For a few years now, Fxview has been the go to for low-cost trading. They charge zero commissions, and their spreads are super tight. It’s really helped me keep my trading costs down.
Any other option? Hotforex?
I used to trade with them but it got hard to manage both accounts. So kept 1. Depends on your experience actually. Everyone has a different journey. Mine with hfm was good. Rest best to test and choose.
Talking about broker, it’s pretty difficult without personally having trades with them.
Having regulated brokers are the top priority. Reason is only one, we need them to be monitored by a trusted and well reputable party, which is regulator. Not every regulator credible, by on my location and condition I will only trust FCA, ASIC. I still can trust CySEC and DFSA at certain degree. For others regulator, I’m still “worry” with their policy. Please go to their website and learn about their policy.
After I know the broker is well regulated, the next thing is open an account to verify their service quality. It can be server latency, slippage, spread, trading rule and policy. From here we will have the final conclusion.
A good broker turn to be a bad one. A bad one can be a good one. So, even you have found a high quality broker, one day it can become a bad one. 
So we have to always monitor the broker we are using. Be careful as well with the type of regulation the broker has. Many broker just want to emphasis they are well regulated, but the license is not for operating a brokerage firm instead of merely financial service.
For example, FXView, they was one of a considered my primary brokers. The reason of they are under FCA. But around 1 year ago, it was stated they are no longer regulated by FCA. The good thing is they are still regulated by CySEC.
So my action will be reduce my trading amount with FXView. I will wait until FCA return and reconsider to increase my balance.
There are many well regulated brokers that has bad trading policy and price. For beginner, it won’t effect your learning curve. Unless you are starting to trade with bigger balance.
If you want to be safe, find only reputable broker such as:
- Pepperstone
- IC Markets
- Go Markets
- FP Markets
- ATFX
- Trade Nation
- StarTrader
- MultiBank
- Vantage
- Exness
- Axi
I have been using them with minor to none issues.
Valid points. I agree finding a well-regulated broker is crucial, and testing slippage, latency, spreads etc. is the only way to really know the service quality. No doubt, even the best brokers can change over time, so staying alert is a wise move.
Why is FCA that important? I mean, Cysec, FSCA and other EU registrations are pretty solid as well. Personally, good level of confidence. Even without FCA, their trading conditions have remained the same since the beginning. Of course, I get why you’d want to reduce your exposure, but for me, they continue to deliver a reliable environment for trading.
Everyone’s experience can vary, so it’s all about finding what works best for you.
Anyway, thanks for sharing your list of brokers. Good to have more options to explore.
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CySec is - understandably - a red flag, to many experienced traders. 
As anyone with experience of working in the brokerage or regulatory sphere will confirm, European brokerages that want to attract customers on the basis of being “EU regulated” while actually offering as little customer-protection as possible will always choose Cyprus, Bulgaria or Malta, as these are the very lightly-regulated EU countries. (Specifically, there’s a reason that so any brokers choose Cyprus, and that reason isn’t customer-protection!).
I’ve certainly never seen/heard anyone who knows the industry disputing the reality that the UK’s FCA is by far the best regulator from the customers’ perspective. And I don’t expect to.
It’s important for people to know that they don’t have to be British or UK-resident to be protected that way, and they’re also covered by the UK’s Financial Ombudsman scheme and government-backed fund guarantee, if they have an FCA-regulated account. (It says so very openly on their website, but people typically don’t look because “accidents happen to other people, not to me.” 
).
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Hi @Eloise_1, Since I am living in Asian. I can only rely on FCA and ASIC.
Other region may have good regulator. The problem is brokers under their regulation become ineffective and less competitive.
Others problem is fund-protection. Only FCA and ASIC are lovable 
CySEC and DFSA are good enough to validate a broker. For operational, they are not strict enough.
Many other good regulator, but they are too strict, rendering the brokers become unattractive. 
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You’ve mentioned CySEC, FCA, and ASIC. I’m curious if you’ve considered FSCA? Some of us see it as a solid alternative. Do you think it holds up compared to FCA and ASIC? and what do you think about ICF? with CySEC if a broker has ICF, reliability is better?
Hi @Eloise_1, I don’t want to get too deep on this topic. A lot of things are arguable. 
The essence of good broker are:
- It has to be supervised by a regulator that has credibility.
- Credibility comes from how to regulator clarify a broker in terms of capital, representative, infrastructure, operational fund, legitimate segregated / omnibus account, orders’ transparency, risk mitigation, client’s protection and many others.
You have to go through about the how and what are covered by the regulator.
I mentioned only FCA, ASIC and CySEC, because I found, brokers under their supervision are the best for my trading scenario.
They are covering almost everything I mentioned above.
There are others good regulator, such as FCA Japan, FINMA, MAS. But most of the brokers are unattractive for me.
I don’t consider FSCA a lot, because FSCA scopes of work is limited to legalize and product standardization in their term of Financial Services. They don’t give protection as much as FCA, ASIC and CySEC.
The example, when you are under FCA, you have to report company asset, office address, product, operational, account’s transparency, management, transactions, capital movement. Every single movements are recorded and have to be reported to appointed supervisor by regulator. No party can do funny thing here. Unless there are a series of corruptions by all involved parties.
FSCA, currently, acts as regulator to authorized financial service only. I just need to register my office, completing all requirements, after that they have no involvement ( may have but not in detail ) to supervising the operation in order to protect us. So, a company may play dirty without a necessity to make a report.
CySEC is in the middle of improving their involvement with financial market. They are getting a lot better. So this is the reason I’m considering CySEC. With or without ICF, the most important thing is still the regulator. ICF is just part of a marketing strategy.
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I get what you’re saying, and I agree that some things are open to discussion.
However, brokers regulated by CySEC and FSCA have earned a strong reputation for reliability and trust among traders over the years and I have accounts with a few of them also.
- Tickmill
- FxPro
- Fxview
- Libertex
- Exness
These brokers have been around for quite some time, and their performance speaks for itself. In my opinion, it’s not always about holding big licenses but what truly matters is the trust they’ve made and the experience they offer traders.
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Hi @Eloise_1,
For me, regulator and broker reputation are two different things.
Regulator will define the quality of a broker in term of management. Good regulator will guarantee and give confidence to trader about wow the broker is being managed. A good regulator will prevent broker from misconduct or mismanagement.
Broker reputation comes from a different angle. Reputation can be from histories, award, operating time, founder and their marketing skill.
You can’t link regulation to reputation. They are serving two different purposes. If you are trading with big sum of money, your priority is regulator, reputation is second things.
Tickmill, I am using it as well. They are regulated by FCA, CySEC, FSCA. I will only care FCA and CySEC. FSCA is good to have. More regulator is better.
FxPro is regulated by FCA and CySEC.
FXView is regulated by CySEC.
Libertex is regulated by CySEC
Exness is regulated by FCA, CySEC, FSCA, FSA. I’m using it as well.
Base on your list my priority will be Ticmill, FxPro, Exness. I have confident to trade with big sum of money. They are FCA, what else I need for? They have good reputation, have been old player, well regulated. More, the customer service is good and yet so beautiful 
For Libertex and FXView, I will trade with up to 10k USD. I still can trust CySEC.
Another example, since we assume FSCA has many reputable broker, so we conclude broker under FSCA will have good reputation.
One Equity is a broker under FSCA, so can we conclude them as a good broker?
I even have no confident to trade with them by using 1k USD. Under FSCA, the broker just need to full fill the “requirements” to establish a firm. But the regulator wont be strict enough to validate the broker existence. Don’t even mention about how the broker is being operated. Please DYOR to find out.
If the broker owned by a bunch of holy people then your money will be safe. But if they are wolves in sheep clothing, consider you are the holy one who has donated all the money for charity 
Hey everyone! 
Recently became interested in API trading.
A couple of things I’m wondering:
- Do I need to know Python to use API trading effectively, or are there brokers with tools that don’t require coding skills?
- Between REST API and FIX API, which one is better for someone just starting out with automation?
If anyone has suggestions, I’d really appreciate that!
Hi @Parkinson, API trading means coding.
Yes, to use API, you need to use a programming language. You can use many languages such as Python, PHP, Go Lang, Node.JS, Java.
Fix API is better. But for some, it’s more complicated. Rest API is easier to learn, you don’t need to compile the code every time, you can have instant response by using Rest API tools, such as postman to learn and develop.
If you are doing something serious, Fix API is the ultimate choice.
You don’t need to know Python to get started; some brokers have integrations. Although, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn Python as it can help you to customize your strategies.
REST API should be fine to start with. It’s free, and unless you’re into high-frequency trading. FIX is more advanced where milliseconds matter.
REST API works for most strategies, especially if you’re new to automation. FIX API is really for high-volume traders who need ultra-low latency.
Knowing Python is helpful, but if you’re not into coding, some brokers offer minimal programming options. You can find platforms with drag-and-drop tools or pre-built scripts you can adjust.
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Sticking with REST API sounds smart for now. Since you guys have been into it, brokers options as well please that offer solid API access? I’d love to hear about your experiences!
This is new to me. I am really interested to know more about it. 
Hi @slade_456, may you give me example about broker integration regarding to Rest API? Is it something similar to Capitalise Ai? Or tool such as FXDreema (EA Bulder)?
Hi @Parkinson, I have trading system with cTrader Open API, I was using Python, since I need performance, I switch to Go Lang and Node.JS now.
Open API is Rest API, the main problem is, sometime it gets disconnected due to network problem, while MT4/5 platform didn’t has problem. From cTrader forum, some reply, it was something to do with “infrastructure” congestion. It can be network, server, connection, data center. I develop the same with FXCM and Saxobank. Performance is still the issue. The best is still with Fix API. I did before with CMCMarket.
Using Open API / Restful, serious system need to be run on dedicated server or at least VPS with dedicated network or Virtual Dedicated Server (VDS).
Sure! Some brokers offer both REST and FIX APIs.
- Fxview
- FOREX. COM
- OANDA
- Interactive Brokers
For scalping, look for brokers with low-latency connections.
For lower cost, go for Fxview. They offer both APIs, and their REST API is free.
The FIX API requires a $10,000 balance but is great for fast execution. Another option is Interactive Brokers. They support multiple programming languages and have a solid REST API. Their FIX API has higher requirements but offers a lot of flexibility.
I’m also new to API trading too, so I’ve been exploring similar topics. Started learning Python, but it’s not needed for all brokers. I’ve been using REST APIs, which are easy to use and come with great documentation.
It is perfect since I’m just automating simple things like price alerts and stop-losses. It’s free. If you’re just starting out, I’d recommend sticking with REST for now.
Have y’all read this: IC Markets leaving is bad for CySEC - TradeInformer
Seems like they are planning to quit Cyprus. Here, the quote says, “Our likely divestment in Cyprus will allow us to heavily expand our operations. Change is in the air, and it’s time for the industry to move on to greener pastures.”
Sounds like they’re frustrated with CySEC’s fines and regulations, especially after that €200,000 fine.
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