boasts a large number of licenses, cementing its presence on every inhabitable continent. As for its US clients, the broker takes good care of them, with excellent spreads and low commissions. Once more, this company is more geared towards servicing high net-worth individuals, so the entry cost for dealing with it is actually quite high – $10 000. Such individuals will be able to make a good use of the proprietary trading platform – SaxoTrader, it launched in 2015. That is also when its support for MT4 was discontinued.
8. TD Ameritrade
License | NFA and CFTC |
Minimum deposit | $2000 |
Trading platforms | Thinkorswim |
Maximum leverage | 1:50 |
Spread | From 0pips |
Last but not least in our list is TD Ameritrade. This broker has developed Thinkorswim – a proprietary trading platform. There are many firms which strive to do that, nowadays, but this one is leading them by miles in comparison. Its platform is available for all manner of devices, like Apple Watch, for instance. Besides its huge flexibility, the platform offered by the broker boasts a user friendly interface and some analytical tools. The downside to this is that the firm does not have access to conventional platforms like MT4.