FBS and FP Markets are leading global Forex brokers, but which one should you trust with your Forex portfolios?
FBS shines with its trading community of 23+ million traders from 150+ countries and 410,000+ partners. It makes it a competitive choice for copy traders, for which FBS developed its proprietary service and mobile app. The out-of-the-box MT4/MT5 platforms are also available, and FBS maintains lucrative bonuses and promotions.
FP Markets provides traders with the industry-leading MT4 platform, its successor MT5, and cTrader and Iress. Traders get a twelve-plugin MT4/MT5 upgrade plus Autochartist, but the Iress has some restrictions based on user location. FP Markets caters to traditional account management via standard MAM/PAMM modules, algorithmic traders get VPS hosting, manual traders benefit from the Trading Central community and tools, and copy traders can use the embedded MT4/MT5/cTrader services, Myfxbook Autotrade, or the in-house social trading platform.
Sr. |  |  |
Headquarters | Belize | Australia |
Regulators | ASIC, CySEC, FSC Belize | ASIC, CMA, CySEC, FSCA |
Owned by Public Company? | No | No |
Year Established | 2009 | 2005 |
Execution Type(s) | ECN/STP | ECN/STP |
Minimum Deposit | $5 | $100 |
Negative Balance Protection | Yes | Yes |
Trading Platform(s) | Other, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5+ | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Proprietary platform, Web-based |
Average Trading Cost EUR/USD | $11.00 | 1.2 pips |
Average Trading Cost GBP/USD | $14.00 | 1.4 Pips |
Average Trading Cost WTI Crude Oil | $0.05 | $0.02 |
Average Trading Cost Gold | $0.31 | $0.16 |
Retail Loss Rate | 69.21% | 70.70% |
Minimum Raw Spreads | Not applicable | 0.0 Pips |
Minimum Standard Spreads | 0.7 pips | 1.0 pips |
Minimum Commission for Forex | Commission-free | $6.00 per Round Lot |
Islamic Account | Yes | Yes |
Signals | Yes | Yes |
US Persons Accepted? | No | No |
Managed Accounts | No | Yes |
| Visit Website | Visit Website |
Noteworthy:
Quality education and research exist at both FBS and FP Markets. The latter requires a minimum deposit of $1,000 for competitive trading conditions, while the latter provides MAM accounts for account managers.
Available Markets
Currency Pairs | Yes | Yes |
Cryptocurrencies | Yes | Yes |
Commodities | Yes | Yes |
Crude Oil | yes | yes |
Gold | yes | Yes |
Metals | yes | Yes |
Equity Indices | Yes | Yes |
Stocks (non-CFDs) | No | No |
Bonds | No | Yes |
ETFs | No | Yes |
Options | No | No |
Futures | No | No |
Synthetics | No | No |
| Visit Website | Visit Website |
Forex traders get a below-average choice of currency pairs FBS with 37, but the overall asset selection at where traders get 800+ trading instruments, trumps FBS. It includes 122 cryptocurrency CFDs, making FBS offers beginners an introduction to multi-asset trading.
The FP Markets asset selection available depends on the trading platform used. Therefore, the geographic location of traders is important. Only Iress provides the most comprehensive choice, and this platform is not available in every jurisdiction.
Typical Spreads & Fees
Average Trading Cost EUR/USD | $11.00 | 1.2 pips |
Average Trading Cost GBP/USD | $14.00 | 1.4 pips |
Average Trading Cost WTI Crude Oil | $0.05 | $0.02 |
Average Trading Cost Gold | $0.31 | $016 |
Average Trading Cost Bitcoin | $20.00 | $21.08 |
Minimum Raw Spreads | Not applicable | 0.0 pips |
Minimum Standard Spreads | 0.7 pips | 1.0 pips |
Minimum Commission for Forex | Commission-free | $6.00 per Round Lot |
Deposit Fee | No | No |
Withdrawal Fee | No | No |
Inactivity Fee | No | No |
| Visit Website | Visit Website |
FBS maintains an edge with its commission-based Forex cost structure. The minimum fee of -0.1 pips negative spread comes with a $6.00 commission for final costs of $5.00. FP Markets feature competitive commission-based trading fees
Account Types
Account Types | FBS | FP Markets |
Commission-free Accounts | Yes | No |
Commission-based Accounts | Yes | Yes |
Demo Accounts | Yes | Yes |
Islamic Accounts | Yes | Yes |
Social / Copy Trading | Yes | Yes |
Managed Accounts | No | Yes |
Security & Trust
Country of the Regulator | Australia, Belize, Cyprus | Australia, Cyprus, Kenya, South Africa |
Name of the Regulator | ASIC, CySEC, FSC Belize | ASIC, CMA, CySEC, FSCA |
Regulatory License Number | 000102/6, 331/17, 426359 | 286354, 103, 371/18, 50926 |
FBS versus FP Markets Verdict
FBS
Pros | Cons |
| Low Forex trading costs from $5.00 per 1.0 standard lot | Limited overall asset selection |
| Competitive choice of cryptocurrencies | |
| Proprietary copy trading service and one of the largest trading communities | |
| Low minimum deposit of $1 with maximum leverage of 1:3000 |
FP Markets
Pros | Cons |
Choice of trading platforms and supportingtrading tools | Availability of Iress platform geographically restricted |
Extremely competitive cost structure and excellent asset selection | Limited commodities and metals selection |
Low minimum deposit requirement andleverage of up to 1:500 | |
Well-regulated and trustworthy |
FBS shines with its trading community, proprietary social trading services, and low trading costs. While FBS provides beginners with an introduction to multi-asset trading, it fails to provide in-depth services for each sector.
FP Markets is the better overall choice, especially for beginners due to its educational content and helpful trading tools, and for equity traders in countries where Iress is available. FP Markets also shines with its payment processor choices.